Hydronephrosis: Comparison of extrinsic vessel versus intrinsic ureteropelvic junction obstruction groups and a plea against the vascular hitch procedure

Pediatric ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) due to an extrinsic crossing vessel (CV) is rare and often remains undiagnosed preoperatively. Vascular hitch procedures are often performed as associated intrinsic obstruction is not expected. We compared data and intravenous urography (IVU) findings of patients with aberrant CV versus those with intrinsic UPJO, all undergoing open dismembered pyeloplasty.Is accurate pre-operative diagnosis of aberrant CV causing extrinsic UPJO possible?To assess differences in the demographic, clinical, radiological, intra-operative features and postoperative improvement after pyeloplasty between patients with a CV and those with only intrinsic UPJO.Prospective study of all children below 12 years with UPJO presenting to a tertiary referral centre and who underwent open Anderson - Hynes dismembered pyeloplasty between 2003 and 2013 was conducted. Pre-operative investigations included serial ultrasonography, renal dynamic [ethylene di-cysteine (EC)] scan and IVU. These were repeated 3 months after pyeloplasty. Pre-operative IVUs of children with CV were compared with the IVUs of an equal number of similar aged children, randomly selected from the intrinsic obstruction group.Pyeloplasty was performed in 643 children during the study period. Data of 33 children with aberrant CVs (mean age 6.99 years) were compared with the remaining 610 children (mean age 3.27 years) with only intrinsic obstruction. Highly significant associations of those with CV included age above 2 years, female gender, associated anomalies, abdominal pain in those above 2 years and poor preoperative function on IVU. Specific IVU features which were statistically highly significant in favor of presence of CV were small, intrarenal and globular flat bottomed pelvis. (Figure) Calyceal dilatation was also more prominent in the CV group. A funnel shaped, extrarenal pelvis was highly significant in favor of intrinsic obstruction. There was associated intrinsic obstruction in addition to CV obstruction in 8 children. All children symptomatically improved after pyeloplasty and did well on long term follow up. The majority showed improvement or stabilization of function on EC scan.With the advent of antenatal ultrasonography, most children with UPJO are detected early. Children with CV tend to present later. This is often detected during surgery. Color Doppler is useful but is operator dependant and not performed routinely. In this study, IVU showed the presence of obstruction and loss of function unlike color Doppler, but also revealed specific diagnostic features not previously reported in literature. This can help in accurate preoperative prediction and avoid endopyelotomy, or a dorsal lumbotomy/retroperitoneal approach. Renal function in CVs is expected to be good as the obstruction is thought to be intermittent. However, we noted delayed contrast uptake on IVU in 60.6% and differential renal function on EC scan below 40% in 17 patients (56.6%). These indicate the effect of the obstruction on the renal parenchyma and the importance of early detection. Higher association with other anomalies and higher incidence in females has also not been emphasized in the literature so far. We noted associated intrinsic obstruction in 24.24% patients which is highly significant. This category of patients is likely to be missed and inappropriately treated if a "vascular hitch procedure" is performed. None of our patients had postoperative complications.Characteristic features were seen on IVU helping in preoperative diagnosis which can be extrapolated to magnetic resonance urography. There is a higher association of CV in age above 2 years, females, associated congenital anomalies, delayed uptake on IVU and differential renal function below 40% compared to intrinsic obstruction. Associated intrinsic obstruction in 24% with no postoperative complications indicates the superiority of dismembered pyeloplasty over vasculopexy procedures.