Crescentic fibrillary glomerulonephritis associated with intermittent rifampin therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis

This case study reveals an unusual finding of rapidly proliferative crescentic glomerulonephritis in a patient treated with rifampin who had no other identifiable causes for developing this disease. This patient underwent a 10-month regimen of rifampin and isoniazid for pulmonary tuberculosis and was discovered to have developed signs of severe renal failure five weeks after completion of therapy. Renal biopsy revealed severe glomerulonephritis with crescents, electron dense fibrillar deposits and moderate lymphocytic interstitial infiltrate. Other possible causes of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis were investigated and ruled out. This report documents the unusual occurrence of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis with crescents and fibrillar glomerulonephritis in a patient treated with rifampin.