A Curable and Probably Often-Overlooked Cause of Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome

Cyclic vomiting syndrome is a disorder of many causes. The major challenge is to label the disorder as idiopathic or primary only when all possible etiologies, particularly those that can be specifically treated, have been ruled out. In retrospect, our patient had subtle prenatal and early postnatal radiological findings supportive of a urological cause for his symptoms, the importance of which was initially missed. It would probably be wise to include an abdominal ultrasound examination (looking for hydronephrosis) in the “must-do” battery of tests for the investigation of all cases of recurrent cyclic vomiting without apparent cause. Otherwise, it seems likely that many cases of ureteropelvic junction obstruction will be missed, cases in which surgical intervention can be curative.