OBJECTIVE To study the long term effectiveness of intravenous immunoglobulin and plasmapheresis associated with prednisone and cyclophosphamide in Churg-Strauss syndrome. SUBJECTS and methods: We studied 18 subjects with new onset Churg-Strauss syndrome. All received the "standard" treatment based on prednisone (1 mg/kg/day for 1 month and then slowly tapered) and cyclophosphamide (2 mg/kg/da...

The Churg-Strauss syndrome (CSS), also called allergic granulomatosis and angiitis, is a multisystem disorder characterized by allergic rhinitis, asthma, and prominent peripheral blood eosinophilia. CSS is classified as a vasculitis of the small and medium sized arteries, which commonly involve the lung, the skin and the peripheral nerves and it is associated to ANCA in 40-60 percent (Sinico & ...

In 1951 the pathologists Churg and Strauss identified 13 patients who presented with a clinical syndrome characterised by asthma, hypereosinophilia, and evidence of vasculitis aVecting a number of organs. The three main histological features found on pathological examination of these cases were extravascular granulomas, tissue eosinophilia, and necrotising vasculitis (fig 1). Most of these pati...

Leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRA) are widely used in the treatment of asthma. Over the years, case reports have suggested a possible link between their introduction and the development of Churg–Strauss syndrome. The case we describe highlights a strong temporal relationship between the initiation of montelukast and appearance of features suggestive of Churg–Strauss syndrome; our patient w...

The case of a 48-year-old man presented in this paper illustrates an atypical clinical course of Churg-Strauss syndrome with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis with no signs of bronchial asthma.