Tatsukawa Hiroshi, Nagano Shuji, Umeno Yoshikazu, Oribe Motohiro
Department of Anatomy, Biology and Medicine (internal medicine 1), Oita Medical University, Oita-gun, Oita.
Intern Med. 2003 Sep;42(9):893-6. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.42.893.
A patient with bronchial asthma developed cholecystitis. Laboratory investigations revealed marked eosinophilia (6,615/mm3), an elevated anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody level and renal dysfunction (blood urea nitrogen 14 mg/dl, creatinine 1.4 mg/dl). Following cholecystectomy, histopathological examination revealed a marked inflammatory cell infiltrate composed mainly of eosinophils with evidence of invasion of the wall of the gall bladder and granuloma formation of arterioles. A diagnosis of Churg-Strauss syndrome was made and she was treated with 60 mg of prednisolone per day. A renal biopsy was performed one year later in view of persistent renal dysfunction. Pathological analysis revealed a pauci-immune glomerulonephritis with interstitial changes but no crescent formation.