Acute endocapillary glomerulonephritis in adults: a histologic and clinical comparison between patients with and without initial acute renal failure.

30 renal biopsies were performed in 20 adult patients with acute diffuse endocapillary glomerulonephritis. 11 patients who presented with acute renal failure (ARF) and 9 patients who had normal or mildly altered renal function were compared in order to look for clinical or pathologic features peculiar to each group and possible differences in outcome. All patients underwent early renal biopsy, and 8 had repeat biopsies. There were no significant differences in clinical, immunologic or histologic features between the two groups. In repeat biopsies, there were no histologic nor immunohistologic differences between patients with or without initial ARF. After a mean follow-up period of 18 months, the overall clinical outcome appeared favorable and was similar in the two groups. Thus, initial ARF in patients with acute endocapillary glomerulonephritis does not imply a bad prognosis. The recognition of pure endocapillary proliferation in patients with anuric acute glomerulonephritis by means of renal biopsy may avoid unnecessary and potentially hazardous treatment.