Renal infarction as a cause of acute flank pain

Renal infarction results from occlusion of the main renal artery or its distal branches. The clinical picture depends on the extent and the rapidity of the occlusion. Herein, the different imaging modalities (including ultrasonography, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, intravenous urography, and angiography) for diagnozing renal infarction are discussed. The key-modality is computed tomography. Because of the limited warm ischemia time of the kidneys (1.5 hours?) and the time required for diagnosis, there is no real therapeutic relevance in most cases.