[Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis of infectious origin].

Among 64 patients who presented with glomerulonephritis of infectious origin, 17 cases (26%) of crescentic glomerulonephritis were studied retrospectively. Five patients had bacterial endocarditis and the identified primary infections were cutaneous or oropharyngeal. At the time of diagnosis, 15 patients had acute nephritic syndrome, 3 were anuric and only 2 had normal renal function. Despite symptomatic treatment, the prognosis in these patients was poor: 5 died of infectious disease, 3 are definitively on dialysis and 7 suffer from chronic renal failure. Initiation of immunosuppressive regimens prior to the development or irreversible renal lesions could possibly improve renal prognosis, but entail the risk of life threatening infections in such patients.