Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis with extensive glomerular crescent formation

Thirty-nine patients with severe crescentic glomerulonephritis and rapidly progressive renal failure were reviewed. Nineteen patients had a focal necrotizing glomerulonephritis, they usually presented with signs of multi-system disease, and eight had histologically-proven microscopic polyarteritis. A second group of 20 patients presented with an acute nephritic syndrome, often with nephrotic features, and had only minor prodromal symptoms. Renal biopsy material showed various forms of proliferative glomerulonephritis in addition to crescents. The most important prognostic feature at admission was renal function: only four of 21 patients who required dialysis recovered any renal function. The prognosis was worse for those with necrotizing glomerulonephritis, of whom two-thirds had oliguria on admission. All patients who were not oliguric, and some with oliguria, were treated with high doses of corticosteroids, usually accompanied by azathioprine and anticoagulants. Seventeen of 18 patients who were not oliguric initially retained or regained renal function, although three subsequently went into renal failure, and three others died of non-renal causes. At the most recent review, 25 of the 39 patients were either dead (16 patients) on dialysis or transplanted (nine patients). Ten were alive with diminished renal function, one had normal renal function but persisting proteinuria, and three were well. Prompt treatment may have contributed to these favourable results in a very severe disease.