Spaghetti sign (bladder)

The spaghetti sign may be seen in upper urinary tract bleeding.

It refers to the presence of a linear worm- or spaghetti-like filling defect within a contrast-opacified bladder . This linear filling defect represents blood clot extruded from the ureter and thereby molded into a tubular shape . It is seen in patients with gross hematuria . Presence of this sign is an indication of upper urinary tract bleeding . The finding can be appreciated on intravenous urogram, retrograde pyelography, and CT in the excretory phase .

History and etymology

This sign was first described in 1981 by Funsho Komolafe, a Nigerian radiologist working at the University College Hospital, Ibadan at the time .