Clinical and immunological evolution of oligoanuric anti-GBM nephritis treated by haemodialysis

Eight patients with oligoanuric anti-glomerular-basement-membrane (GBM), antibody-mediated glomerulonephritis without lung haemorrhage who were not treated with plasma exchange therapy were reviewed. All had severe crescentic nephritis and required dialysis. Circulating anti-GBM antibodies disappeared gradually and spontaneously in all patients. The autoantibodies became undetectable in five patients after an average of 11 months. No patient recovered renal function. Two patients have been successfully transplanted and anti-GBM nephritis has not recurred. One of these needed a pre-transplant course of plasma exchange and immunosuppression to reduce a slightly raised anti-GBM antibody titre. Of five patients who remain on dialysis, only two cannot be transplanted due to the persistence of circulating autoantibodies. One patient died from causes unrelated to renal disease. Oligoanuric patients with anti-GBM nephritis who need dialysis rarely benefit from aggressive therapy unless lung haemorrhage is present.