Is it serious if a woman has a cyst on her left kidney?

Renal cyst is a relatively common symptom. There are many causes of renal cysts, including both congenital and secondary causes. Generally, renal cysts have a relatively small impact on the health of the body and no treatment is required at this time. However, attention should be paid to follow-up and regular check-ups. If the growth rate is obvious, good treatment must be carried out in time to avoid harm to health.

Is it serious if a woman has a cyst on her left kidney?

Cystic kidney disease is a general term for cystic masses of varying sizes that appear in the kidneys and are not connected to the outside world. Common renal cysts can be divided into simple renal cysts, adult polycystic kidney disease and acquired renal cysts.

Simple renal cysts are the most common and can be single or multiple. Most are asymptomatic. When the cysts are large or complicated by infection, low back pain may occur. It usually develops slowly and does not affect kidney function.

Adult polycystic kidney disease is mostly bilateral multiple cysts, often with a family history, and is a congenital hereditary kidney disease. Symptoms usually appear at the age of 35-45, and may include low back pain, hematuria, proteinuria, frequent urination at night, hypertension, heart failure, and may be complicated by urinary tract infection, stones, obstruction and retroperitoneal hemorrhage. A few may have the possibility of malignant transformation.

Acquired renal cysts mainly occur after uremia or dialysis treatment. It has nothing to do with age, but is related to the duration of hemodialysis. The kidneys do not originally have renal cysts. According to literature reports, most patients who have been on dialysis for more than 3 years will develop cysts. There can be 3 or 4 cysts in one kidney, and the diameter is mostly 2 to 3 centimeters. Some cysts can become infected, and the chance of cancer is also increased a lot.

What to do if you discover a kidney cyst

Many patients discover kidney cysts during physical examinations or due to other symptoms. After discovering cysts in the kidneys, the first thing to do is to clarify which type of cystic kidney disease the kidney cyst belongs to? How serious is it now? Only then can it be determined whether specific treatment of the kidney cyst is currently required.

Generally speaking, B-ultrasound has great diagnostic value for renal cysts. A doctor with a little experience can distinguish the above three types of cystic kidney disease based on the results of B-ultrasound. However, when some cysts need to be distinguished from tumors and other diseases, intravenous pyelography, CT or MRI examinations may be required. After determining the nature of the kidney cyst, the best thing to do is to check the routine urine and kidney function, measure your blood pressure, and have a relatively comprehensive understanding and evaluation of the kidney condition. It will help with future follow-up and treatment.

How to treat kidney cysts

The treatment of renal cysts should be differentiated according to the different nature of the renal cysts. Generally speaking, when the diameter of a simple cyst is less than 4 cm, and there is no obvious compression of the renal parenchyma or renal pelvis and calyces, and no signs of infection, hypertension or malignancy, no treatment is required. However, regular check-ups every 6 to 12 months are required to observe whether the cyst continues to grow, and urine and renal function tests should be performed.

Since infection is an important cause of worsening of this disease, invasive urinary tract examinations should not be performed unless absolutely necessary. If you find that the size of the cyst is gradually increasing, generally the diameter of the cyst is at least more than 5cm, or if there are obvious symptoms such as low back pain that affect your daily life, you should seek timely treatment. The simplest method is to puncture the renal cyst under the guidance of B-ultrasound, extract the fluid and then inject anhydrous ethanol (alcohol) into the cyst.

Since the B-ultrasound puncture probe can very accurately guide the puncture needle into the cyst for operation, this operation is highly safe, does not cause much damage, and has good results. In addition, laparoscopic surgery can be used to remove the top of the cyst through the abdominal cavity or retroperitoneal space, which can also achieve good results. In special cases or when malignancy is suspected, traditional surgical treatment is best.