title: The sensitivity of renal scintigraphy and sonography in detecting nonobstructive acute pyelonephritis.
abstract: Recently it has been demonstrated that any child with proved acute pyelonephritis may be at risk for parenchymal scarring, whether or not reflux is present. Since cortical renal scintigraphy has been shown to detect accurately renal inflammation, we compared cortical scintigraphy with renal sonography in 46 children with documented acute pyelonephritis to determine which modality is best to detect patients at risk for renal injury. Cortical scintigraphy was abnormal in 36 children (78%) and renal ultrasonography was abnormal in 5 (11%). Reflux was demonstrated in only 20 cases (43%). We conclude that cortical scintigraphy is the preferred imaging technique for diagnosing renal inflammation, and it should be used routinely in every child with suspected acute pyelonephritis. A new imaging protocol is proposed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Urology, William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, Michigan.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kass
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fink-Bennett
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Cacciarelli
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Balon
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pavlock
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007668:Kidney / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D011704:Pyelonephritis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000382:microbiology; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000150:complications