Tubulointerstitial Nephritis With Uveitis (TINU): A Syndrome Rheumatologists Should Recognize

Patients with uveitis such as the patient whose case is reported here are often referred to rheumatologists for investigation of possible underlying systemic diseases. This patient presented with decreased vision, photophobia, weight loss, and fevers and was found to have uveitis, elevated creatinine, and interstitial nephritis. This raised consideration of a variety of systemic diseases before she was determined to have the tubulointerstitial nephritis with uveitis (TINU) syndrome. The TINU syndrome, although known to some ophthalmologists and nephrologists, is still rather obscure. Uncommon but not rare with 133 cases in the literature, TINU syndrome should be one more diagnosis to be considered in patients with uveitis. The median age of onset is 15, but it ranges from 9 to 74. There is a 3:1 female preponderance. Response to corticosteroids, which are used in 80% of reported cases, is rapid. The prognosis for the renal disorder is excellent, although the uveitis often recurs or remains chronic.