Non-tumoral Disease Involvement of the Perirenal Space: Evaluation with Computed Tomography

Fifteen patients with non-tumoral, retroperitoneal disease involving the perirenal spaces were evaluated using abdominal computed tomography (CT). The disease entity included urinomas (2 patients), blunt abdominal traumas (2 patients), abscesses due to ureteral stones (1 patient) and renal stones (1 patient), abscess formation status post extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) (1 patient), hematoma after ESWL (1 patient), ureteral catheter-induced traumas (2 patients), pyelonephritis (1 patient), and pancreatitis (4 patients). All patients were evaluated with nonenhanced CT and 11 patients were studied using intravenous contrast enhancement. One patient had a perirenal urinoma and one had a hematoma that extended down to the inferior cone of the perirenal space. One patient had a urinoma that extended down through the inferior cone to the pelvic cavity. One patient had a urinoma and one patient had a hematoma that passed the midline anterior to the great vessels. We concluded that retroperitoneal disease can involve the perirenal spaces and CT is a good imaging tool to evaluate the extent of the disease.