Congenital unilateral hydronephrosis in the rat

Abstract

Hydronephrosis in animals has been noted periodically. Two reports have described strains of rats with unilateral right hydronephrosis, whereas others have reported variably right- or left-sided unilateral hydronephrosis or bilateral hydronephrosis. Detailed studies of the physiologic alterations in a colony of animals with congenital hydronephrosis have not been reported. We have developed a colony of albino rats with congenital, physiologically significant, persistent, unilateral hydronephrosis suitable for such studies. The lesion in this colony has been stable over several generations of breeding.