Abstract
Hydronephrosis is the most common application and most easily identified pathologic state for renal ultrasound (US). Because fluid is so readily imaged with ultrasound, dilation of the renal pelvis and central collecting system appears black on the sonogram scan and can be seen readily. One of the most common disease processes of the urinary tract is nephrolithiasis causing colic. The overall advantages of computed tomography usually make formal renal US the second choice in diagnostic imaging of suspected renal colic. However, given radiation exposure risk and allergic and nephrotoxic risk of iodinated contrast if used, occasionally US is the test of choice. Patients with acute renal vein thrombosis present with flank pain and tenderness, hypertension, and proteinuria. Patients with renal transplants are at particularly high risk for this and this diagnosis should be high on the list of differential diagnoses. Significant improvements in magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance venous phase imaging (MRV) scanning have greatly expanded their role in the evaluation of acute renal vein thrombosis. However US is diagnostic when it includes Doppler studies that show the absence of blood flow in the renal vein. Transplanted kidneys are easily imaged because of their relatively superficial location in the iliac fossa. With acute rejection, the kidney loses it ellipsoid shape and can start to appear more lobulated with shortening of the anteroposterior length.
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Noble, V.E., Liteplo, A., Brown, D.F.M. (2010). Renal Ultrasound. In: Jörres, A., Ronco, C., Kellum, J. (eds) Management of Acute Kidney Problems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69441-0_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-69441-0_11
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