Non-tropical chyluria: CT diagnosis

Chyluria is commonly associated with filariasis, which is prevalent among the population of tropical and subtropical regions. Chyluria is seldom encountered in the United States and other western countries, but may occur if the flow of chyle into the thoracic duct is blocked due to inflammatory, neoplastic, or various other etiologies. We report 10 adult patients, in whom the detection of fat-urine level in their bladder on abdominal CT provided the initial diagnostic clue to the presence of chyluria. This series included 7 men and 3 women, who ranged in age from 25 to 91 years (mean: 62 years). The associated lesions included renal angiomyolipomas (2), lymphangiomas of the kidney and bladder (1), metastatic testicular cancer (1), postoperative status following partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (4), left radical nephrectomy (1), and segmental cystectomy for carcinomas (1). The clinical and radiological features of this entity are presented along with a brief review of the pertinent literature.