• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.176-179
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• 2019

A giant prostatic urethral calculus has not been previously reported in dogs and should be distinguished from prostatic calculus. A 7-year-old castrated male Maltese dog with a 2-month history of relapsing hematuria and urinary incontinence with slowly progressing paraphimosis was referred. On abdominal radiography and ultrasonography, there was a giant calculus in the region of prostate or urethra, one left ureteral calculus, one urinary bladder calculus, and two penile urethral calculi. On computed tomography for evaluating the accurate location and planning the surgical approach, the giant calculus was located at the prostatic urethra. The calculi in urinary bladder, prostatic and penile urethra were surgically removed. These calculi were mixed-type of calcium oxalate monohydrate, struvite and calcium phosphate carbonate. On the basis of the urolith analysis and urine bacterial culture results, antibiotics and prescription diet were adjusted. At the 3-month follow-up, there were no clinical sings but paraphimosis was still remained, and ultrasonography revealed newly-formed, small urethral calculi at the prostatic urethra. This is the first report to describe the case of a canine giant prostatic urethral calculus and its clinical signs, diagnostic imaging findings, treatment, and outcome. CT may be useful to assess the accurate location and surgical approach for such calculi.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.112-116
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• 2021

Hyperammonemia is mainly caused by diseases related to liver failure. However, there are also non-hepatic causes of hyperammonemia, such as urinary tract infection (UTI) due to urease-producing organisms. Urease production by these bacteria induces a hydrolysis of urinary urea into ammonia that can cross the urothelial cell membrane and diffuse into blood vessels, leading to hyperammonemia. Delayed diagnosis and treatment of hyperammonemia can lead to lethal encephalopathy that can cause brain damage and life-threatening conditions. In the presence of obstructive uropathy, UTI by urease-producing bacteria can lead to more severe hyperammonemia due to enhanced resorption of ammonia into the systemic circulation. In this report, we present a case of acute severe hyperammonemic encephalopathy leading to brain death due to accumulation of ammonia in blood caused by Morganella morganii UTI in a 10-year-old girl with cloacal anomaly, causing obstructive uropathy even after multiple corrections.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.63-68
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• 2021

Urethral obstruction is a life-threatening feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD). The rate of recurring urethral obstruction was 14.8-58.1% after the first occurrence. Ultrasonographic findings associated with reobstruction had been rarely reported although ultrasonography was a valuable technique for diagnosing urinary bladder calculi and distinguishing different FLUTD causes. This retrospective study aims to describe the ultrasonographic findings, urinalysis, and serum chemistry profile in cats with FLUTD and determine the associations of reobstruction with ultrasonographic findings, urinalysis, and serum chemistry profile. The present study included 141 cats that were followed up for more than 1 year. The ultrasonographic criteria included the presence of cystolithiasis, urine echogenicity, sediment, suspended linear strand, pericystic effusion, hyperechoic pericystic fat, ureteral dilation, pyelectasia, and perirenal effusion. The urinalysis criteria included hematuria, urine-specific gravity, pH, sediment, and proteinuria. The most common ultrasonographic findings in cats with FLUTD were echogenic urine and sediment. However, this study did not find an association between reobstruction and ultrasonographic findings, urinalysis, and serum chemistry profiles. Thus, an ultrasonographic examination may be insufficient to predict the risk of reobstruction although it is a useful modality for diagnosing FLUTD and making treatment direction.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

Congenital isolated hydronephrosis encompasses a spectrum of physiologic states that spontaneously resolve and pathologic obstruction that necessitates surgical intervention. Distinguishing patients whose condition will resolve, those who will require stringent follow-up, and those who will eventually need surgical intervention present a challenge to clinicians, particularly because no unified guidelines for assessment and follow-up have been established. The recognition of the natural course and prognosis of hydronephrosis and a comprehensive understanding of the currently proposed consensus guidelines may aid in multidisciplinary treatment and in providing proper counseling to caregivers. In this review, we aimed to summarize the literature on the grading systems and management strategies for congenital isolated hydronephrosis.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.143-147
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• 2015

Purpose: Burkholderia cepacia is an aerobic, glucose-non-fermenting, gram-negative bacillus that mainly affects immunocompromised and hospitalized patients. Burkholderia cepacia has high levels of resistance to many antimicrobial agents, and therapeutic options are limited. The authors sought to analyze the incidence, clinical manifestation, risk factors, antimicrobial sensitivity and outcomes of B. cepacia urinary tract infection (UTI) in pediatric patients. Methods: Pediatric patients with urine culture-proven B. cepacia UTI between January 2000 and December 2014 at Samsung Medical Center, a tertiary referral hospital in Seoul, Republic of Korea, were included in a retrospective analysis of medical records. Results: Over 14 years, 14 patients (male-to-female ratio of 1:1) were diagnosed with B. cepacia UTI. Of 14 patients with UTI, 11 patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, and a bladder catheter was present in 9 patients when urine culture was positive for B. cepacia. Patients had multiple predisposing factors for UTI, including double-J catheter insertion (14.2%), vesico-ureteral reflux (28.6%), congenital heart disease (28.6%), or malignancy (21.4%). Burkholderia cepacia isolates were sensitive to piperacillin-tazobactam and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, and resistant to amikacin and colistin. Treatment with parenteral or oral antimicrobial agents including piperacillin-tazobactam, ceftazidime, meropenem, and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim resulted in complete recovery from UTI. Conclusion: Burkholderia cepacia may be a causative pathogen for nosocomial UTI in pediatric patients with predisposing factors, and appropriate selection of antimicrobial therapy is necessary because of high levels of resistance to empirical therapy, including aminoglycosides.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.59 no.3
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• pp.139-144
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• 2016

Purpose: Acute pyelonephritis (APN) is a serious bacterial infection that can cause renal scarring in children. Early identification of APN is critical to improve treatment outcomes. The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a prognostic marker of many diseases, but it has not yet been established in urinary tract infection (UTI). The aim of this study was to determine whether NLR is a useful marker to predict APN or vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 298 pediatric patients ($age{\leq}36months$) with febrile UTI from January 2010 to December 2014. Conventional infection markers (white blood cell [WBC] count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate [ESR], C-reactive protein [CRP]), and NLR were measured. Results: WBC, CRP, ESR, and NLR were higher in APN than in lower UTI (P<0.001). Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that NLR was a predictive factor for positive dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) defects (P<0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was high for NLR (P<0.001) as well as CRP (P<0.001) for prediction of DMSA defects. NLR showed the highest area under the ROC curve for diagnosis of VUR (P<0.001). Conclusion: NLR can be used as a diagnostic marker of APN with DMSA defect, showing better results than those of conventional markers for VUR prediction.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.63-68
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• 2016

Purpose: Disruption of normal renal development can lead to congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract, including renal hypodysplasia. We aimed to clarify whether small kidney size affects clinical manifestations in children with urinary tract infection (UTI). Methods: One hundred fifty-four patients who had their first symptomatic UTI between January 2014 and June 2015 were enrolled in this study. Differences in kidney size were estimated based on percent uptake of $^{99m}Tc-$ dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) in scintigraphy. The patients who showed more than 10% difference in kidney size on DMSA scintigraphy with none or minimal cortical defects were included in group A. (group A, n=17). Laboratory, clinical, and imaging results were compared with those of the other patients (group B, n=137). Results: Group A had a relatively higher incidence of vesicoureteral reflux than group B (44% vs 20%, P<0.05). The levels of plasma neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and serum C-reactive protein were significantly higher in group A (193 [64-337] vs 91 [59-211] ng/mL and 4.1 [0.5-11.9] vs 2.1 [0.7-5.3] ng/mL, respectively; all P <0.05). Linear regression analysis revealed that plasma NGAL level strongly correlated with the difference in renal uptake in DMSA scintigraphy in group A ($R^2=0.505$). Conclusion: The difference in kidney size could influence the clinical course and severity of pediatric UTI.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.839-846
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• 1987

The records of 10 patients with traumatic diaphragmatic hernia seen from November 1977 through July 1987 were reviewed. All the patients had a transdiaphragmatic evisceration of abdominal contents into the thorax. We treated 7 male and 3 female patients ranging in age from 3 to 62 years. In 8 patients, diaphragmatic hernia followed blunt trauma and in 2 patients, stab wounds to the chest. The herniation occurred on the right side in 3 patients and on the left side in 7. All the patients sustained additional injuries: rib fractures [7 patients], additional limb, pelvic and vertebral fractures [6], closed head injury [2], lung laceration [1], liver laceration [1], renal contusion [1], ureteral rupture [1], and splenic rupture [1]. Organs herniated through the diaphragmatic rent included the omentum [6 patients], stomach [4], liver [4], colon [3], small intestine [1], and spleen [1]. For right-sided injuries, the liver was herniated in all 3 patients and the colon, in 1. in the initial or latent phase, dyspnea, diminished breath sounds, bowel sounds in the chest were noted in 4 patients, and in the obstructive phase, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain were found in all 3 patients. Two patients had a diagnostic chest radiograph with findings of bowel gas patterns, and an additional 8 had abnormal but nondiagnostic studies. Hemothorax, pleural effusion or abnormal diaphragmatic contour were common abnormal findings. Three patients were operated on during the initial or acute phase [immediately after injury], 4 patients were operated on during the latent or intermediate phase [3 to 210 days], and 3 patients were operated on during the obstructive phase [10 to 290 days]. Six patients underwent thoracotomy, 2 required thoracoabdominal incision, and 2 had combined thoracotomy and laparotomy. Primary suture was used to repair the diaphragmatic hernia in 9 cases. One patient required plastic repair by a Teflon felt. Empyema was the main complication in 2 patients. In 1 patient, the empyema was treated by closed thoracostomy and in 1, by decortication and open drainage. There were no deaths.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.58 no.9
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• pp.341-346
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• 2015

Purpose: To evaluate the practical applications of the diagnosis algorithms recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics urinary tract infection (UTI) guideline. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of febrile UTI patients aged between 2 and 24 months. The patients were divided into 3 groups: group I (patients with positive urine culture and urinalysis findings), group II (those with positive urine culture but negative urinalysis findings), and group III (those with negative urine culture but positive urinalysis findings). Clinical, laboratory, and imaging results were analyzed and compared between the groups. Results: A total of 300 children were enrolled. The serum C-reactive protein level was lower in children in group II than in those in groups I and III (P<0.05). Children in group I showed a higher frequency of hydronephrosis than those in groups II and III (P<0.05). However, the frequencies of acute pyelonephritis (APN), vesicoureteral reflux (VUR), renal scar, and UTI recurrence were not different between the groups. In group I, recurrence of UTI and presence of APN were associated with the incidence of VUR (recurrence vs. no recurrence: 40% vs.11.4%; APN vs. no APN: 23.3% vs. 9.2%; P<0.05). The incidence of VUR and APN was not related to the presence of hydronephrosis. Conclusion: UTI in febrile children cannot be ruled out solely on the basis of positive urinalysis or urine culture findings. Recurrence of UTI and presence of APN may be reasonable indicators of the presence of VUR.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.83-88
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• 2006

Orthostatic or postural proteinuria is a benign condition characterized by the presence of protein in urine samples collected in the upright position during the day and its absence in the supine position. Recently, nutcracker phenomenon has been documented as the source of postural proteinuria. The nutcracker phenomenon refers to compression of the left renal vein between the aorta and superior mesenteric artery, resulting in elevation of pressure in the left renal vein, leading to congestion of the left kidney and occasionally to collateral veins formation. Entrapment of the left renal vein is a cause of left-sided gross hematuria, ureteral and peripelvic varices, unexplained left flank pain and variable degrees of orthostatic proteinuria. We report the case of a 14-year-old girl with orthostatic proteinuria, diagnosed as having nutcracker syndrome by doppler sonography and MR angiography. Because daily protein excretion was more than 1.5 grams over 3 years of follow up, we decided to perform a renal biopsy which revealed moderate mesangial cell proliferation in all glomeruli.