A Rare Case of Tubulointerstitial Nephritis and Uveitis Syndrome Treated with a Multi-Specialty Approach.
Title
A Rare Case of Tubulointerstitial Nephritis and Uveitis Syndrome Treated with a Multi-Specialty Approach.
Creator
Purt Boonkit; Hiremath Siri; Smith Sarah; Erzurum Sergul; Sarac Erdal
Publisher
The American journal of case reports
Date
2016
2016-11
Description
BACKGROUND It is important for an ophthalmologist and nephrologist to look for hidden causes of uveitis and nephritis, respectively. Delay in diagnosis leads to increased morbidity and failure to systemically manage the patient results in future recurrence of disease. It is likely that TINU remains underdiagnosed and could potentially account for some of the cases of idiopathic uveitis, especially when greater than 50% of uveitis cases have no identifiable cause. Fewer than 300 cases of tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis (TINU) syndrome have been reported. In TINU syndrome, inflammation affects the renal tubules, interstitial tissue, and uveal tract. Its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. CASE REPORT We report a rare case of TINU syndrome in a 23-year-old female who was treated using a multispecialty approach. Her primary care physician diagnosed her with proteinuria and acute kidney injury and referred her to the nephrologist, who later referred her to the ophthalmologist. A left kidney biopsy confirmed acute interstitial nephritis. Following the discovery of a "pink eye", the patient was referred to ophthalmology and diagnosed with anterior uveitis, confirming TINU syndrome. Without the additional findings of uveitis, the diagnosis would have been missed. Resolution was obtained through steroid therapy. CONCLUSIONS Correctly diagnosing TINU syndrome requires a multispecialty approach and may not be obvious upon initial presentation. Therefore, the ophthalmologist needs to consider TINU in the differential diagnosis for a patient with bilateral uveitis and evaluate a urinalysis for proteinuria as part of the work up.
Subject
Female; Humans; Young Adult; Follow-Up Studies; Biopsy; Glucocorticoids/administration & dosage; Kidney/*diagnostic imaging; Prednisolone/administration & dosage/*analogs & derivatives; Prednisone/*administration & dosage; Recurrence; Uveitis/diagnosis/*drug therapy; Diagnosis; Dose-Response Relationship; Drug; Differential; Drug Therapy; Combination; Interstitial/diagnosis/*drug therapy; Nephritis
Identifier
Rights
Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
Citation
Purt Boonkit; Hiremath Siri; Smith Sarah; Erzurum Sergul; Sarac Erdal, “A Rare Case of Tubulointerstitial Nephritis and Uveitis Syndrome Treated with a Multi-Specialty Approach.,” NEOMED Bibliography Database, accessed May 29, 2023, https://neomed.omeka.net/items/show/4914.