Spontaneous Rupture Of the Kidney

SPONTANEOUS or nontraumatic rupture of the kidney is rare. Kuster1in 1896 found ten cases in a review of 30,000 autopsies. Before 1935 approximately 15 case reports and six reviews had appeared in the literature in English.2-7Since 1935 11 additional reviews with illustrative case reports have appeared in the literature. However these reports were limited to specific etiologies,8-13specific site of rupture,14specific mode of rupture,15or emphasized the paucity of case material.16-18 This report presents an illustrative case and summarizes the experience at Bellevue Hospital together with a comprehensive review of the English literature describing spontaneous rupture of the kidney exclusive of the vascular pedicle. Report of Cases Case 1. —Second (Cornell) Medical Division, Bellevue Hospital, 33481-57; a 24-year-old Pureto Rican man first entered Bellevue Hospital in July, 1957, complaining of intermittent abdominal pain of two days' duration. He was normotensive with