Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
An 8-year-old boy presented with a history of congenital hydronephrosis. The postnatal sonogram showed an enlarged right kidney with cortical thinning and markedly dilated calyces without associated pelviectasis (Fig. 1). Intravenous pyelogram confirmed the marked right calyceal dilatation. The pelvis and ureters were normal and there was no evidence of obstruction, with prompt and fairly symmetric opacification of the upper collecting systems (Fig. 2).
Congenital megacalyces is a rare cause of renal medullary dysplasia. The dilated calyces appear faceted and polygonal in contrast to the ballooned and spherical calyces of obstructive hydronephrosis. This condition is benign and nonprogressive, with near-normal renal function. The key to distinguishing this is that the pelvis and ureter appear normal without evidence of obstruction. It is important to differentiate this rare condition from the more common obstructive hydronephrosis to avoid unnecessary surgical intervention.
References
Kozakewich HP, Lebowitz RL (1974) Congenital megacalyces. Pediatri Radiol 2:251–257
Pieretti-Vanmarcke R, Pieretti A, Pieretti RV (2009) Megacalycosis: a rare condition. Pediatr Nephrol 24:1077–1079
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
Bekele, W., Sanchez, T.R. Congenital megacalyces presenting as neonatal hydronephrosis. Pediatr Radiol 40, 1579 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-010-1646-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-010-1646-2