Pulmonary-Renal Syndrome: A Real-World Experience From a Tertiary Care Pulmonary Center in North India

Background: Pulmonary renal syndrome (PRS) is a simultaneous occurrence of diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH) and glomerulonephritis (GN). The diagnosis of PRS not only requires a high index of clinical suspicion and prompt management, but it is often fatal due to rapidly progressive clinical deterioration despite aggressive treatment. The authors, therefore, share the real-world experience of PRS presenting to tertiary care pulmonary center in north India. Aims: The objectives of the study were to identify etiology, clinical manifestations, treatment modalities and outcomes of patients presenting with PRS. Materials & methods: This was a retrospective observational study undertaken at Metro Centre for Respiratory Diseases of patients diagnosed with PRS during the last two years between 2019 and 2021. The patients diagnosed with PRS based on clinical manifestations, serology and biopsies were included in the study. All cases of non-immunological causes of PRS were excluded from the study. Chi-square and Mann-Whitney U tests were done to look for associations obtained between survivors and non-survivors. Cox regression analysis was done to estimate the hazard ratios of clinical variables on survival in PRS patients. Results: A total of 12 patients of PRS were included in the study and diagnosis was made based on clinical manifestations, serology as well as biopsies. The mean age of presentation was 45.4 (+/- 17.8) years and 66.7% of the patients were females. The most common etiology was anti-nuclear cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) seen in 83.3% of the cases. The most common symptoms were coughing and fever (80%) followed by dyspnea and hemoptysis (70%) with the mean duration of symptoms being 17.1 (+/- 8.9) days. The mortality of PRS patients in our study was 41.6% and these patients had a higher acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) score (median-26) compared to those patients who survived (median - 15.8). Conclusion: The occurrence of PRS, although rare, presents with rapid clinical deterioration leading to a high mortality rate. AAV was the most common cause of PRS as observed in our study. Early recognition and prompt aggressive management strategies with immunosuppressant therapies are essential for better outcomes for the patients.