Silent Lupus Nephritis with Fingerprint Deposits.

A 26-year old woman with diffuse active lupus nephritis showed no proteinuria. Electron microscopy revealed a typical fingerprint pattern in glomerular subendothelial electron dense deposits. Out of 21 renal biopsy cases of lupus nephritis, we found fingerprint deposits in 4 cases (19%) including the present case. All of the cases showed diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis with overt proteinuria, except the present case. To our knowledge, the present case is the first reported case of active lupus nephritis, where fingerprint deposits were found, with normal urinalysis.(Internal Medicine 32: 323-326, 1993)