[Hydronephrosis due to pelvi-ureteric junction syndrome in the adult and child 3 reports (78 adults and 33 children) representing 118 hydronephrosis (author's transl)].

The following main points emerge from this analysis: -- Whilst all cases of hydronephrosis do not require operation, in the long term future of a non-operated hydronephrosis is difficult to predict and the risk of avoiding surgery is not definitely less than that of operation. -- Adult hydronephroses are much more often complicated by lithiasis (16 cases in 82 hydronephrotic kidneys) than those seen in children (4 cases in 36 hydronephrotic kidneys). -- The prognosis if hydronephrosis, especially with lithiasis, affecting a horseshoe kidney is particularly poor, without there being any clear explanation for this fact. -- Anderson-Hynes plasty of the pelvi-ureteric junction would seem to be a reliable operation, even more in the child than the adult. However, even when carried out perfectly, it provides no gaurantee against the development or secondary development of lithiasis, even when dilatation and urinary stasis have disappeared. Thus very prolonged surveillance is necessary after such surgery, above all when the hydronephrosis was accompanied by lithiasis.