[Pregnancy and purulent retention of urine in the upper urinary tract. Apropos of 4 cases].

The authors report their diagnostic and therapeutic approach to four recent cases. While ultrasound is an excellent diagnostic aid, only simplified intravenous urography can establish the nature and localization of the obstacle. As regards management, surgery, when it is possible, allows removal of the obstacle and the repair of the excretory tract. In pregnant women, as in other cases when surgery is not feasable, the drainage of the infected and retained urine is achieved endoscopically. The J ureteral catheter offers a sure and comfortable method. When retrograde catheterization is unsuccessful, percutaneous nephrostomy can be used as a temporary measure to tide over the pregnancy.