[Clinical study in infants with vesicoureteral reflux]

A clinical study was performed on 52 infants up to 2 years old with vesicoureteral reflux. We treated 12 of them conservatively. Half of them dropped out within 1 year. It was very difficult to follow up the infants over a long time in the conservative treatment group. As a result of the conservative treatment, reflux disappeared spontaneously in only 2 infants. Forty infants underwent antireflux operations. The reflux disappeared in all cases. However, we injured the peritoneum in 2 cases when the Politano-Leadbetter method was applied. A modified Politano-Leadbetter method was adopted because of the peritoneum injury. As an antireflux operation on infants, the modified Politano-Leadbetter method is desirable. Renal function and growth were studied. Renal function was assessed with 99m-Tc-DTPA renograms. Renal ratio was evaluated by intravenous pyelography. The function of refluxing kidneys Severely damaged was not improved after the antireflux operations. The small kidneys with a high grade or the atrophic kidneys did not demonstrate normalization of renal growth after antireflux operations. In conclusion, it is important to detect the reflux at the early infant stage and perform the antireflux operation at an early stage in the case of high grade or renal impairment.