Chyluria: a scourge of our region.

Chyluria is endemic in the Gangetic belt of India with an average of 90 cases treated annually at our institute. It is almost exclusively caused by Wuchereria bancrofti in tropical areas. Chylomicrons and triglycerides are lost in the urine from an abnormal lymphourinary fistula due to obstructive lymphatic stasis, most commonly at the renal pelvis. It is a distressingly recurrent condition with multiple exacerbations and remissions over years. Severe weakness, weight loss and haematuria occur in some patients. Diagnosis can be made by visual examination of milky urine along with the ether test of urine for chylomicrons. Intravenous urography is used to locate the site of the fistula, although the detection rate is poor. Treatment starts with conservative measures such as a high-protein low-fat diet and diethylcarbamazine therapy. In cases where conservative measures fail, endoscopic sclerotherapy (renal pelvic instillation of silver nitrate, povidone iodine or others) and surgical therapy are used.

Hydatid cyst of the renal pelvis.

Hydatid disease is fairly common and is prevalent worldwide. The principal organs involved are the liver and lungs. Kidney involvement also occurs but usually with involvement of other viscera. Isolated hydatid cyst of the kidney is extremely uncommon. In the kidney, the hydatid cyst usually occurs in the renal parenchyma. We present a rare occurrence of a hydatid cyst of the renal pelvis in a 4-year-old child and discuss measures to decrease surgical morbidity.

Ultrasonography of ureteric abnormalities induced by Schistosoma haematobium infection before and after praziquantel treatment.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the ultrasonographic appearance of ureteric lesions due to Schistosoma haematobium infection and to report prevalence rates of such lesions in endemic communities in Mali before and after praziquantel treatment. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The total population (n = 961) of three S. haematobium-endemic villages in Mali was examined ultrasonographically to detect urinary tract morbidity. Urine was tested for S. haematobium ova and for haematuria. An identical follow-up study was performed 1 year after mass treatment with praziquantel. RESULTS: Prevalence rates of S. haematobium infection in the three villages were 53%, 72% and 73%. Ultrasonography revealed dilatation of the ureters in 143 subjects (15%). In 20 of these, mainly children and adolescents, thickening and irregularities of the ureteric wall with distal ureter obstruction were directly visualized on ultrasonography. Within the bladder of two others, an intraluminal structure of ureterocele-like appearance was seen. None of these alterations has been previously described as an ultrasonographic feature of schistosomal uropathy. Active S. haematobium infection and microhaematuria were found in 21 and 20 of these 22 subjects respectively. Significant renal obstruction was present in 10 of them. One year after treatment, an entirely normal urinary tract was found in 85% of 104 re-examined individuals who had had ureter dilatation. Ureteric wall thickening or ureterocele-like lesions had disappeared in 95% of subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The role of ultrasound in the evaluation of schistosomal uropathy is confirmed. Ureteric wall abnormalities causing strictures and ureterocele-like lesions of the ostium must be regarded as further ultrasonographic features of this condition. The study documents the excellent reversibility of ureteric abnormalities after antischistosomal treatment in children and adolescents, thus emphasizing the need for early and efficient medical treatment of the infection.

Ectopic ascariasis: report of a case with adult worms in the kidney.

Six adult Ascaris lumbricoides were found in the pelvis and calyces of the left kidney of a 25-year-old woman in Mexico. Prior to death three worms had emerged from a subcutaneous abscess which at autopsy was found to communicate with the colon through fistulas to the upper ureter above an occluding calculus, and from the renal capsule to the skin near the left iliac crest.