Incidence and clinical significance of linear defects ascribed to interrenuncular septa on 99Tcm-DMSA SPET.

99Tcm-dimercaptosuccinic acid (99Tcm-DMSA) planar and single photon emission tomographic images from 100 children were reviewed to analyse whether linear defects corresponding to anatomical characteristics of interrenuncular septum (IRS) could be seen. Thirty sites in 30 kidneys (20 right, 10 left) from 27 patients were determined as showing IRS. They were seen less frequently in patients less than 7 years of age. The prevalence of IRS in the patients with vesico-ureteric reflux (VUR) was not significantly different from that in the patients without VUR. The interrenuncular septum was never seen on planar images and was most clearly demonstrated on conventional coronal tomographic images. The linear defects ascribed to IRS on 99Tcm-DMSA scintigrams were of a similar incidence to that reported previously. However, IRS is still an unestablished structure, and there is no evidence that these linear defects actually correspond to the structure described as the interrenuncular septum.