[Autoimmune thyroid diseases associated with glomerular nephropathy. 3 cases]

The first patient had Hashimoto's thyroiditis and developed membranous glomerulonephritis with subepithelial deposits of IgG, C3, and thyroglobulin; the second patient had Graves' disease and developed, after the second administration of 131 I 2, rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis with epithelial crescents; in the remaining patient, Hashimoto's thyroiditis was diagnosed at the time of renal insufficiency due to crescentic glomerulonephritis. All three patients had circulating antithyroglobulin antibodies, with high titers in patients I and III; in every patient, the search for circulating immune complexes was negative at the time of the renal biopsy. Apart from the classical membranous type, other glomerular lesions may be associated with thyroiditis. The frequent clinical latency of Hashimoto's disease warrants systematically testing for circulating antithyroglobulin antibodies in women presenting with apparently idiopathic glomerulonephritis.