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Rhabdomyolysis (RM) is defined as striate muscle-cell damage with disintegration of skeletal muscles and release of intracellular constituents to the circulation, with or without subsequent kidney injury. RM is one of the leading causes of acute kidney injury and is associated with substantial morbidity. The major signs of acute kidney injury in rhabdomyolysis are: pain, weakness and swelling of the injured muscle or muscle groups and myoglobinuria with reddish discoloration of the urine and decrease in urine output to anuria. The authors describe three cases of rhabdomyolysis with acute renal injury and discuss the current knowledge on the etiopathogenesis, clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of this condition.

Horseshoe kidney is an inborn renal fusion anomaly. It is frequently associated with renal stones and infections. The diagnosis is made using imaging methods - ultrasound, X-ray of the abdomen and intravenous pyelography, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and radionuclide investigations. The diagnosis sometimes is hard, especially when other abnormalities are present, i.e. hydronephrosis, nephrolithiasis, stenosis of the ureteropelvic junction, etc. The authors present a male patient with horseshoe kidney and unilateral hydronephrosis due to obstruction of the ureteropelvic junction and discuss the diagnosis of horseshoe kidney and the diagnostic approach in such patients.