[Tomodensitometry in the diagnosis of perinephritic phlegmon].

Twenty-nine patients with perinephric abscess were treated during the last 15 years. Twenty-seven abscesses were cured by drainage performed as soon as the diagnosis has been made. One patient died from septicemia in spite of the treatment. One patient died because the correct diagnosis was not revealed until the autopsy. Ten patients had a nephrectomy performed on them later on. Staphylococcus and gram negative bacilli were equally isolated. Stones were present in twenty patients. Eleven patients were diabetic. The clinical picture is not always clear, and diagnosis might be difficult. The different radiological signs help to reach a correct and prompt diagnosis. To these classical signs we can add during these last years Gallium-67 radionuclide studies, ultrasound and computerized tomography, each of these having its indication and usefulness.