A Review of Ninety-Two Obstructive Megaureters in Children

Objectives: The evolution of clinical presentation, age of surgery and therapeutic approach of obstructive nonrefluxing megaureters (OMU) in children throughout the years has been retrospectively evaluated. Methods: 78 children with 92 stenotic ureterovesical junctions (UVJ) were reviewed. 66 underwent surgery at a median age of 20 months, after a median of 10.5 months of conservative treatment with prophylactic antibiotics. 21 OMU were diagnosed prenatally, 71 because of symptoms at later age. 15 ureters (12 children) (24% in the prenatal, 14% in the second group) were treated in a conservative way for 2 years with antibiotics. In the prenatal group 33% needed a reimplantation with tailoring and 10% without tailoring while in the other group the figures are reversed: 39% without and 21% with tailoring. 28% in the prenatal group and 17% of the second group were reimplanted at a mean of 15 months after a primary cutaneous ureterostomy. Three of 5 ureteroceles were treated by endoscopic incision; 4 had an immediate nephroureterectomy. The mean follow-up is >70 months. Results: By prenatal diagnosis the number of conservatively treated cases increased from 14 to 24%. Indications for surgery remained unchanged: recurrent infection and poor kidney function. Both approaches resulted in stabilization of pretreatment renal function; nearly half of the DMSA scans showed a R:L difference of >20% at follow-up. Ureterostomy for infected deteriorating kidneys rapidly ameliorated the function and resulted in shrinking of the ureteral diameter making tailoring at reimplantation unnecessary. One of the 3 endoscopically incised ureteroceles required later reintervention. Conclusions: Male:female (3:1), left:right (2:1) prevalence and high associated urological (30%) and nonurological (19%) pathology is found. Unsatisfactory reliability of tests for obstruction diagnosis and a referral bias explains the larger number of conservatively treated ureters in the prenatal group. Despite prenatal diagnosis, the age for surgery was not altered since the indications remained identical. Most OMU can be treated by a simple or tailored reimplantation of the ureter after resection of the stenotic segment. A temporary ureterostomy in small children with refractory infections restores function and avoids the necessity for tailoring at final reconstruction. One of 3 endoscopically incised ureteroceles needed surgery at a later stage. DMSA shows stable function after reimplantation.