Abstract
Renal involvement is common in patients with bacterial endocarditis. The most common bacteria are staphylococci and streptococci, and the commonest renal histopathological lesion is a diffuse proliferative and exudative type of glomerulonephritis. Very rarely, patients may present with an extensive glomerular epithelial crescent formation with a rapid deterioration in the renal function. This study reviews the published literature on diffuse crescentic glomerulonephritis in bacterial endocarditis and reports a 24-year-old male patient with endocarditis due to Capnocytophagia species, a gram-negative facultative anaerobic bacillus, which normally inhabits the oral cavity. Appropriate antibiotic therapy is essential to eradicate the infection. A brief course of corticosteroid therapy may be helpful in those with deteriorating renal function. Plasmapheresis may be useful in those with persistent hypocomplementemia, increased circulating immune complexes, and a progressive deterioration in the renal function. Removal of vegetation or valve replacement may be necessary. Prognosis is generally good.
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Received: 16 August 2000 / Revised: 8 November 2000 / Accepted: 9 November 2000
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Kannan, S., Mattoo, T. Diffuse crescentic glomerulonephritis in bacterial endocarditis. Pediatr Nephrol 16, 423–428 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004670000550
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004670000550