Color Doppler ultrasonography in the diagnosis of vascular abnormalities associated with ureteropelvic junction obstruction

PURPOSE: To determine if color Doppler ultrasonography is able to identify vascular abnormalities linked to ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We used color Doppler scanning in 21 patients to determine whether there were aberrant vessels. RESULTS: The study detected 11 aberrant vessels, resulting in 10 true positives and 9 true negatives. Thus, the overall diagnostic accuracy was 90.4%. CONCLUSION: Color Doppler ultrasonography is reliable in the preoperative diagnosis of aberrant vessels associated with UPJ obstruction.