Congenital Anomalies of Urinary Tract in Kosovo Population Diagnosed by Renal Scintigraphy

Congenital kidney and urinary tract abnormalities are considered among common congenital anomalies in people, resulting in loss of renal function and progression to the kidney disease terminal stage. The aim of this study was to determinate the frequency of the urinary tract congenital anomalies among Kosovo people and the variability in Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) using renal scintigraphy. In a prospective study, spanning a one-year period, September 2018 to September 2019, we examined a group of 509 patients referred for renal scintigraphy in the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo. Dynamic renal scintigraphy with 99mTc DTPA was performed in all referred patients, while the static scintigraphy with 99mTc DMSA only in patients with kidney congenital anomalies and lower urinary tract. Among 509 patients, 228 (44.8%) were found to have congenital urinary tract anomalies. The most frequent congenital anomaly was renal hypoplasia (71 cases) followed by ureter-pelvic junction stenosis (45 cases). The elevated urea and creatinine values were found in 18 (7.9%) patients with the congenital urinary tract anomalies. The decreased GFR determined using DTPA scintigraphy was found in 99 (43.42 %) patients, despite the fact urea and creatinine values in 81 patients were normal. Our study found that patients with congenital renal and urinary tract abnormalities are at high risk for compromised glomerular renal function, particularity in those with horseshoe-shaped kidney, renal hypoplasia, and unilateral renal agenesis.