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Relationship between acute pyelonephritis, renal scarring, and vesicoureteral reflux

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Abstract

Acute pyelonephritis (APN) may produce permanent renal damage (PRD), which can subsequently lead to diverse complications. We prospectively evaluated 147 females and 122 males (mean age 3.5 years) with APN in order to analyze the relationship between the presence of PRD, at the time of cortical renal scintigraphy, and age, gender, episodes of urinary tract infection (UTI), and presence of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). There were 152 children studied after the first proven UTI. VUR was present in 150 children. PRD was observed in 170 children. There were no significant differences between boys and girls. PRD was found in 36.4% of children younger than 1 year and in 70.1% of those older than 1 year (P<0.0001). Of children with VUR, 72% had PRD compared with 52% of children without VUR (P<0.0001). Of children with a first episode of UTI, 55.9% developed PRD as did 72.6% of those with recurrent UTI (P=0.004). Our results showed that PRD in children with APN is important, especially in the presence of VUR, recurrent UTI, and older age.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nuclear Medicine Section, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Chile, Marcoleta 347, Santiago, Chile

    Pilar Orellana

  2. Department of Pediatric Urology, School of Medicine, Catholic University of Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Paulina Baquedano

  3. Radiation Medicine Center (BARC), Mumbai, India

    Venkatesh Rangarajan & Aban Meyer Samuel

  4. Nuclear Medicine Section, Shanghai Medical University, Hua Shan Hospital, China

    Jin Hua Zhao

  5. Nuclear Medicine Section, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore

    Ng David Chee Eng

  6. Nuclear Medicine Section, University Medical Centre, Slovenia

    Jurij Fettich

  7. Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

    Tawatchi Chaiwatanarat

  8. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Turkey

    Kerim Sonmezoglu

  9. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    Dilip Kumar

  10. Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, St. Vincent’s Hospital, Catholic University of Korea, Korea

    Yung Ha Park

  11. Department of Pediatric Clinical Physiology, The Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital, Sweden

    Rune Sixt

  12. Department of Pediatric Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

    Veereshwar Bhatnagar

  13. International Atomic Energy Agency, Austria

    Ajit K. Padhy

Authors
  1. Pilar Orellana
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  2. Paulina Baquedano
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  3. Venkatesh Rangarajan
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  4. Jin Hua Zhao
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  5. Ng David Chee Eng
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  6. Jurij Fettich
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  7. Tawatchi Chaiwatanarat
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  8. Kerim Sonmezoglu
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  9. Dilip Kumar
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  10. Yung Ha Park
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  11. Aban Meyer Samuel
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  12. Rune Sixt
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  13. Veereshwar Bhatnagar
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  14. Ajit K. Padhy
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Correspondence to Pilar Orellana.

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Orellana, P., Baquedano, P., Rangarajan, V. et al. Relationship between acute pyelonephritis, renal scarring, and vesicoureteral reflux. Pediatr Nephrol 19, 1122–1126 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-004-1501-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00467-004-1501-5

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