Rapidly Progressive Glomerulonephritis: A Single-Center Experience

OBJECTIVE: Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis is associated with rapid deterioration of kidney function. We aimed to evaluate patients followed-up with the diagnosis of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis. MATERIAL and METHODS: This retrospective study included 28 patients who were compared for remission status and baseline serum creatinine levels. RESULTS: We evaluated 20 male and 8 female patients with a mean age of 46.68 ±15.94 years. Patients with higher baseline serum creatinine had significantly lower hemoglobin (p=0.01), platelet counts (p=0.01) and calculated e- GFR at last hospital visit (p=0.03) compared to patients with lower baseline serum creatinine. At discharge, the number of dialysis-dependent patients was significantly higher in the patients with higher baseline serum creatinine than the patients with lower baseline serum creatinine (p=0.01). Patients who had achieved remission had significantly lower percentage of cellular crescents (p= 0.009) and sclerotic glomeruli (p= 0.04) than patients who did not achieve remission. Dead patients were more likely to have a lymphocyte count of < 1000 cells/mm3 (p=0.009). CONCLUSION: Patients with high baseline serum creatinine levels were more likely to have lower hemoglobin levels and platelet counts. High baseline serum creatinine level and high percentage of cellular crescents and sclerotic glomeruli were related to worse renal prognosis. Patients with lower lymphocyte counts had higher mortality rates.