Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infection as a precipitating factor for atypical hemolytic-uremic syndrome

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is a thrombotic microangiopathy characterized by intravascular hemolysis. It can be classified as either typical, primarily caused by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infection, or as atypical HUS (aHUS), which results from uncontrolled complement activation.

We report the case of a 9-year-old boy with aHUS due to compound heterozygous complement factor H-related genes (CFHR) 1/3 and CFHR1–CFHR4 deletions, leading to the development of anti-complement factor H (CFH) autoantibodies. The patient presented nephrological and neurological thrombotic microangiopathy with STEC positivity. Additionally, we provide an extensive literature review of aHUS cases initially classified as typical.

A total of 11 patients were included, 73% of whom were pediatric. Kidney replacement therapy was required in 73% of patients. The recurrence rate was 55%. All cases were found positive for pathological variants of the complement system genes. The most commonly implicated gene was CFH, while the CFHR genes were involved in 36% of cases, although none exhibited anti-CFH autoantibodies. Anti-complement therapy was administered in 54% of cases, and none of the patients who received it early progressed to kidney failure.

STEC infection does not exclude aHUS diagnosis, and early use of anti-complement therapy might be reasonable in life-threatening conditions. Genetic testing can be helpful in patients with atypical presentations and can confirm the necessity of prolonged anti-complement therapy.