Renal autotransplantation after horseshoe kidney injury: a case report and literature review.

We present a patient with lap seatbelt trauma to a previously unsuspected horseshoe kidney. Preoperative single film intravenous pyelography did not suggest the presence of this renal anomaly or define the extent of renal injury. Because of the severity of the injury, nephrectomy was life-saving, but inadvertently rendered the patient anephric. Recognition of horseshoe kidney anatomy, microvascular back-bench reconstruction, and renal autotransplantation allowed the salvage of both the patient and her renal function.