Chronic interstitial nephritis

Abstract

Chronic tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN) is characterised histologically by tubular cell damage with interstitial changes consisting of infiltration with mononuclear cells in a matrix which is expanded with increased amounts of collagen, proteoglycans and fluid. Chronic TIN is a common final pathway towards chronic renal failure regardless of whether the primary insult is glomerular, as in glomerulonephritis or diabetes, or vascular, as in hypertension or renal ischaemia, or directly affects the tubulointerstitium. In this chapter, we therefore consider these conditions where TIN is the result of direct injury to the tubulointerstitium, focusing on the epidemiology, pathology and clinical ..