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Updated: Jun 13, 2026

Point-of-Care Kidney and Genitourinary Ultrasound in Adults: Image Acquisition
Published on: June 21, 2024
A rare case of ectopic intrathoracic kidney in a 1-year-old child
M Rouanne1, A Le Mandat, S Dorgeret
1Department of Pediatric Surgery and Urology, University Hospital Robert Debré, AP-HP, University of Paris VII, Paris, France. mathieu.rouanne@gmail.com
Abstract:
Congenital thoracic ectopic kidney is a rare developmental anomaly, with the thorax being the rarest and higher location of ectopic kidneys. This anomaly is usually asymptomatic and discovered incidentally on routine chest radiography. At least 200 cases of thoracic kidney have been described, with the vast majority of cases documented in adults. To our knowledge, this is only the sixth case of congenital ectopic thoracic kidney described in a child. Herein, we report a rare case of a 1-year-old child exhibiting ectopic intrathoracic kidney. We further discuss the embryonic background and the current management of this pathology.
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