The literature reports only rare cases of urinary ascites, usually secondary to rupture of the bladder and not to renal calyx rupture. The present report describes an uncommon case of posterior urethral valve in a newborn with ascites caused by the rupture of a renal calyx that, to our knowledge, was diagnosed for the first time by ultrasonography.

Keywords: Newborn; Urinary ascites; Renal calyx rupture; Posterior urethral valve; Ultrasonography.

Meckel’s diverticulum is the most common congenital anomaly of the gastrointestinal tract and bleeding is its most frequent complication. Scintigraphy, B-mode and Doppler ultrasonography, and computed tomography may be utilized to detect complications. The present report describes two cases of complicated Meckel’s diverticulum detected at ultrasonography whose findings were different from those described in the literature.

Keywords: Meckel’s diverticulum; Color Doppler; Ultrasonography.

OBJECTIVE: To calculate the frequencies of acute pyelonephritis and renal scarring in patients under the age of two, with first episode of urinary tract infection in a Brazilian university hospital, comparing with data reported in the international literature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Scintigraphic reports of children less than two years old submitted to ^99mTc-DMSA renal scintigraphy in a university hospital in Rio Grande do Sul between 2006 and 2009 were reviewed to investigate acute pyelonephritis/renal scarring. Additionally, the presence of vesicoureteral reflux, early use of antibiotics, and comorbidities were investigated on electronic records. The sample size calculation was based on a systematic review study and obtained a minimum of 147 patients. Patients whose electronic records were not available were excluded. RESULTS: One hundred and fifty-seven children met the inclusion criteria; among them 48 had acute pyelonephritis and 8 of these had renal scars. Neither age nor sex presented any significant association with acute pyelonephritis (p = 0.405 and p = 0.124, respectively). No statistical significance was observed in the association between vesicoureteral reflux and acute pyelonephritis (p = 1.0) and other comorbidities (p = 0.470), and in relation to early use of antibiotics with acute pyelonephritis (p = 0.130) and renal scarring (p = 0.720). CONCLUSION: The frequencies found in the present study for acute pyelonephritis/renal scarring are in agreement with the results reported by most studies in the literature.

Keywords: Pyelonephritis; DMSA; Scar.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the accuracy of computer-aided ultrasound (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) by means of hepatorenal gradient analysis in the evaluation of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in adolescents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective, cross-sectional study evaluated 50 adolescents (aged 11-17 years), including 24 obese and 26 eutrophic individuals. All adolescents underwent computer-aided US, MRI, laboratory tests, and anthropometric evaluation. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values and accuracy were evaluated for both imaging methods, with subsequent generation of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and calculation of the area under the ROC curve to determine the most appropriate cutoff point for the hepatorenal gradient in order to predict the degree of steatosis, utilizing MRI results as the gold-standard. RESULTS: The obese group included 29.2% girls and 70.8% boys, and the eutrophic group, 69.2% girls and 30.8% boys. The prevalence of NAFLD corresponded to 19.2% for the eutrophic group and 83% for the obese group. The ROC curve generated for the hepatorenal gradient with a cutoff point of 13 presented 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. As the same cutoff point was considered for the eutrophic group, false-positive results were observed in 9.5% of cases (90.5% specificity) and false-negative results in 0% (100% sensitivity). CONCLUSION: Computer-aided US with hepatorenal gradient calculation is a simple and noninvasive technique for semiquantitative evaluation of hepatic echogenicity and could be useful in the follow-up of adolescents with NAFLD, population screening for this disease as well as for clinical studies.

Keywords: Steatosis; Ultrasound; Obesity; Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the accuracy of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in identifying terminal ileitis in patients with Crohn’s disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of 38 consecutive patients with Crohn’s disease who underwent magnetic resonance enterography with DWI in a 3.0 T scanner. The patients were divided into two groups, on the basis of colonoscopy and biopsy findings: active inflammation; and inactive disease. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were determined, as were the magnetic resonance index of activity (MaRIA) and the Clermont score. RESULTS: Of the 38 patients evaluated, 18 (47%) had active inflammation. The patients with active inflammation showed greater restricted diffusion, more pronounced mucosal edema, greater wall thickening, a higher MaRIA, and a higher Clermont score than did those with inactive disease. The level of interobserver agreement (intraclass correlation coefficient) was excellent for the MaRIA and the Clermont score, whereas it was substantial for the ADC values. For identifying colonoscopy-proven inflammation, the best ADC cut-off point was 2.1 × 10⁻³ mm²/s, which had a sensitivity of 88.8% and a specificity of 95.0%, whereas DWI presented an overall accuracy of 89.4%, with a sensitivity of 88.9% and a specificity of 90.0%. CONCLUSION: Visual analysis of the DWI sequence has good accuracy in detecting terminal ileitis in patients with Crohn’s disease. In addition, low ADC values have good sensitivity for detecting colonoscopy-proven inflammation.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease; Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging; Inflammation; Ileitis; Intestine, small; Magnetic resonance imaging.