Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (22)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Angangco, R.
Right arrow Articles by Oliveira, D. B. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Angangco, R.
Right arrow Articles by Oliveira, D. B. G.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Nephrol Dial Transplant (1994) 9: 630-636
© 1994 European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association

research-article

Does truly ‘idiopathic’ crescentic glomerulonephritis exist?

R. Angangco2, S. Thiru2, V. L. M. Esnault1, A. K. Short1, C. M. Lockwood1 and D. B. G. Oliveira1,

1Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital Cambridge UK 2Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital Cambridge UK

Correspondence and offprint requests to: Correspondence and offprint requests to: Dr D. B. G. Oliveira, Department of Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB22QQ UK

Crescentic glomerulonephritis is usually classified into antiglomerular basement membrane (GBM) disease, immune-complex disease, or pauci-immune crescentic nephritis. The last category includes patients with systemic vasculitis as well as ‘idiopathic’ isolated crescentic nephritis. The presence of anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA) in many patients with apparently isolated crescentic nephritis suggests that this represents a renal-limited form of vasculitis, and that truly ‘idiopathic’ crescentic nephritis is a very rare entity.

We reviewed all renal biopsies with extracapillary proliferation seen at our centre since the availability of an ANCA assay (4-year period). There were 89 such biopsies of a total of 1240, of which 82 had sufficient details for further analysis. Of these, 10 had anti-GBM disease, 35 had epithelial proliferation associated with a variety of other diseases, and 36 had ANCA-associated disease. Nine of this last group had no extrarenal features and would previously have been classified as ‘idiopathic’ crescentic glomerulonephritis. The single remaining patient had an inactive glomerulonephritis with a scarred crescent; the predominant lesion was an interstitial nephritis.

We therefore conclude that truly ‘idiopathic’ crescentic nephritis is very rare, if it exists at all. The ability to provide a practically complete classification of crescentic nephritis has important prognostic and therapeutic consequences.

Keywords: ANCA; systemic vasculitis; autoimmunity; crescentic nephritis


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Nephrol Dial TransplantHome page
N. Hedger, J. Stevens, N. Drey, S. Walker, and P. Roderick
Incidence and outcome of pauci-immune rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis in Wessex, UK: a 10-year retrospective study
Nephrol. Dial. Transplant., October 1, 2000; 15(10): 1593 - 1599.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.