CASE REPORT   

Il Giornale Italiano di Radiologia Medica 2019 Novembre-Dicembre;6(6):612-8

DOI: 10.23736/S2283-8376.19.00235-3

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English, Italian

Usefulness of ultrasonography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance in the diagnosis of xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis

Caterina GAUDIANO ✉, Elisa SESSAGESIMI, Federica CICCARESE, Beniamino CORCIONI, Rita GOLFIERI

Department of Radiology, St. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGP) is an atypical form of the chronic granulomatous inflammatory process commonly associated with recurrent urinary infection and chronic obstruction, especially due to nephrolithiasis. This pathological condition often causes complete destruction of the renal parenchyma leading to severe impairment of the renal function. For this reason, total or partial nephrectomy is often required. Integrated imaging analysis is very useful in diagnosing the disease and for assessing all information which may affect therapeutic decisions. In this paper, a case of a 51-year-old woman with unilateral XGP studied using abdominal ultrasound (US), contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) with diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is reported to compare and integrate information coming from different imaging modalities. Emphasis was placed on the potential role of DWI as a valuable tool in the preoperative diagnostic workup of this disease.

KEY WORDS: Pyelonephritis, xanthogranulomatous; Multidetector computed tomography; Urography; Ultrasonography; Magnetic resonance imaging; Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging