Background: Ultrasound examination (US) is a safe and accurate imaging method in the evaluation of the urinary system and its anomalies in neonates.
Aim: Determination of the incidence of congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract in neonates admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) by renal ultrasound screening.
Subjects and methods: This cross sectional study was conducted on 1000 newborns, aged more than three days, randomly selected from NICUs of Benha University Hospital from April 2012 to April 2013. The evaluation included thorough history taking, clinical examination and ultrasound screening of the kidney and urinary tract with follow-up protocol for renal pelvis dilation (RPD).
Results: Ultrasound examination revealed that the total incidence of renal abnormalities was 3% (30/1000) with male predominance, 16 males and 14 females. The abnormalities encountered were unilateral renal agenesis in 2 cases (0.2%), polycystic kidney in 4 cases (0.4%), horse shoe kidney in 2 cases (0.2%) and renal pelvis dilatation in 22 cases (2.2%) included 10 cases with mild RPD[antero-posterior diameter (APD) of 5-9.9 mm], 12 cases with moderate RPD [APD 10-14.9 mm]. Follow- up of the cases with RPD revealed: improvement in 12 cases. Etiological diagnosis was reached in 5 cases with persistent renal pelvis dilatation included vesico-uretral reflux (VUR) in 3 cases, posterior urethral valve (PUV) in one case and uretero-pelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) in only one case.
Conclusion: Congenital renal abnormalities are common in newborns and postnatal ultrasound renal screening is reliable, cheap, and non-invasive method, enabling the early detection of these sub-clinical abnormalities and hence the early management.
Key words: Postnatal ultrasound screening, congenital urinary tract abnormalities.
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