Increased nephron volume is not a cause of supranormal renographic differential renal function in patients with ureteropelvic junction obstruction.
OBJECTIVE
Increasing clinical importance is being placed on the role of differential renal function (DRF) in the management of congenital ureteropelvic junction obstruction. Supranormal DRF of the hydronephrotic kidney on renal scan is a puzzling phenomenon and is hypothesized to be due to an increase in single nephron filtration or nephron volume without sound evidence. We studied the histopathological changes of hydronephrotic kidneys to determine whether glomerular hypertrophy underlies supranormal DRF.


METHODS
We retrospectively evaluated the records of 3 females and 32 males with unilateral congenital hydronephrosis who underwent pyeloplasty. Mean patient age at operation was 12.6 months (range 0.1 to 144). Needle biopsies from 3 different sites at the lower pole of the kidney were performed during surgery. To evaluate the presence of glomerular hypertrophy, the maximal planar area of glomeruli was measured under light microscopy using an image analyzer. Tissue samples obtained from kidneys without a history of urinary tract disease at autopsy were used as controls. The mean glomerular areas of the patient and control groups were evaluated according to DRF and age.


RESULTS
The mean glomerular area values of the patient group were smaller than those of the control group, except for 4 patients. The glomerular areas of the hydronephrotic kidneys with supranormal DRF were not significantly different from those of the control group. Instead, the probability of larger renal glomeruli increased with decreasing DRF (p = 0.1155).


CONCLUSIONS
Increased nephron volume can be discounted as a cause of supranormal DRF.
Departments of Urology, Pathology, Biostatistics and Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seodaemoon-Gu, Sinchon-Dong, 134 Seoul, Korea.
Won Sik
WS
Ham
Hyeon Joo
HJ
Jeong
Sang Won
SW
Han
Jang Hwan
JH
Kim
Dong Kee
DK
Kim
D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006869:Hydronephrosis / Q000151:congenital / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D007223:Infant; D007668:Kidney / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000473:pathology; D007682:Kidney Pelvis / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D009399:Nephrons / Q000473:pathology*; D011866:Radioisotope Renography; D014517:Ureteral Obstruction / Q000151:congenital / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery