Anti-glomerular Basement Membrane Disease After Diagnosis of Immunoglobulin A Nephropathy: A Case Report

Anti-glomerular basement membrane (anti-GBM) disease has one of the worst prognoses of nephritis and is rarely associated with other forms of glomerulonephritis. In this report, we present the case of a 76-year-old man who developed anti-GBM disease four months after being diagnosed with IgA nephropathy (IgAN). To our knowledge, although there have been several reports of IgAN combined with anti-GBM disease, there have been no cases in which we were able to confirm that the anti-GBM antibody titer changed from negative to positive over the disease course. This case suggests that even patients with previously diagnosed chronic glomerulonephritis, including IgAN, and an unusually rapid clinical course should be evaluated for the presence of autoantibodies to exclude overlapping autoimmune diseases.