Prolonged Survival in Goodpasture's Syndrome

Abstract

In recent years there has been reported a group of cases ^1-11 presenting with a combination of idiopathic pulmonary hemosiderosis and glomerulonephritis. This syndrome has been named after Goodpasture who described such an illness in 1919.¹² We have observed the clinical course of a young man with Goodpasture's syndrome, who demonstrated a long-term remission of pulmonary and renal symptoms during prolonged and high-dose steroid administration. This was an unusually benign course compared to most cases reported in the literature. The dynamics of intravenously injected radioiron were studied during a period of acute intrapulmonary bleeding in this patient, and the data are presented. In contrast, two other cases of Goodpasture's syndrome are re- ported, which followed the malignant clinical course frequently described. These observations directed attention to the clinical spectrum of this disease as well as to the debated role of steroids as an adjunct to therapy. Report of Cases