[Possibilities of combined treatment of diffuse collagenous glomerulonephritis]

Combined corticosteroid, immunosuppressive and anticoagulant treatment was performed to 17 patients with various histological forms of collagenous glomerulonephritis, 14--with disseminated lupus erythematodes, 1--with periartheritis nodosa and 2--with Schönlein-Henoch disease. The immunosuppressive treatment was carried out for an average of 14.62 months, the corticosteroid treatment--an average of 17 months and the anticoagulant--18.12 months. In 6 patients the corticosteroid treatment was initiated with a pulse of 30 mg methylprednisolone in the course of 3-10 days, and in the rest of the patients--with an initial dose of 60 mg prednisolone. The anticoagulant treatment was, at first, carried out with heparin 30,000 U daily, and later with acenocoumarol and the immunosuppressive--with azathioprin--100 mg daily. The term of treatment and observation is from 6 to 63 months, an average of 25-82 months. The treatment was discontinued in eight patients. Very good effect (complete clinical and laboratory remission) was obtained in seven patients--41.18 per cent, good effect (clinical remission but incomplete laboratory) in 7 patients--41.18 per cent, one patient with no change--5.88 per cent. Two patients--11.76 per cent, died of the complications of the treatment. Grave complications resulting from the treatment were obtained in seven patients.