Combined treatment in Wegener's granulomatosis with crescentic glomerulonephritis--clinical course and long-term outcome.

This study reports on 9 patients suffering from Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) with crescentic GN and severe systemic manifestations. On admission the mean serum creatinine was 10.9 +/- 5.

Plasma exchange treatment in rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis associated with anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies.

This study reports on 12 patients with acute renal failure due to biopsy-proven rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis and signs of systemic disease in whom antineutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibodies (ANCA) were detected by indirect immunofluorescence (IIF) on alcohol-fixed neutrophils and assessed in serial determinations by ELISA. The diagnosis was: Wegener's granulomatosis in nine patients who showed a diffuse cytoplasmic pattern at IIF (c-ANCA), and microscopic polyarteritis in three where a perinuclear pattern (p-ANCA) was seen. All patients underwent a course of plasma exchange - PE - (3-10 sessions per patient) associated with steroids and cyclophosphamide.