Necrotizing emphysematous pyelonephritis: a case report.

Emphysematous pyelonephritis (EP) is comparatively rare in urological practice. From 1898 to the present time only 45 cases have been described. In this report we describe the case of a 43-year old diabetic man, with right EP without obstruction of the urinary tract and with a urinary infection of E. Coli. This appears to be rather rare as it is more frequently associated with obstruction of the urinary tract. Surgical exploration enabled us to discover a fistula between the kidney and the wall of the vena cava which would have caused fatal complications if it had not been discovered. The micro-organisms more frequently involved were E. Coli, Proteus, Aerobacter and various anaerobes. Mortality has been reported as 75% in patients receiving medical therapy only and 23% in those undergoing surgery. The authors therefore believe that surgical exploration even with no urinary tract obstruction makes it possible to detect complicating pathologies which may remain undiscovered by medical examination and the urinary excretory tract and renal sheath drained. This provides a better opportunity of estimating possible reversibility of the renal lesion.