Bilateral dilation of the urinary tract due to iliopsoas pyomyositis: a case report

J Med Case Rep. 2011 May 20:5:195. doi: 10.1186/1752-1947-5-195.

Abstract

Introduction: Pyomyositis is an acute bacterial infection of the skeletal muscles that arises from hematogenous spread and is caused predominantly by Gram-positive cocci.

Case presentation: We report a case of iliopsoas pyomyositis in a 25-year-old Greek Caucasian woman with a history of intravenous drug use. Her condition was complicated by bilateral dilation of the ureters and renal calyces as a result of mechanical pressure from inflammation and edema of the involved muscle. The patient did not present aggravation of renal function and was treated successfully solely with intravenous antibiotics, without surgical intervention. This is the first case report describing iliopsoas pyomyositis with reversible bilateral dilation of the urinary tract that was treated successfully with intravenous antibiotics, without surgical intervention.

Conclusion: We present the first described case of iliopsoas pyomyositis with reversible bilateral hydroureteronephrosis that was treated successfully with intravenous antibiotics, without the necessity of surgical intervention. To our knowledge, this is the first report of its kind in the literature regarding an unexpected event in the course of treating a patient with iliopsoas pyomyositis, and it should be of particular interest to different clinical medical specialties such as internal medicine, infectious disease and urology.