The Renal Ultrasound in Patients with Acute Kidney Injury.

Aims: Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) is seen in 15% of hospitalized patients and a renal ultrasound (RUS) is often ordered to exclude an obstructive cause in the initial evaluation of AKI. This study was done to evaluate the usefulness of a RUS in patients with AKI in a developing country. Methods: This was a retrospective study on all patients who were referred to nephrology with AKI and had a RUS, over a one-year period at a tertiary care teaching hospital of Karachi, Pakistan. The patients’ charts were reviewed for clinical characteristics and the RUS findings were documented. Results: A significant number of patients did not have documented risk factors for obstruction based on the medical history. Hydronephrosis was found in 22.5% (25 out of 111) of patients, and in 14 of these cases, the etiology of the acute kidney injury was found to be obstructive uropathy. The presence of nephrolithiasis and/or benign prostatic hypertrophy was associated with and increased likelihood of finding hydronephrosis on RUS. Conclusions: We thus recommend doing a renal ultrasound in all cases of AKI due to the fact that most of the time in a developing country, an accurate history is not available, and the prevalence of stone disease and obstructive uropathy is high.

A Case of Sub Hepatic Perforated Appendicitis Presented as Multiple Gas Containing Subcapsular Hepatic Abscesses.

Appendicitis is the most common acute surgical condition of the abdomen. The diagnosis of acute appendicitis can often be made clinically. When the appendix is situated in an abnormal position, the diagnosis of acute appendicitis becomes difficult. Delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis of subhepatic appendicitis might lead to perforations of the appendix, which is a clinical emergency. Liver abscess as a complication of appendicitis was first described in 1898 by Dieulafoy. The majority of pyogenic liver abscesses are caused by infection originating in the biliary or intestinal tracts. Pyogenic liver abscess is a rare complication of acute appendicitis. Multiple pyogenic liver abscesses are not frequently reported in the literature, but the overall mortality is high, if left with no treatment or not treated early. We have reported a case of subhepatic perforated appendix presented with multiple subcapsular liver abscesses.