[Do histologic changes of the upper renal pole in double ectopic ureterocele justify a conservative approach?]

The aim of this study was to review the histology of the upper pole segment in patients with duplex ectopic ureterocele to verify if a less aggressive surgery is justified in the prenatally diagnosed patients. We reviewed the histology of the upper pole segment of 15 consecutive patients with duplex system ectopic ureterocele treated between 1991 and 1999 at the Paediatric Surgery Unit of University Hospital of Messina. The diagnosis of duplex system ectopic ureterocele was made according to the criteria of the Section on Urology of the American Academy of Paediatrics. The histology specimens were assessed for dysplastic, inflammatory and obstructive changes. All 15 patients with duplex system ectopic ureterocele were surgically treated with heminephro-ureterectomy and the surgical specimens were histologically examined. Nine of the 15 patients were prenatally diagnosed. The histology of the upper pole segment of the 9 prenatally diagnosed showed in all patients segmental renal microcystic dysplasia, chondroid metaplasic islands and an inflammatory tubulo-interstitial nephropathy in 6 patients (66.6%) and in 2 (22.2%) nephroblastomatosis. The histology of six the postnatal postnatally diagnosed patients showed in all patients segmental multicystic renal dysplasia, inflammatory tubulo-interstitial nephropathy and segmental parenchymal scars. The upper pole histology of the patients with duplex ectopic ureterocele diagnosed prenatally did not show any evidence of reversible histological change. Considering the histology and the good outcome of patients treated with upper pole nephroureterectomy a less aggressive surgery with preservation of the upper pole does not seem justified.