Histopathological spectrum of renal lesions in autopsy cases: Correlation with kidney weight and cause of death
Keywords:
Autopsy; Histopathology; Cause of Death; Acute Tubular Necrosis: ArteriosclerosisAbstract
Autopsy-based histopathological evaluation of kidneys provides essential insight into the prevalence and spectrum of renal disease, especially in cases where renal dysfunction remains undiagnosed during life. The present study aimed to analyze the morphological and microscopic renal lesions in medicolegal autopsies, correlating them with demographic variables, kidney weight, and cause of death. A total of 100 autopsy cases were studied in the Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Amritsar. Gross kidney features including size, surface, and weight were recorded, and histopathological examination was performed using hematoxylin and eosin staining. Out of 100 cases, 75 showed renal lesions while 25 had normal histology and non-glomerular lesions were more common than glomerular ones. The most frequent findings were acute tubular necrosis, arteriosclerosis, and chronic pyelonephritis. Renal pathol ogies were most frequently detected in poisoning and cardiovascular deaths. These findings highlight the importance of routine renal histopathological examination in all autopsies for improved understanding of hidden renal morbidity and systemic pathology, analyzing their association with demographic variables, kidney weight, and cause of death.
Downloads
References
Reddy KN. The essentials of forensic medicine and toxicology. 36th ed. Hyderabad: K. Suguna Devi; 2025.
Parikh CK. Parikh’s textbook of medical jurisprudence, forensic medicine and toxicology. 8th ed. New Delhi: CBS Publishers and Distributors; 2019.
Saukko P, Knight B. Knight’s forensic pathology. 5th ed. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2016.
Jha V, Garcia-Garcia G, Iseki K, Li Z, Naicker S, Plattner B, et al. Chronic kidney disease: global dimension and perspectives. Lancet. 2013;382(9888):260–272.
Schiffrin EL, Lipman ML, Mann JF. Chronic kidney disease: effects on the cardiovascular system. Circulation. 2007;116(1):85–97.
Jhajj KK, Aggarwal A, Gill G, Bansal P, Bansal A. Normal organ weights in adults: a study from Punjab region. J Indian Acad Forensic Med. 2013;35(4):315–318.
Usta U, Esen F, Cakir E, Turkmen M, Ural O. Histopathological patterns of renal lesions in autopsy cases: a retrospective study. J Clin Diagn Res. 2014;8(11):FC01–FC04.
Kakadiya J, Shah N, Bhalodia J. Incidentally detected kidney lesion in autopsy. MedPulse Int J Pathol. 2020;4(2):25–29.
Kaur A, Gill GS, Singh P, Sidhu HS. Spectrum of histopathological renal lesions in medicolegal autopsies: a study from North India. J Indian Acad Forensic Med. 2018;40(2):133–138.
Desai K, Patel S, Goswami H, Patel N, Chokshi M. Spectrum of renal lesions in autopsy cases: a histopathological study. Indian J Pathol Oncol. 2020;7(1):112–116.
Sandhu VK, Dhillon P, Brar RS, Kaur R. Histopathological analysis of renal lesions in medicolegal autopsies: a five-year retrospective study. J Punjab Acad Forensic Med Toxicol. 2017;17(1):28–32.
Patil SB, Jadhav MV, Kumar D, Pawar R, Bhosale A. Spectrum of renal lesions at autopsy and their association with comorbidities: a prospective study. J Indian Acad Forensic Med. 2020;42(1):20–25.
Henriksen KJ, Meehan SM, Chang A. Nonneoplastic kidney diseases in adult autopsies: a 10-year review. Am J Kidney Dis. 2007;50(2):290–298.
Mulay PS, Satish RD, More SR. Spectrum of renal lesions detected in postmortem study in a tertiary care hospital. Int J Med Sci Public Health. 2018;7(9):694–699.
Yadav SN, Patil PS, Thorat SP. Postmortem histopathological study of renal lesions in a tertiary care center. J Forensic Leg Med. 2019;67:31–36.
Perrone ME, Maluf DG, Choe J, Chen G. Spectrum of medical renal pathology in adult autopsies: a clinicopathologic correlation. Hum Pathol. 2018;75:25–33.
Pawar R, Sharma A, Kumar M. Histopathological assessment of renal lesions in medico-legal autopsies: a tertiary care experience. Egypt J Forensic Sci. 2022;12(1):1–9.
Coca SG, Singanamala S, Parikh CR. Chronic kidney disease after acute kidney injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Kidney Int. 2012;81(5):442–448.
