[Proliferative glomerulopathy in pneumococcal septicemia in a patient with lupus (author's transl)].

Acute glomerulopathy due to pneumococcal infection occurred in a patient with chronic discoid lupus. The onset of renal involvement in this context suggested that cutaneous lupus may have developed into systemic lupus erythematosus. Renal biopsy established the correct diagnosis. The physiopathology of glomerular involvement in lupus and infections is discussed. Attention is drawn to the significance of complement activation, either by the classical or the alternative pathways according to the etiology.