AbSTRACT. Simple ectopic kidney was diagnosed in three dogs by means of radiography and ultrasonography. A 2-year-old castrated male Schnauzer, a 13-year-old female Schnauzer and a 9-year-old male Jindo were referred with vomiting, hematuria and ocular discharge, respectively. In all three dogs, oval-shaped masses with soft tissue density were observed in the mid to caudal abdomen bilaterally or unilaterally, and kidney silhouettes were not identified at the proper anatomic places on abdominal radiographs. Ultrasonography confirmed the masses were malpositioned kidney. The ectopic kidneys had relatively small size, irregular shape and short ureter but showed normal function on excretory urography. KEY WORDS: canine, ectopic kidney, radiography, ultrasonography.doi: 10.1292/jvms.12-0060; J. Vet. Med. Sci. 74(10): 1373-1375, 2012 Normal position of dog's right kidney is at the level of T12-13 to L2-3, and the left kidney is slightly more caudally [10]. The term ectopic kidney is used to describe the congenital malposition of one or both kidneys [8] [1,4,6,8,13] and dogs [7,15]. Simple ectopic kidney is usually asymptomatic clinically and rare congenital malformation [4]. Diagnosis of a simple ectopic kidney is usually confirmed by radiography, ultrasonography and excretory urography [4,8]. Diagnostic imaging features of ectopic kidneys include abnormal location, rotation, small size, unusual shape, short ureteral length and anomalous renal vasculature [6]. In contrast to ectopic ureter, there are few reports of ectopic kidney in small animals. All dogs discussed in this report was diagnosed with simple abdominal ectopic kidney based on the results of the imaging findings.A 2-year-old castrated male Schnauzer (Dog 1) was presented with vomiting. On physical examinations, right testis was not palpated. No significant abnormalities were observed on the CbC. Serum chemistry revealed increase of alanine aminotransferase (ALT, 960 U/l; reference range 4-125 U/l) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST, 877 U/l; reference range 7-84 U/l). On abdominal radiography, two oval-shaped soft tissue masses in the caudal abdomen were found displacing descending colon ventrally. These masses were confirmed to be the kidneys by ultrasonographic examination. Right testis appeared small, hypoechoic and of normal architecture in the caudal region of the right kidney. Excretory urography was performed to estimate kidneys and ureters. The right kidney of this dog had a normal size (3.1 times the length of the 2nd lumbar vertebra), and the contour of the cranial pole was smooth but flattened. The size of left kidney was also within normal range (2.8 times the length of the 2nd lumbar vertebra) and had a discoid shape with a smooth contour (Fig. 1). The dog was diagnosed with bilateral simple ectopic kidney with unilateral cryptorchidism.A 13-year-old female Schnauzer (Dog 2) was presented with a 15-day history of hematuria. No significant complete blood cell count or serum chemistry abnormalities were found. Urinalysis revealed the presence ...
