Reflux nephropathy

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Female urinary tract

Male urinary tract

Vesicoureteral reflux

Voiding cystourethrogram

Chronic atrophic pyelonephritis; Vesicoureteric reflux; Nephropathy - reflux; Ureteral reflux

• Repeated urinary tract infections in a female
• A single urinary tract infection in a male
• Flank pain , back pain , or abdominal pain
• Urinary frequency/urgency increased
• Need to urinate at night
• Burning or stinging with urination
• Feeling of incomplete emptying of the bladder
• Blood in the urine
• Dark or foamy urine

• Urinary hesitancy
• Nausea and vomiting
• Nail abnormalities
• Fever
• Chills

The blood pressure may be elevated, and there may be signs and symptoms of chronic renal failure.

Other tests include:

• Kidney ultrasound
• Serum BUN
• Serum creatinine
• Creatinine clearance
• Urinalysis or 24-hour urine studies that show elevated urine protein levels
• Urine culture that shows infection.
• Radionuclide cystogram may show vesicoureteric reflux or hydronephrosis (distention of the kidney from fluid accumulation in the renal pelvis)
• IVP that shows hydronephrosis, a small kidney, or scarring of the kidney
• Abdominal CT scan or ultrasound of the kidneys or abdomen that shows hydronephrosis, reflux, a small kidney, or scarring.
• A voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG) definitively diagnoses vesicoureteric reflux

Review Date: 09/13/2005
Reviewed By: Robert Mushnick, M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor, SUNY Downstate Health Center, Brooklyn, NY. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.