Silent hydronephrosis, a hazard revisited

Six patients with neurogenic bladder secondary to spinal cord injury were seen in our Centre for routine follow-up. All of these individuals had attained the catheter-free state by various means and were, by their standards, functioning very well. They had gone from 6 months to 2 1/2 years without genito-urinary re-evaluations. One individual had a normal urogram 1 year after catheter removal and then 2 years later was noted to have bilateral hydronephrosis. Development of silent hydronephrosis in the catheter-free state, its treatment, and a regimen for following patients are discussed.