Importance of the Hounsfield Unit Value Measured by Computed Tomography in the Differentiation of Hydronephrosis and Pyonephrosis

Objectives To evaluate the efficacy of the non-contrast-enhanced computed tomography (NCECT) renal pelvis Hounsfield unit (HU) values in differentiating between the hydronephrosis and pyonephrosis in dilated urinary systems. Materials and methods Patients who underwent percutaneous nephrostomy (PN) due to urinary system obstruction in the last three years were retrospectively evaluated. Pyonephrosis and hydronephrosis groups were differentiated according to the clarity of percutaneous needle aspiration. The patients’ renal pelvic anteroposterior (AP) diameter, renal pelvic area, and mean HU values were measured on NCECT and compared between two groups. Results PN was performed on a total of 523 patients. The study included 159 patients and 214 renal units. Hydronephrosis was detected in 176 renal units and pyonephrosis in 38 renal units. No statistically significant difference was observed between the measured AP diameter and renal pelvic area in the two groups (28.45 ± 10.1 mm vs. 31.13 ± 14.4 mm, p = 0.36 and 658.51 ± 433.1 mm(2) vs. 755.14 ± 470.6 mm(2), p = 0.22, respectively). The mean HU value of the pyonephrosis group was significantly higher (2.30 ± 5.02 vs. 10.97 ± 6.68, p < 0.001). At the cut-off value of 8.46, HU had a sensitivity of 68.4% and specificity of 92.6% in the diagnosis of pyonephrosis. Conclusions It is possible to determine differential diagnosis between pyonephrosis and hydronephrosis easily and without additional cost by performing dilated renal pelvis HU measurements on NCECT.