Ureteral ectopia in infants and children.

The diagnosis of ureteral ectopia may be suspected in the girl who wets constantly or in the young boy with epididymitis. More commonly, however, the diagnosis is made during evaluation of the child with urinary tract infection. The ectopic ureter is most often associated with a poorly functioning dysplastic upper pole of a duplex collecting system and in this instance it is best managed by upper pole heminephrectomy and partial ureterectomy. When associated with a single collecting system, ureteral reimplantation can often be performed if salvageable function is demonstrated by a preoperative renal scan. Based on our experience with 48 ectopic ureters in 41 children operated on during the last 11 years, the correlation of the diagnostic findings and surgical approaches to this entity are discussed.