Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis. Case report

Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis is a chronic and unusual infectious inflammatory condition involving the renal parenchyma. Early identification and prompt treatment of this relatively benign and uncommon condition is important to minimize morbidity and mortality. Although it has characteristic findings on sonography and CT scan, a clinical diagnosis is seldom possible. The definite treatment is nephrectomy. We report a case of a 58-years-old woman who presented lumbar and right flank pain. Urinalysis showed hematuria together with pyuria, and Escherichia coli was detected in urine culture. Abdominal CT revealed right renal mass, hydronephrosis and perirenal fat inflammatory lesion. The patient underwent nephrectomy. Microscopic findings of the kidney revealed infiltration of lymphocytes, histiocytes and lipid-laden macrophages corresponding to xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis