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Horseshoe kidney differential diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief:

Overview

Horseshoe kidney disease must be differentiated from renal ectopia, ureteropelvic junction obstruction, hydronephrosis, and duplicate collecting systems that can be differentiated based on appearances on CT scan.

Differentiating Horseshoe kidney from other Diseases

Horseshoe kidney has to be differentiated from the following:[1]

The main differential diagnosis of HSK is another variety of renal ectopia known as pancake kidney, disc kidney or shield kidney in which there is complete mid-line fusion of the kidneys at the pelvis. It is usually seen below the L2 vertebral body and is frequently associated with vascular abnormalities of the aortic branches.

Hydro­nephrosis
Ureteropelvic junction obstruction
Duplicate collecting systems
Ovarian cysts
Renal ectopia
Crossed fused ectopy
Pan cake kidney or disc kidney

References

  1. Dyer, Raymond B.; Chen, Michael Y.; Zagoria, Ronald J. (2004). “Classic Signs in Uroradiology”. RadioGraphics. 24 (suppl_1): S247–S280. doi:10.1148/rg.24si045509. ISSN 0271-5333.

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