Urinary Tuberculosis: A Review of 44 Cases Treated Since 1963

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Abstract
Ten years of experience with cases of renal tuberculosis treated at a large tuberculosis hospital are reported. Most patients were men < 50 yr old. The most frequent symptoms were dysuria, back or flank pain, nocturia and hematuria. Physical examinations were generally normal, and hypertension was not seen. Most patients had acid urinary pH, pyuria and/or hematuria. Excretory urograms were abnormal in 86% of the cases, the most common finding being preserved function but calicectasis or abscess. Most patients had abnormal chest X-rays, and nearly half of them had coexisting, active pulmonary or miliary tuberculosis. Tuberculin tests were positive in 85% of the cases. Urinary tuberculosis was almost always responsive to multi-drug chemotherapy, even in patients with a non-functioning, tuberculous kidney. An asymptomatic, non-functioning kidney need not be removed, provided documentation of urine culture conversion is obtained and a prolonged period of multi-drug chemotherapy is completed.