Avoiding the Pitfall: Ectopic Pelvic Kidney Mimicking a Pelvic Mass in a Patient With Recurrent Urinary Tract Infections. A Case Report
Abstract
Recurrent urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common clinical presentation, but they can sometimes be the key signpost to a hidden anatomical surprise. We report the case of a 55‐year‐old obese woman with a decade‐long history of recurrent UTIs and pelvic fullness. Examination revealed a vague pelvic mass, suspicious for a gynecological neoplasm. A contrast‐enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan definitively diagnosed an asymptomatic ectopic pelvic kidney, with an empty right renal fossa. The pelvic kidney was the likely anatomical predisposing factor for her recurrent UTIs, which were complicated by antibiotic resistance due to prior self‐medication. The case underscores the critical importance of including renal ectopia in the differential diagnosis of a fixed pelvic mass, particularly in patients with recurrent UTIs, to prevent misdiagnosis and iatrogenic injury, and highlights cross‐sectional imaging as the essential diagnostic tool.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a case report, done in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Association of lower urinary tract symptoms and OAB severity with quality of life and mental health in China, Taiwan and South Korea: results from a cross-sectional, population-based study
- Ten-Day Quadruple Therapy Comprising Low-Dose Rabeprazole, Bismuth, Amoxicillin, and Tetracycline Is an Effective and Safe First-Line Treatment for Helicobacter pylori Infection in a Population with High Antibiotic Resistance: a Prospective, Multicenter, Randomized, Parallel-Controlled Clinical Trial in China
- The Role of the NLR and PLR in Urinary Tract Infection
- Threat of Antimicrobial Resistance among Pilgrims with Infectious Diseases during Hajj: Lessons Learnt from COVID-19 Pandemic
- Leclercia adecarboxylata urinary tract infection in a patient with bladder cancer and recurrent hematuria
- A Case Series of Staphylococcus lugdunensis Infection in Cancer Patients at an Academic Cancer Institute in the United States
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.