Interstitial/Tubulointerstitial nephritis

[Gotroot]

Hi everyone,

Has anyone here been diagnosed with interstitial nephritis/tubulo-interstitial nephritis due to pyelonephritis? Thank you

[Shazz53]

Edit: I just saw your last sentence where you were asking about diagnosis of pyelonephritis - while bacterial infection was supposedly ruled out in my case, it is interesting that this all occurred while I was being treated for a UTI. I will leave my response, but note that it may not be relevant to your case -

I was diagnosed with interstitial nephritis in August of 2020. Not sure what your specific question is, but this is my story Ended up in the ER after a lab test showed creatinine level of 18. Spent 3 weeks in the hospital - had 8 dialysis treatments. They could not do a biopsy because I had an allergic reaction to heparin and there was a concern about bleeding.

I was treated with prednisone as well. My creatinine levels gradually came down and I now have “normal” labs and kidney function for my age. I am a 69 year old female, and creatinine is currently less than 1.0.

They never found the cause, but presumption was allergic reaction to medication. Suspects were antibiotic Ciprofloxacin, Prilosec, or Advil.

Doctors were very surprised I regained kidney function, and had already requested dialysis at my local center. But one doctor held out hope and patiently managed my care until the kidneys recovered - she is my hero!

[Gotroot in reply to Shazz53]

Thank you Shazz. Usually the problem goes away once the suspected medication is stopped. If you do no mind, how did they know you had interstitial nephritis without doing a biopsy?

[Shazz53 in reply to Gotroot]

I should have clarified that the official diagnosis was interstitial nephritis - unsubstantiated, but the nephrologists seemed to think that is what it was. They were frustrated by not being able to do the biopsy.

[Kidney1127 in reply to Shazz53]

My pcp informed me that I have interstitial nephritis, causing inflammation and unsubstantiated by biopsy. What criteria is there to warrant a biopsy? tia