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Ocular manifestations and clinical outcomes in Tubulointerstitial Nephritis and Uveitis Syndrome (TINU)

Eye volume 38, pages 349–356 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Purpose

To describe the various ocular clinical features and visual outcomes in Tubulointerstitial Nephritis and Uveitis Syndrome (TINU).

Methods

The medical records of 13 patients (26 eyes) diagnosed with TINU were reviewed.

Results

Twenty-six (26) eyes of 13 patients with TINU were reviewed in this study. The median age at onset of uveitis was 14 (range, 9–45). Eight (61.5%) subjects were female. The median follow-up of patients was 30 months (range, 6–89 months). Posterior segment findings were seen in 18 eyes of 9 patients (69.2%). The most common posterior findings were optic nerve head inflammation (16 eyes, 88.8%) and retinal vasculitis (13 eyes, 72.2%). Other posterior findings included vitritis (8 eyes, 44.4%), macular edema (6 eyes, 33.3%), snowball (4 eyes, 22.2%), and chorioretinal lesions (2 eye, 11.1%). Eight patients had fluorescein angiography (FA) data available and most eyes had retinal capillary leakage (13 eyes, 81.2%) followed by optic disc staining/leakage (12 eyes, 75%). Twelve (12) patients (92.3%) were treated with immunomodulatory treatment (IMT) and/or biologics. Five patients (%38.4) required biologics to control intraocular inflammation.

Conclusion

Posterior segment involvement may be common in patients with TINU syndrome. FA provides significant information for detecting posterior segment involvement and disease activity in TINU. The majority of patients required systemic treatment in order to control intraocular inflammation and prevent relapses.

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Fig. 1: Chorioretinal Lesions.
Fig. 2: Fluorescein Angiography Findings of Representative Patients.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are only available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Spencer Center for Vision Research, Byers Eye Institute, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA

    Gunay Uludag Kirimli, Muhammad Hassan, Neil Onghanseng, Chris Or, Cigdem Yasar, Sungwho Park, Amir Akhavanrezayat, Azadeh Mobasserian, Negin Yavari, Vahid Bazojoo, Hassan Khojasteh, Hashem Ghoraba, Irmak Karaca, Ngoc Trong Tuong Than, Moosa Zaidi & Quan Dong Nguyen

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Contributions

GU and MH were responsible for designing the work, writing the draft of the manuscript, analyzing the data, interpreting the results. NO, CO, CY, SP, AA, AM, NY, VB, HK, HG, IK, NT, and MZ were responsible for writing the draft of the manuscript, analyzing the data, interpreting the results. QDN supervised the scientific work, and preparation of the manuscript, and substantively revised the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Quan Dong Nguyen.

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Competing interests

QDN serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for Alumis, Bausch and Lomb, Genentech/Roche, Regeneron, and Santen, among others. MH is a consultant for Alumis. No other authors have received any financial funding or support.

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Uludag Kirimli, G., Hassan, M., Onghanseng, N. et al. Ocular manifestations and clinical outcomes in Tubulointerstitial Nephritis and Uveitis Syndrome (TINU). Eye 38, 349–356 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-023-02695-6

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