Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
Good·pas·ture's syndrome Pronunciation:
'gud-"pas-ch&rz- Variant:
also Good·pas·ture syndrome /-ch&r-/ Function:
noun : an autoimmune disorder of unknown cause that is characterized by the presence of circulating antibodies in the blood which attack the basement membrane of thekidney's glomeruli and the lung's alveoli and that is marked initially by coughing, fatigue, difficulty in breathing, and hemoptysis progressing to glomerulonephritis and pulmonary hemorrhages
Goodpasture, Ernest William (1886–1960), American pathologist. Goodpasture served for many years on the faculty of Vanderbilt University Medical School and as director ofthe research laboratory there. Known for his viral research, he was the first to study the progression of the herpes simplex virus along neural pathways to the central nervous system. In 1931 hedemonstrated that fowl pox virus could be cultivated on the chorioallantoic membrane of the chick embryo and later showed that human viruses could be grown in the same way. He developed methods thatmade possible the commercial, mass production of vaccines against viral diseases such as smallpox, yellow fever, and influenza. Goodpasture described the syndrome that bears his name in 1919.
