Megaureter Symptoms & Causes
In-Depth
What causes a megaureter?
There may be different causes for a megaureter, including:
- A congenital (present at birth) condition in which the distal ureter (the final or bottom part of the ureter), which is normally a muscular layer of tissue, is replaced by stiff, fibrous tissue. With no muscle, normal peristalsis (worm-like movement of the ureter that propels urine towards the bladder) cannot occur.
- High-grade vesicoureteral reflux (when your child urinates, some urine travels back up the ureter and possibly up to the kidney)
What are the symptoms of megaureter?
There's a good chance that your child will not show any symptoms of megaureter. More and more often, it is detected on prenatal ultrasound. But sometimes a child is referred to a pediatric urologist or pediatric surgeon after experiencing at least one of the following symptoms during infancy or early childhood:
- abdominal mass that can be seen or felt
- pain in the back or abdomen
- urinary tract infection with fever
- hematuria (blood in the urine)
- urinary incontinence
- urolithiasis (stone formation within the urinary tract)