Cystic kidney disease

The term "cystic kidney disease" unites a group of kidney diseases of various causes, the defining feature of which is the presence of cysts in the kidneys.

Kidney cysts are fluid-filled enlarged nephron segments or a collecting tube of various sizes lined with a single layer of altered tubular epithelium. The fluid in the cysts, as a rule, communicates with tubular contents, a number of cysts can have a message with the blood vessels of the kidneys and rarely - with the contents of the renal pelvis.

Cysts can be found everywhere: in the cortical and cerebral layer of the kidneys, in the region of the kidney loops and the near-lobular region, less often - at the poles of the kidney. The size of the cysts and the amount of fluid in them can vary widely: small cysts (less than 2 mm in diameter) contain, as a rule, not more than 3 ml, while in large cysts there may be liters of contents. Cysts in the kidneys can have the same size (with polycystic children), and vary significantly in shape and size (with polycystic adults); be single (solitary) or multiple, located in one or both kidneys.

It is important to emphasize that in the kidney cysts coexist with the areas of unchanged parenchyma. As the disease progresses, as a rule, the number of cysts increases, their size increases, and the mass of the preserved renal parenchyma decreases. It is the last factor - the amount of intact tissue - that determines the functional state of the kidneys.

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6]

Classification of cystic kidney disease

• Polycystic diseases.
  • Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.
  • Autosomal-recurrent polycystic kidney disease.
• Acquired cystic kidney disease (with azotemia, chronic hemodialysis treatment).
• Cystic disease of the medulla of the kidneys.
  • Nephronophthisis (uremic medullary cystic disease).
  • Spongy medullary disease.
• Simple cysts (single and multiple).
• Various parenchymal and nonparenchymal renal cysts.

[7], [8], [9], [10]