Ultrasonographic screening for renal abnormalities in three-year-old children

We report the results of ultrasonographic screening to determine the prevalence of renal abnormalities in children. This study was conducted simultaneously with a regular health check using portable realtime ultrasound equipment, from July 1988 to June 1989. Of 2920 three-year-old children resident in Kurume City, 2351 (80.5%) were screened. Abnormalities were detected in 11 (0.47%) of these, involving six cases of pelvic dilatation, three cases of unilateral renal agenesis, and two cases of a unilaterally small kidney. However, the simultaneous urinalysis of these 11 children did not disclose these abnormalities. Our results indicate that ultrasonography is an efficient tool for screening for a silent renal abnormality.