IT IS WELL recognized that the clinical presentation of acute glomerulonephritis varies considerably. The widespread use of percutaneous needle biopsy of the kidney has made it possible to confirm the belief that acute glomerulonephritis need not be associated with the classical urinary findings of hematuria, proteinuria, and cylindruria.
In the first report of this dissociation, Cohen and Levitt1 described two adults with cardiac decompensation and minimal urinary abnormalities. Berman and Vogelsang2 reported the case of a 15-year-old girl who did not develop proteinuria but did have marked hematuria and cylindruria. A 10-year-old girl with nephritis reported by Albert and associates3 had minimal proteinuria as the only urinary abnormality. A patient with hypertensive encephalopathy, reported by Hoyer et al,4 had only minimal hematuria and proteinuria on two occasions, and the diagnosis of acute glomerulonephritis was confirmed by light and electron microscopy. No demonstrable urinary abnormalities were found