Acute renal failure associated with diflunisal.

Introduction Diflunisal has been reported as causing acute allergic interstitial nephritis (Chan et al., 1980) resulting in acute oliguric renal failure. A case of acute renal failure due to tubulo-interstitial nephritis after 3 months of diflunisal is reported here. Recently, phenylakalonic acids with analgesic and antiinflammatory properties such as fenoprofen and naproxen have been reported as causing tubulointerstitial nephritis manifested by acute renal failure and often accompanied by nephrotic syndrome but without signs of hypersensitivity such as fever, rash, and eosinophilia (Wendland, Wagoner and Holley, 1980). Diflunisal is not a phenylakalonic acid but is the difluorophenyl derivative of salicylic acid; it has analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties but with fewer side effects than salicylic acid.