Systemic sclerosis presenting TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations including renal glomerular microangiopathy: a case report and literature review

TAFRO syndrome is a systemic inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology, and its diagnosis requires the exclusion of autoimmune diseases. A 42-year-old Japanese woman presented with TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations, but had undiagnosed limited-cutaneous systemic sclerosis preventing a definitive di...

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Main Authors: Hiroyuki Kawahara, Satoshi Hara, Noriko Iwaki, Hiroko Ikeda, Dai Inoue, Ichiro Mizushima, Hideki Nomura, Yasufumi Masaki, Yasunori Iwata, Mitsuhiro Kawano
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-03-01
Series:Immunological Medicine
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Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/25785826.2025.2481675
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author Hiroyuki Kawahara
Satoshi Hara
Noriko Iwaki
Hiroko Ikeda
Dai Inoue
Ichiro Mizushima
Hideki Nomura
Yasufumi Masaki
Yasunori Iwata
Mitsuhiro Kawano
author_facet Hiroyuki Kawahara
Satoshi Hara
Noriko Iwaki
Hiroko Ikeda
Dai Inoue
Ichiro Mizushima
Hideki Nomura
Yasufumi Masaki
Yasunori Iwata
Mitsuhiro Kawano
author_sort Hiroyuki Kawahara
collection DOAJ
description TAFRO syndrome is a systemic inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology, and its diagnosis requires the exclusion of autoimmune diseases. A 42-year-old Japanese woman presented with TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations, but had undiagnosed limited-cutaneous systemic sclerosis preventing a definitive diagnosis of TAFRO syndrome. However, her clinical course and pathological findings, including renal glomerular microangiopathy, were consistent with TAFRO syndrome. We performed a systematic review of the literature to evaluate how autoimmunity affects the clinical characteristics of TAFRO syndrome/idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD)-TAFRO. We reviewed 95 reported cases of TAFRO syndrome/iMCD-TAFRO and found that at least 41 (43.6%) had various autoantibodies. In particular, the positive rates of anti-nuclear antibody, anti-SS-A antibody, anti-SS-B antibody, PA-IgG, and direct Coombs test were high. Furthermore, we identified 14 cases of autoimmune diseases with TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations. We compared the clinical characteristics of these 14 with those of the autoantibody-positive and -negative cases among the 95 cases of TAFRO syndrome/iMCD-TAFRO. Apart from sex ratio, we found no significant difference in clinical presentation, treatment, or outcome among the groups. In conclusion, TAFRO syndrome/iMCD-TAFRO often accompanies autoantibodies and shares many clinical characteristics with other autoimmune diseases. Clinicians should be aware that some autoimmune diseases mimic TAFRO syndrome/iMCD-TAFRO.
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spelling doaj-art-017cecd3f9a0474291ef2647fd969bab2025-08-20T02:51:00ZengTaylor & Francis GroupImmunological Medicine2578-58262025-03-0111010.1080/25785826.2025.2481675Systemic sclerosis presenting TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations including renal glomerular microangiopathy: a case report and literature reviewHiroyuki Kawahara0Satoshi Hara1Noriko Iwaki2Hiroko Ikeda3Dai Inoue4Ichiro Mizushima5Hideki Nomura6Yasufumi Masaki7Yasunori Iwata8Mitsuhiro Kawano9Department of Nephrology and Rheumatology, Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa, JapanDepartment of Nephrology and Rheumatology, Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa, JapanDepartment of Hematology, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, JapanDepartment of Pathology, Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa, JapanDepartment of Radiology, Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa, JapanDepartment of Nephrology and Rheumatology, Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa, JapanDepartment of General Medicine, Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa, JapanDepartment of Hematology and Immunology, Kanazawa Medical University, Uchinada, Kahoku-gun, JapanDepartment of Nephrology and Rheumatology, Kanazawa University Hospital, Kanazawa, JapanDepartment of Hematology and Immunology, Kanazawa Medical University, Uchinada, Kahoku-gun, JapanTAFRO syndrome is a systemic inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology, and its diagnosis requires the exclusion of autoimmune diseases. A 42-year-old Japanese woman presented with TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations, but had undiagnosed limited-cutaneous systemic sclerosis preventing a definitive diagnosis of TAFRO syndrome. However, her clinical course and pathological findings, including renal glomerular microangiopathy, were consistent with TAFRO syndrome. We performed a systematic review of the literature to evaluate how autoimmunity affects the clinical characteristics of TAFRO syndrome/idiopathic multicentric Castleman disease (iMCD)-TAFRO. We reviewed 95 reported cases of TAFRO syndrome/iMCD-TAFRO and found that at least 41 (43.6%) had various autoantibodies. In particular, the positive rates of anti-nuclear antibody, anti-SS-A antibody, anti-SS-B antibody, PA-IgG, and direct Coombs test were high. Furthermore, we identified 14 cases of autoimmune diseases with TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations. We compared the clinical characteristics of these 14 with those of the autoantibody-positive and -negative cases among the 95 cases of TAFRO syndrome/iMCD-TAFRO. Apart from sex ratio, we found no significant difference in clinical presentation, treatment, or outcome among the groups. In conclusion, TAFRO syndrome/iMCD-TAFRO often accompanies autoantibodies and shares many clinical characteristics with other autoimmune diseases. Clinicians should be aware that some autoimmune diseases mimic TAFRO syndrome/iMCD-TAFRO.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/25785826.2025.2481675TAFRO syndromeiMCD-TAFROsystemic sclerosisautoantibodyautoimmunity
spellingShingle Hiroyuki Kawahara
Satoshi Hara
Noriko Iwaki
Hiroko Ikeda
Dai Inoue
Ichiro Mizushima
Hideki Nomura
Yasufumi Masaki
Yasunori Iwata
Mitsuhiro Kawano
Systemic sclerosis presenting TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations including renal glomerular microangiopathy: a case report and literature review
Immunological Medicine
TAFRO syndrome
iMCD-TAFRO
systemic sclerosis
autoantibody
autoimmunity
title Systemic sclerosis presenting TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations including renal glomerular microangiopathy: a case report and literature review
title_full Systemic sclerosis presenting TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations including renal glomerular microangiopathy: a case report and literature review
title_fullStr Systemic sclerosis presenting TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations including renal glomerular microangiopathy: a case report and literature review
title_full_unstemmed Systemic sclerosis presenting TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations including renal glomerular microangiopathy: a case report and literature review
title_short Systemic sclerosis presenting TAFRO syndrome-like manifestations including renal glomerular microangiopathy: a case report and literature review
title_sort systemic sclerosis presenting tafro syndrome like manifestations including renal glomerular microangiopathy a case report and literature review
topic TAFRO syndrome
iMCD-TAFRO
systemic sclerosis
autoantibody
autoimmunity
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/25785826.2025.2481675
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