Artificial hydroureteronephrosis to facilitate MR urography during pregnancy.

INTRODUCTION

Insertion of a percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) catheter decompresses the upper urinary tract, thereby removing the hydroureteronephrosis upon which magnetic resonance (MR) urography is dependent for diagnosing the precise level and cause of ureteric obstruction.

METHOD

We present the case of a young woman who required PCN insertion during pregnancy.

RESULT

Only when unenhanced T2-weighted MR urography was repeated after the creation of an artificial hydronephrosis by an injection of sterile saline via the PCN catheter was the diagnosis of stone in the mid-ureter later made possible.

CONCLUSION

This case highlights an easy solution to a limitation with the use of MR urography during pregnancy, when a physiological hydroureteronephrosis has been relieved by the insertion of a PCN catheter.