Hydronephrosis in a series of 3,400 post-mortem examinations in Zambia, with special reference to Bilharharzia.

An analysis of forty-two cases of hydronephrosis occurring in a series of 3,400 post mortem examinations (1.2%) shows that bilharzia could not be regarded as a cause of death in any of them. This is evident in thirty of the cases, since bilharzial lesions were not present in these. In the other twelve cases in which bilharzial lesions were present major obstructive diseases (carcinoma of bladder, prostatic obstruction) sufficiently accounted for the hydronephrosis in six cases. This leaves six cases, none of them severe, in which bilharziasis might have played a part, though other causes such as congenital ureteric constrictions cannot be excluded: This type of lesion was present to the same extent in the non-bilharzial as in the bilharzial group of hydronephrosis. It may be concluded that in Zambia at any rate bilharzia does not seriously contribute to advanced hydronephrosis, but may be responsible for some mild, symptomless forms of the disease.