[Pelvic kidney. Apropos of 50 cases]

The pelvic ectopic kidney is a relatively rare congenital anomaly. It is situated below the horizontal level of the iliac crest. Fifty cases, collected over twelve years, are reported here: 47 unilateral PEK, 2 bilateral PEK, 1 solitary PEK. The main clinical patterns are outlined. The healthy ectopic kidney (18 cases): clinical complaints are derived from adjacent organs. The diseased ectopic kidney (32 cases). Urinary symptoms reveal the anomaly. Renal stones (21 cases) and uretero-pelvic junction disease (7 cases) are the most frequent lesions encountered. The diagnosis is based on IVP data. Ultrasonography and computed tomography are of great help: they avoid useless and expensive complementary investigations when clinical symptoms are misleading. Ectopic kidney should be treated as if it were in its normal position. However, surgical procedures that may be performed might be particularly difficult because of different anatomical environment and non-systematized blood supply.