Renal Biopsy – The Specialty at Aware Gleneagles Global Hospital

histopathology is the examination of tissues from the body under a microscope, to spot the signs and characteristics of disease. Histology is the study of tissues, and pathology is the study of disease.

Taken together histopathology literally means the study of tissues as related to disease. A histopathology report describes the tissue that has been sent for examination and the features of what cancer looks like under the microscope. A histopathology report is sometimes called a biopsy report or a pathology report.

Biopsy is an examination of tissue removed from a living body to discover the presence, cause, or extent of disease. A renal biopsy is a procedure used to extract kidney tissue for laboratory analysis. The word “renal” describes the kidneys, so a renal biopsy is also called a kidney biopsy. The test helps a doctor to identify the type of kidney disease a patient has, how severe it is, and the best treatment for it.

A kidney biopsy involves taking one or more tiny pieces (samples) of your kidney to look at with special microscopes. The microscopes make it possible to see the samples in greater detail.

The biopsy sample can be taken in two methods:

Percutaneous Biopsy: a needle placed through the skin that lies over the kidney and guided to the right place in the kidney, usually with the help of Ultrasound.

Open Biopsy: the kidney sample is taken directly from the kidney during surgery.

The kidney sample is then sent to a doctor (Pathologist) who examines it through a microscope and checks for any signs of disease.

Renal Biopsy is required because some kidney complications can be detected by blood and urine tests, and special tests like Sonogram, along with symptoms of the patient. But for certain patients with some types of kidney disease, and patients who have undergone a kidney transplant, with improper functioning of the graft kidney, a correct diagnosis can only be made with a Renal Biopsy.

Reasons to do a Kidney Biopsy:

Nephrotic syndrome and glomerular disease which happens when the filtering units of the kidney are damaged

Blood in the urine

Protein in the urine

Uncharacteristic blood test results

Severe kidney disease with no clear cause

A Renal Biopsy can help a doctor understand:

If a disease is getting better with treatment or if it is getting worse

If a problem that cannot be cured can be slowed down by other therapy

How much permanent damage has happened in the kidney

Why a transplanted kidney is not working well

What further treatment to recommend

Presence of a Kidney Tumor

If a certain treatment is hurting the kidneys

It is essential that the doctor prescribing the Renal Biopsy makes the patients understand why the procedure is required and why it is necessary.

After the kidney sample is taken, it is sent to specially trained Pathologists who will read and interpret your Kidney Biopsy. It often takes three to five days to get the full biopsy results. In some cases, you may have a partial or full report within 24 hours or less. A report given by the Pathologist is important for the Nephrologist to decide on the future line of treatment. 

Information was given By Dr. Radha Sagar, Consultant Pathologist, Gleneagles Global Hospital