Glomerular crescent formation

What it means

Glomerular crescent refers hyperplastic lesions involving 10% or more of the circumference of Bowman's capsule. Crescents can be composed of a variable mixture of epithelial/leukocyte hypercellularity, fibrous matrix, and fibrin.

The crescent is an unspecific histopathological lesion that can be triggered by a variety of different underlying disorders. Whenever, microvascular injury leads to rupture of the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), the leakage of plasma proteins drives parietal epithelial cell hyperplasia as the key cellular component of the crescent. Single nephron GFR decreases because of tuft collapse, rupture of the Bowman capsule, and influx of immune cells and fibroblasts are all secondary events that may or may not occur in individual glomeruli. Periglomerular immune cell infiltrates or fibrotic encasting of the activated parietal cells (fibrocellular crescents) are subsequent events that may affect the dynamics and prognosis of the disease.

Rare diseases that can present with this1

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category