Background: Efforts are now routinely made for early detection of vesicoureteric reflux after urinary tract infections in order to limit secondary renal damage.
Methods: The age at diagnosis of reflux after urinary tract infections was analysed in 162 Swiss patients (46 boys and 116 girls) referred by primary care physicians to the Division of Paediatric Nephrology, University of Bern, Switzerland between 1978 and 1999. The figures noted in Switzerland were also compared with those noted in 102 Australian patients (35 boys and 67 girls) reported by Lenaghan in 1976.
Results: In Switzerland the median age at diagnosis was 23 months in 74 subjects diagnosed between 1978 and 1988 and 10 months in 88 subjects diagnosed between 1989 and 1999. The difference was statistically significant in girls but not in boys. In Australia the median age at diagnosis was 15 months for boys and 78 months for girls; in Switzerland, the corresponding figures were 12 and 29 months (between 1978 and 1988), respectively 5 and 14 months (between 1989 and 1999). The difference between Australia and Switzerland was statistically significant in girls but not in boys.
Conclusions: In Switzerland vesicoureteric reflux is now detected earlier than in the past. This trend is more marked in girls than in boys but the detection of reflux is still earlier in boys than in girls.