title: Compassionate treatment of Wegener's granulomatosis with rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of treatment with anti-thymocyte globulin in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis, untreatable with cyclophosphamide and steroids.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five patients with active Wegener's granulomatosis, either not responsive to standard therapy, or who could not tolerate alkylating agents received a single course of rabbit anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four patients showed a favourable response to treatment with partial or complete remission of disease activity, during a follow-up period of five to twelve months. One patient had progressive retroorbital granuloma, which resulted in enucleation of the eye. Side effects of the ATG treatment were mild with chills and fever during the first infusion, and development of serum sickness in two patients. Two other patients had labial herpes simplex shortly after the start of treatment, no other infectious complications were seen.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that ATG treatment seems to be an effective treatment for patients with severe Wegener's granulomatosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, University Hospital Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Hagen
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: de Keizer
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Andrassy
authors.forename: W P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: van Boven
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bruijn
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: van Es
authors.forename: F J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: van der Woude
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D014890:Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents