title: Phantom kidney: a CT correlation.
abstract: The phantom kidney is a "kidney-like" apparition which may be seen in dynamic renal scintigraphy typically in post-nephrectomy patients or in patients with unilateral renal agenesis. We report a case of a phantom kidney demonstrated in the angiographic phase of renal scintigraphy with 99mTc-dimercaptosuccinic acid (99mTc-DMSA) in a patient who was nephrectomized 14 years previously. After comparison with the CT images, we conclude that our patient's finding was caused by an increased mesenteric vascularity, possibly postprandial. Several conditions which may cause the phantom kidney effect, have been reported, but increased mesenteric vascularity seems to be the most common cause.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mochizuki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Charron
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Shah
authors.forename: W N
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Tauxe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D007668:Kidney / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D009392:Nephrectomy; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D004113:Succimer; D019783:Technetium Tc 99m Dimercaptosuccinic Acid; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D019783:Technetium Tc 99m Dimercaptosuccinic Acid; D004113:Succimer