7370                RENAL TUBERCULOSIS

The patient was a woman aged 66 with a history of gallstone colic for 5 days. Laparotomy was performed but she died the next day. An incidental finding at postmortem was this example of old renal tuberculosis.

The specimen is a coronal slice of the kidney which measures 8 cms in length. It is entirely replaced by large capsulated caseous masses which have inspissated to a putty-like consistency. No normal renal substance can be seen. The ureter was normal. Histology showed only a few scattered tubular structures with atrophic epithelium and containing colloid casts.