Percutaneous intervention in the solitary kidney

The solitary kidney, either after nephrectomy or on a congential basis, may be impaired by infection, stones, obstruction, and trauma. Because of the possibility of further renal compromise by damage of the remaining nephron units, there is reluctance to utilize percutaneous techniques in cases of solitary kidney, and surgery is often used as an alternative. We report 15 cases of solitary kidney in which interventional radiologic techniques (i.e., percutaneous nephrostomy, ureteral stenting, ureteral dilatation, and stone extraction) were attempted for the preservation of renal function, either as a permanent solution or as a temporizing maneuver prior to definitive therapy. In each case, these goals were achieved and there were no complications.