Familial interstitial nephritis with progressive renal failure

We describe a 53-year-old woman with chronic interstitial nephritis and asy mptomatic impairment of renal function. Seven members of her family were su ffering from renal failure and underwent hemodialysis. At the time of their hospital admissions, they had shown evidence of end-stage renal failure at 40 to 50 years of age. Lack of proteinuria, hematuria, hypertension, hyper uricemia, hearing loss, and visual impairment were present before the deter ioration of the renal function. Renal biopsy of the presented case indicate d chronic interstitial nephritis without glomerular basement membrane abnor malities. Progressive decline of renal function and the inheritance pattern of autosomal dominance in this family suggested the diagnosis of familial interstitial nephritis. (C) 2000 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.