A Case of Acute Renal Failure due to Acute Bilateral Renal Cortical Necrosis

Acute bilateral renal cortical necrosis is a rare cause of acute reanl failure, occuring in about 2% of patients and it's prognosis is fatal. The pathophysiology of this condition is complex, but ultimately leads to the destruction of the renal cortex with sparing of the renal medulla and a thin tissue rim of under the capsule.

In this report we describe a 23-year-old female patient in whom the diagnosis was made using MR imaging during the acute initial phase of the disease. On T1-weighted images, the signal intensity of the renal cortex was increased, but the signal intensity of the renal cortex was demarcated by a rim of low signal intensity in the region of the corticomedullary junction. MR imaging is useful, noninvasive, and specific modality for an early diagnosis of acute bilateral renal cortical necrosis.