Urinary Imaging Findings in Young Infants With Bacteremic Urinary Tract Infection

To describe renal ultrasound (RUS) and voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) findings and determine predictors of abnormal imaging in young infants with bacteremic urinary tract infection (UTI).

We used retrospective data from a multicenter sample of infants younger than 3 months with bacteremic UTI, defined as the same pathogenic organism in blood and urine. Infants were excluded if they had any major comorbidities, known urologic abnormalities at time of presentation, required intensive unit care, or had no imaging performed. Imaging results as stated in the radiology reports were categorized by a pediatric urologist.

Of the 276 infants, 19 were excluded. Of the remaining 257 infants, 254 underwent a RUS and 224 underwent a VCUG. Fifty-five percent had ≥1 RUS abnormalities. Thirty-four percent had ≥1 VCUG abnormalities, including vesicoureteral reflux (VUR, 27%), duplication (1.3%), and infravesicular abnormality (0.9%). Age <1 month, male sex, and non-Escherichia coli organism predicted an abnormal RUS, but only non-E coli organism predicted an abnormal VCUG. Seventeen of 96 infants (17.7%) with a normal RUS had an abnormal VCUG: 15 with VUR (Grade I-III = 13, Grade IV = 2), 2 with elevated postvoid residual, and 1 with infravesical abnormality.

Although RUS and VCUG abnormalities were common in this cohort, the frequency and severity were similar to previous studies of infants with UTIs in general. Our findings do not support special consideration of bacteremia in imaging decisions for otherwise well-appearing young infants with UTI.