Management and early reconstruction of urinary tract abnormalities detected in utero.

Pre-natal detection of urinary tract anomalies by ultrasound prevents delay in post-natal diagnosis and enables appropriate treatment to be instituted for potentially destructive uropathies. Over a 3-year period 42 cases (60 renoureteric units) of fetal urinary tract abnormality were diagnosed by maternal ultrasound. Sixteen of the 35 survivors underwent corrective urological surgery during the first months of life. Follow-up studies indicate that this early management results in satisfactory preservation of renal function.