Salmonella enteritidis. A rare cause of pyelonephritis in children.

A previously healthy 2.5-year-old boy developed symptoms of acute pyelonephritis following an acute gastroenteritis. The patient received parenteral ampicillin and gentamicin for 72 hours and then ampicillin for an additional 11 days when the original urine and stool cultures grew Salmonella enteritidis, sensitive to ampicillin. The patient responded very well to treatment, but B-mode renal ultrasonogram revealed a left hydronephrosis and megaureter suggestive of longstanding obstruction of the ureterovesicular junction, later confirmed by other diagnostic studies and by surgical exploration and repair. Salmonella infection has been rarely documented to cause pyelonephritis in children. Obstructive uropathy appears to be a predisposing factor for this unusual complication of Salmonella enteritis.