[Primary vesicoureteral reflux. I: Renal growth in kidneys without pyelonephritis]

We have studied renal growth in 133 children with 195 refluxing ureters (VUR). Average follow-up was 38 (range 12-84) months. Low grade VUR (I-III) were more frequent and left-sided ones predominated among unilateral cases. There was a clear correlation between VUR grade and the presence of reflux nephropathy (RN). Seventy percent of low-grade VUR cured under long-term urine disinfection, whereas surgery was successful in 97.5% of high-grade, often scarred, units. Recurrent urinary infections after cure of VUR were equally frequent in both groups. The growth of the 140 unscarred refluxing kidneys was evaluated by means of renal length, corticorenal index and growth speed measurements. All values remained within ranges considered statistically undistinguishable from those of normal kidneys. Our findings confirm that, in our conditions of treatment, VUR without RN does not impair renal growth for the period of time studied.