EVALUATION OF RENAL FUNCTION IN CHILDREN WITH PRIMARY VUR UP TO TWO YEARS OLD

The function of 99 refluxing kidneys of 61 children up to two years old at the time of diagnosis was evaluated by 99mTc-DMSA renoscintigraphy, urinary beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2-MG), alpha 1-microglobulin (alpha 1-MG) and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosamidase (NAG). High grade reflex (grade IV, V) was found in 45% of the cases. 76%, 51% and 92% of the cases showed abnormally high value of urinary beta 2-MG, alpha 1-MG and NAG, respectively. These results indicate that they have already had tubular dysfunction at the time of diagnosis. DMSA renoscintigraphy of 82 refluxing kidneys of 49 children was performed. Of these, 48% had renal scar and 28% had serious renal dysfunction [DMSA uptake rate less than 18%]. 10-20% of low grade VUR had less than 18% DMSA uptake rate. Two patterns were noticed in the group in which urinary beta 2-MG ranged 0.33-1.0. One was characterized by good bilateral renal function with slight tubular damage and the other serious renal dysfunction with fixed tubular damage. No remarkable recovery of the renal function was noticed after antireflux operation in the second pattern cases. In many cases, in which urinary beta 2-MG was more than 1.0, improvement of DMSA uptake rate was noticed after antireflux operation.