The nautral history of postobstructive renal atrophy shown by sequential urograms.

Abstract

Twenty-five patients with postobstructive renal atrophy were followed from seven months to fifteen years without further episodes of obstruction. Excretory urography demonstrated no appreciable change in papillary blunting or in loss of parenchymal thickness or renal Iong-axis length. It is concluded that, once obstructive atrophy has been produced in adults, its extent does not change appreciably while the kidney remains unobstructed. Therefore, if postobstructive renal atrophy does show change with time, some new factor is operating, and this is a strong indication for further investigation.