Spontaneous rupture of the kidney with perirenal hematoma.

Spontaneous rupture of the kidney involves either the collecting system or parenchyma, the latter being associated with a subcapsular or perirenal hematoma. A review was made of 78 cases of spontaneous parenchymal rupture with perirenal hematoma, including 4 of our own. One of these cases is the first description of spontaneous rupture of the kidney secondary to renal vein thrombosis. The patients are usually in the fourth decade of life and present with an acute onset of flank pain, a tender mass and commonly symptoms and signs of shock. Hematuria is often present and generally urography reveals a mass, distorted collecting system and/or non-visualization of the kidney. Tumors are the most common cause followed by vascular diseases, infection, nephritis and blood dyscrasias. Nephrectomy when possible should be performed expeditiously since conservative therapy is uniformly unsuccessful.