Acute Tubulointerstitial Nephritis and Anterior Uveitis (TINU Syndrome): A Report of Two Cases

TINU or Dobrin syndrome is a rare oculo-renal inflammatory condition which is comprised of acute idiopathic tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis. We report here two female patients aged 35 and 44 years, who were admitted with severe renal failure of acute onset (serum creatinine of 607 and 310 Umol/L [Editor note: do you mean µmol/L?] respectively) with the first patient requiring hemodialysis. The cause of acute renal failure was unclear on clinical and laboratory assessment, and a percutaneous renal biopsy was performed which showed features of acute tubulointerstitial nephritis in both cases. Both patients were started on oral steroids at a dose of 1 mg/kg/day. There was progressive improvement of their renal function. Three months later, the two patients presented with bilateral anterior uveitis requiring local corticosteroid therapy. This was followed by total resolution of the uveitis. The cause of the interstitial nephritis and the uveitis could not be identified in the two cases. The renal function was normal in these patients after 24 and 27 months of follow-up, respectively. Dobrin or TINU syndrome is rare, and must be considered in patients who present with acute tubular interstitial [Editor note: for consistency with the title, you may wish to replace this with tubulointerstitial] nephritis and anterior uveitis.