We followed up 128 patients with crescentic glomerulonephritis (CGN), having sufficient clinical and histopathological data for a mean period of 34 +/- 28 months. There were 49 males and 79 females, mean age 22.7 +/- 14 years. We studied the effects of clinical, laboratory and histopathological parameters on kidney function and survival at the end point of the study. Multivariate analysis indicated that serum creatinine at presentation, nephrotic range proteinuria during the follow-up period, percentage of glomeruli with crescents, percentage of fibrous crescents and absence of cellular infiltration were significant risk factors affecting kidney function at the end of the study. The only risk factor significantly correlated with mortality was serum creatinine at last follow-up.