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| CASE REPORT |
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| Year : 2019 |
Volume
: 30 | Issue : 1 | Page
: 226-230 |
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Successful use of rituximab for hydralazine-induced anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies-associated vasculitis
Michael A Paley1, Fahad Edrees2, Satoru Kudose3, Joseph P Gaut3, Prabha Ranganathan1, Anitha Vijayan4
1 Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
2 Department of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
3 Department of Pathology and Immunology, Division of Anatomic and Molecular Pathology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
4 Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
Correspondence Address:
Michael A Paley
Department of Medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110
USA
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DOI: 10.4103/1319-2442.252915 PMID: 30804286 
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Hydralazine is a commonly used anti-hypertensive medication. It can, however, contribute to the development of autoimmunity, in the form of drug-induced lupus and anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies-associated vasculitis. We report a 45-year-old patient with hypertension managed with hydralazine for four years who presented with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN), requiring hemodialysis, and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH), requiring mechanical ventilation, and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. The patient's autoantibody profile was consistent with a drug-induced autoimmune process and renal histology revealed focal necrotizing crescentic GN. She was treated with high-dose steroids, plasma exchange and rituximab. DAH resolved and her renal function improved, allowing discontinuation of hemodialysis. This case reveals that rituximab can be successfully used in the setting of hydralazine-induced vasculitis, including critically ill patients with severe DAH and acute kidney injury from RPGN.
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