Renal trauma in occult ureteropelvic junction obstruction: CT findings

The aim of this study was to present CT findings of occult ureteropelvic junction obstruction in patients with renal trauma and to describe the clinical signs and singular CT features that are characteristically observed with trauma and are relevant to management of these patients. We retrospectively reviewed 82 helical CT studies in patients with renal trauma referred to our institution. We found 13 cases of occult preexisting renal pathology, six of which were occult ureteropelvic junction obstructions. The clinical presentation, radiologic findings of trauma according to the Federle classification, and CT findings of obstructed ureteropelvic junction are presented. We found three category-I lesions (one in horseshoe kidney), two of them treated with nephrostomy because of increased ureteropelvic junction obstruction due to pelvic clots; two category-II lesions (parenchymal and renal pelvis lacerations) that had presented only with microhematuria; and one category-IV lesion (pelvic laceration alone). Pelvic extension was demonstrated in all the cases with perirenal collections. The CT studies in all the cases with suspected ureteropelvic junction obstruction showed decreased parenchymal thickness and enhancement, and dilatation of the renal pelvis and calyx, with a normal ureter. Computed tomography can provide information to confidently diagnose underlying ureteropelvic junction obstruction in renal trauma, categorize the traumatic injury (at times clinically silent) and facilitate proper management according to the singularities observed, such us rupture of the renal pelvis alone (Federle category IV) and increasing ureteropelvic obstruction due to clots which can be decompressed by nephrostomy.