title: Renal histopathology and clinical course in patients with Wegener's granulomatosis--single centre experience from the Republic of Macedonia.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical course of patients with Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) with renal involvement, to examine histopatological form seen in renal biopsies and present follow-up of the patients. A retrospective analysis was carried out of 18 patients presenting with WG and active renal disease at the University Nephrology Department, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, R. Macedonia. All patients were ANCA positive and had a percutaneous renal biopsy taken on their admission. 12 patients were male, 6 female, aged 48.61±13.77 (M±SD). All had extrarenal symptoms prior to admission. Oligoanuria was present in 7/18 (38.9%) of the patients, serum urea levels of the whole group were 40.67±18.13 mmol/l (M±SD) and for serum creatinine 691.06±384.93 µmol/l (M±SD). Necrotizing glomerulonephritis with crescents was present in 11/18 (61.11%) of the patients, the others presented diffuse proliferative extracapillary glomerulonephritis. All patients were treated with steroids and cyclophosphamide, and plasmapheresis was performed in 7/18 (38.9%) of the patients. Probability rate for surviving after one month was 0.6111 and after three months 0.3889 (Kaplan-Meier). The current treatment of WG in our study did not prevent serious complications and development of ESRD in a large number of our patients. This systemic disorder is still a serious problem and early diagnosis and alternative strategies for the management of the disease will be an important objective for further studies.
authors.affiliation: University Nephrology Department, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Skopje, R. Macedonia.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Grcevska
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ristovska
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nikolov
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Milovanceva-Popovska
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Petrusevska
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kostadinova-Kunovska
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Polenakovic
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005921:Glomerulonephritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014890:Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D062072:Patient Acuity; D010956:Plasmapheresis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D018843:Republic of North Macedonia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D003520:Cyclophosphamide