摘要:Leptospirosis in India is increasingly becoming a health problem, particularly during the monsoons. As kidney is one of the most commonly involved organs in leptospirosis we studied clinical and histopathological features in the kidney in 30 autopsy cases of suspected leptospirosis to determine if there are any changes specific for leptospirosis in the kidney. Subsequently, immunohistochemistry (IHC) for leptospirosis was performed in these cases, of which 20 were positive for leptospiral antigen. Most leptospirosis patients were young males with fever, jaundice, myalgias, haemoptysis and oliguria. Autopsies revealed enlarged kidney and extensive pulmonary haemorrhages in all cases. Kidney sections showed acute tubular necrosis and interstitial nephritis. These changes were not so obvious in non-leptospiral cases. We concluded that in autopsy cases of acute febrile illness; if the kidneys are swollen with acute tubular necrosis and interstitial nephritis coupled with extensive pulmonary haemorrhages, then leptospirosis should be suspected.