Bladder outlet obstruction can be identified during routine prenatal ultrasonography as dilation of the fetal urinary tract[3] and decreased amniotic fluid levels.
If dilation of the fetal urinary tract is suspected during pregnancy, an ultrasound of the infant's kidneys and bladder should be obtained after birth.
[3] If patients have other congenital anomalies, their bladder outlet obstruction may be recognized during evaluation for their related syndromes.
For example, VACTERL association is a constellation of congenital anomalies including vertebral, anal, cardiac, tracheoesophageal, renal and limb defects.
[4] Patients with an undiagnosed ureteropelvic junction obstruction may experience abdominal or flank pain after increased fluid intake, when their bladder is full or when they exercise.
[5] Bladder outlet obstruction is included in the spectrum of congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT).
[1][2] The term, Congenital Anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (CAKUT), was coined under the collaboration of pediatric nephrologists (child kidney disease experts) and pediatric urologists (child urinary tract experts) of the Laboratory of Vanderbilt Children's Hospital in an article published in 1999.
[6] Their preceding studies in both animals and humans supported by a grant from NIH (the Center of Excellence in Pediatric Nephrology and Urology, Ichikawa as the Principal Investigator) show that anomalies of the kidney, and the other parts of urinary tract in newborns are always found concurrently due to mechanisms shared by these organs during their embryonic development.
[7] CAKUT can be classified by the degree and type of malformation as follows: Aplasia is a congenital absence of kidney tissue.