A study of antenatally diagnosed renal malformations and their outcome
Gangamma S. Patil, Rohit Bhandar, Sharankumar Deshmukh, Rudrakshi ItagiObjectives:
Congenital kidney and urinary tract anomalies are common antenatal findings and a major cause of chronic kidney disease in children, with early detection improved by routine ultrasonography. Antenatal detection enables understanding of anomalies, guides perinatal management and supports parental counselling on prognosis and postnatal care. The present study aims to contribute to this understanding by systematically assessing antenatally diagnosed renal malformations and their outcomes among babies delivered in a tertiary care centre. The objective of the study is to study the patterns of antenatal renal malformations using ultrasonography in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Kalaburagi, and also to evaluate foetal outcomes in the postnatal period.
Material and Methods:
A prospective observational study included neonates delivered at our institute with antenatally diagnosed renal malformations, either isolated or associated with other anomalies.
Results:
During the study, 32 cases were included, and all anomalies were diagnosed on ultrasound examination. In the present study, renal pyelactasis (62.5%) was the most common congenital malformation of the urinary tract, followed by hydronephrosis (12.5%), while multicystic dysplastic kidney, renal agenesis/aplasia and pelviureteric junction (PUJ) obstruction each accounted for 6.3%. About 75% of mothers had no comorbidities, whereas oligohydramnios was the most common associated condition, occurring in 9.4% of cases. Neonatal outcomes showed 53.1% complete resolution, 34.4% persistent malformations and 3.1% mortality. Outcome was significantly linked to malformation type ( p = 0.0014), with renal pyelactasis resolving most often.
Conclusion:
This study underscores that early antenatal detection combined with systematic postnatal evaluation enables accurate prognostication, rational clinical management and appropriate parental counselling, thereby optimising neonatal outcomes in cases of congenital renal anomalies.