Wegener's Granulomatosis

Abstract

• Thirteen patients with Wegener's granulomatosis were seen over 10.5 years. The clinical features resembled those in previously reported series, except for the increased frequency of inflammatory arthritis, which was a prominent early feature in ten patients (77%). Four (31%) of the 13 had fulminant vasculitis and died before receiving an adequate course of cytotoxic drug therapy. Two of these four had a pulmonary-renal syndrome that mimicked Goodpasture's syndrome. All of the remaining nine patients (69%) achieved an initial remission with cytotoxic agents (azathioprine or cyclophosphamide), but four died in less than one year with no evidence of vasculitis at autopsy. The 56% survival rate to one year in these nine patients contrasts with an 86% to 100% survival in other series. Chronic renal failure was a prominent sequela in those who survived one year. (Arch Intern Med 1983;143:476-479)