[A case of malakoplakia of the kidney and urinary bladder]

A case of malakoplakia which co-existed in the kidney and the urinary bladder is reported. The patient was a 51-year-old female who had been suffering from asymptomatic macroscopic hematuria. Cystoscopic examination revealed multiple yellow-red nodules in the posterior and lateral wall of the bladder. Transurethral punch biopsy of the mucosa was performed and histopathological examination of the specimens revealed the diagnosis of malakoplakia. The laboratory data at admission were within normal limits except for slightly accelerated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. The culture of urine was negative. The cytology of urine was interpreted as Papanicolaou class I. Intravenous pyelography demonstrated filling defect of the left upper renal calyx, which was confirmed by retrograde pyelography. Computerized tomography showed dilatation of the left upper calyx. An exploratory operation disclosed that the upper calyceal neck was obstructed by several small nodular lesion, which were very similar to the lesions in the bladder. Because intraoperative pathological diagnosis of the frozen section was malakoplakia, partial nephrectomy was performed. Histopathological examination of the kidney and the bladder showed typical Michaelis-Gutmann bodies in the granulomatous lesions. Follow-up examinations 4 months after operation revealed some residual lesions in the bladder which were treated with bethanechol, but no recurrence in the kidney.