Pathological and sonographic review of early isolated severe lower urinary tract obstruction and implications for prenatal treatment

[In utero surgery for lower urinary tract obstruction]

Prenatal therapy for LUTO (Lower Urinary Tract Obstruction) is debated due to mixed results regarding postnatal renal function following fetal cystoscopy or vesicoamniotic shunting. Current literature is, however, limited by the inability to determine the cause of the obstruction using plain sonography and the lack of selection criteria for fetuses who may benefit from prenatal therapy. Fetal cystoscopy may serve as a diagnostic tool and would offer a more "physiologic" treatment for bladder outlet obstruction. However, it carries additional technical issues due to inappropriate instrumentation.