Abstract

Background: Thoracic kidney with diaphragmatic eventration is an extremely rare finding, and its clinical significance is not well documented. Patients with thoracic kidneys are usually asymptomatic, and the condition is usually discovered incidentally during radiological evaluation for other conditions or during thoracic surgery. Dimercaptosuccinic acid scintigraphy (DMSA) scan is a renal imaging modality that is widely used for the evaluation of renal function and anatomy.
Case Presentation: In this case report, we present a case of a patient with a thoracic kidney incidentally detected on a renal DMSA scan, along with a review of the literature. A 16-year-old female patient was referred to the Nuclear Medicine Department for a renal DMSA scan to evaluate the renal functions, as her right kidney was not visualized on her routine ultrasound examination. A DMSA scan was performed according to standard institutional protocol. Chest X-ray and computed tomography (CT) scan were done later on by the urologist, who also confirmed the kidney position and showed right-sided diaphragmatic eventration. DMSA scan showed bilateral normal functioning kidneys; however, the right kidney was located ectopically in the thoracic cavity. Chest X-ray and CT scans also confirmed the kidney position and showed right-sided diaphragmatic eventration. Since the patient was asymptomatic, no further intervention was recommended by the urologist, and regular follow-up was suggested.
Conclusion: The renal DMSA scan is a useful imaging modality in the evaluation of the thoracic kidney as it gives us a good idea about the kidney's location, morphology, and function.

Key words: Case report, diaphragmatic eventration, renal scintigraphy, DMSA scan, thoracic kidney.