Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2004 Sep;172(3):1071-3; discussion 1073-4.
doi: 10.1097/01.ju.0000135337.71154.60.

Dimercapto-succinic acid scintigraphy instead of voiding cystourethrography for infants with urinary tract infection

Sverker Hansson  1 , Manjit Dhamey, Olof Sigström, Rune Sixt, Eira Stokland, Martin Wennerström, Ulf Jodal
Affiliations

Dimercapto-succinic acid scintigraphy instead of voiding cystourethrography for infants with urinary tract infection

Sverker Hansson et al. J Urol. 2004 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: We study the ability of dimercapto-succinic acid (DMSA) scintigraphy to predict the presence of dilating vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in infants with urinary tract infection (UTI) to simplify the evaluation protocol.

Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of the records of 303 children younger than 2 years with initial UTI investigated with DMSA scintigraphy and voiding cystourethrography (VCU) within 3 months after UTI was performed.

Results: In 156 of the 303 children (51%) DMSA scintigraphy showed renal lesions. VUR was found in 80 patients (26%) and VUR grade significantly correlated with the presence of renal lesions. A normal DMSA scintigraphy and dilating VUR (grade III) occurred in 7 infants. At followup after 1 to 2 years, 6 of these 7 patients had normal DMSA scans and 1 had a scarred duplex kidney. VUR resolved spontaneously in 5 and improved spontaneously to grade 1 in 2 patients. None of the 7 children had recurrent UTI.

Conclusions: DMSA scintigraphy in infants with UTI may replace VCU as a first line investigation. A strategy to perform VCU in only patients with renal lesions is proposed. In this study 147 of 303 VCUs would have been unnecessary as only 1 child with a damaged kidney was missed.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

Substances