Introduction Antiglomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) disease is a rare autoimmune disorder characterized by rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) with diffuse crescentic formation on renal biopsy, and it is a well-characterized cause of glomerulonephritis. Although the effectiveness of treatment using therapeutic plasma exchange combined with immunosuppressive agents to improve rena...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary renal syndrome is encountered in several diseases such as Goodpasture's syndrome, antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA) associated systemic vasculitis, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and infection-associated or drug-induced glomerulonephritis. To preserve organ function it is of vital importance to make the correct diagnosis and institute adequate therapy early, in...

'Pauci-immune' glomerulonephritis has been recognized as an important cause of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. The paucity of immune deposits can be separated from the other two major immunohistologic variants of crescentic glomerulonephritis, ie, antiglomerular basement membrane (GBM) antibody-mediated and immune complex-mediated glomerulonephritis. Here we describe the case of a 42-ye...

The C1q solid phase and Raji cell radioimmune assays were used to determine the frequency of detectable circulating immune complexes in patients with glomerulonephritis. In this study, 46% of 56 patients with glomerulonephritis had evidence of circulating immune complexes. More important, circulating immune complexes were associated with some, but not other, types of glomerulonephritis. Thus, i...

BACKGROUND The Wessex Renal Unit serves a large stable population (2.5 million). Pauci-immune rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN) is a frequent cause of acute renal failure requiring admission to our unit ( approximately 8%). At a population level, little is known of the epidemiology and outcome of RPGN. METHODS Between 1 April 1986 and 31 March 1996, 141 cases of biopsy proven pauc...

BACKGROUND Anti-glomerular basement membrane disease (anti-GBM disease) is an autoimmune glomerulonephritis disease that is characterized by IgG linear deposition along the non-collagen domain of a3 chains of type IV collagen on the GBM. Although anti-GBM disease accompanied with IgA linear deposition along GBMs was discussed previously in some papers, anti-GBM disease combined with IgA granula...

small meals (owing to distortion of the stomach and cardio-oesophageal junction); and (5) an abdominal fluid thrill but no shifting dullness, indicating a localised collection of fluid and clotted blood. The likely pathogenesis of the haemorrhage is over-distension of the stomach with tearing of a small blood vessel in the lesser omentum. The blood tracks inferiorly, stripping peritoneum from t...