Remember the "Putty Kidney"-A Reminder of Days Gone by

The term ''putty kidney'' was first used in 1906 by Dr. F. Tilden Brown, a genitourinary surgeon, to describe a well-defined density seen in kidney region on standard radiograph which is caused by a ''putty-like'' substance that had formed a cast inside a tuberculous kidney. The putty kidney is a classic imaging sign, rarely seen nowadays which represents a nonfunctioning autonephrectomized kidney seen in end stage renal tuberculosis.^1-5 Here, we describe a 45-year-old female with left flank pain who on imaging had a classic putty kidney which led to an evaluation and later confirmation of a diagnosis of renal tuberculosis.