Rodrigo Medorio
Introduction: Hydronephrosis is the most common ultrasound finding in fetal screening.It can be present in 1-3% of obstetric ultrasound making this a very important theme for personnel in charge of pediatric care because in real life practice every pediatrician will encounter a child whit urinary dilatation, especially in neonatal care.
Objective: Transmit knowledge of urinary dilatation focusing on possible causes, classification, and provide tips on how to distinguish patients that will require prompt intervention by a pediatric urologist and which can be managed conservatively by establishing a practical guideline for fallow up and optimal referral.
Methods: A review of literature has been done to create a first line fallow-up algorithm for first line pediatric healthcare personnel. We reviewed literature from the last ten years including articles referring to diagnosis, classification and fallow-up. We excluded the ones focused on surgical treatment and management outcomes ones referred to a specialist.
Results: It has been established an evidence based study algorithm for new born patients diagnosed with hydronephrosis and found that ultrasound is the cornerstone in decision making for fallow-up of hydronephrosis and also marks the next step to take.
Conclusion:All patients diagnosed with prenatal hydronephrosis need to be studied with ultrasound first. Being the first line contact, it is imperative for pediatric health care professionals to have a knowledge of how to monitor this patient for an optimal referral.
