Renal cortical scintigraphy (DMSA) in the diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital Nan-Jing Peng

Acute pyelonephritis (APN) is a common febrile illness of children. Improper treatment of APN may lead to an irreversible damage of renal parenchyma, a decrease of GFR, and eventually hypertension and chronic renal insufficiency. Early diagnosis and rapid effective antibacterial therapy for APN are vital for the prevention of renal scarring or chronic pyelonephritis. Renal cortical scintigraphy (DMSA scan) is a highly sensitive and specific method to detect renal cortical abnormalities and be recommended the gold standard for the diagnosis of APN and be done routinely in children with UTI. Abstract

Renal cortical scintigraphy of a 9 y/o girl with acute pyelonephritis. High resolution planar images show a cortical defect in midzone of left kidney (arrow). In SPECT image, the defect is most clearly visualized in posterior 1800 view (arrowhead). DMSA scan Planar imagePosterior SPECT