Goodpasture syndrome, also known as anti–glomerular basement membrane disease, is a rare autoimmune disease. Patients with the syndrome experience a rapid progression to renal failure and death if the disease is not recognized and treated early.1,–3 First described by Ernest Goodpasture during the influenza pandemic of 1919, the syndrome has been extensively studied and has led to a better understanding of autoimmunity.2,4,5 In this article, I review the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of the acute phase of Goodpasture syndrome and describe the nursing interventions. A case study illustrates the multisystem failure encountered by patients with the syndrome.
Goodpasture syndrome, a disease of the glomerular and alveolar basement membranes, is characterized by pulmonary hemorrhage and crescentic glomerulonephritis. It is associated with serum antibodies to glomerular basement membrane and linear deposits of antibodies along the glomerular and alveolar basement membrane and may result...
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