How do kidney cysts form?

The human body is amazing. It can fight against foreign bacteria and eventually kill them, but there are some diseases that our body cannot heal itself. For example, if a kidney cyst occurs, we will not be able to recover on our own and must rely on a doctor’s medication or surgical treatment to recover. Probably many people don’t know how kidney cysts are formed, nor do they know what causes them.

In fact, renal cysts are divided into many categories in medicine, but simple renal cysts are the most common type of renal cyst disease and also the one with the mildest symptoms. Generally, people who suffer from renal cysts are over 50 years old, and there are more male patients than female patients. Let us look at the causes and treatment methods of this disease.

Simple renal cysts often occur in adulthood, generally have no clinical symptoms, do not affect renal function, and occasionally require medical treatment due to hematuria. The vast majority of patients are discovered accidentally during B-ultrasound or CT examinations. Urinalysis is normal, and hematuria is rare. However, renal cysts can cause abdominal pain, abdominal masses, high blood pressure, etc. If the cyst ruptures into the renal pelvis and calyceal system, hematuria may occur. Cysts can also cause obstruction symptoms of the renal pelvis and calyces.

Laboratory tests:

Urine examination may show pyuria and hematuria in patients with concurrent infection, but generally no renal insufficiency.

Other auxiliary examinations:

1. Imaging examination.

2. Cyst puncture and cyst fluid examination. When ultrasound, CT, etc. cannot confirm the diagnosis or there is a suspicion of malignant lesions, cyst puncture can be performed under ultrasound guidance to extract cyst fluid for testing. When a cyst develops into a secondary tumor, the cyst fluid is bloody or dark brown, with a significant increase in fat and other components, positive cytology, and an increased level of the tumor marker CA-50. When combined with infection, the cyst fluid is dark and turbid, with moderately increased fat and protein content, significantly increased amylase and LDH, inflammatory cells in cytological examination, and cyst fluid culture can identify the pathogen. After the cyst fluid is extracted, contrast agent and/or gas are injected to show the condition of the cyst wall. If the cyst wall is smooth, it means there is no tumor.

Symptoms of kidney cysts may include:

1. Hydronephrosis. In severe hydronephrosis, there may be lower back pain and cystic masses may be felt in the waist and abdomen. However, IVU and retrograde pyelography showed enlargement of the renal pelvis and calyces; B-ultrasound and CT examinations showed a dark fluid area in the center of the kidney and thinning of the renal parenchyma; the renal image showed an obstruction curve.

2. Renal calyceal diverticulum. Ultrasound examination can reveal renal cystic masses. Excretory urography can show contrast agent in the diverticulum, but if it cannot show the channel connecting the diverticulum to the renal pelvis or calyx, retrograde urography can be performed to visualize the channel. Occasionally, there may be a shadow of a stone in the diverticulum.

3. Multilocular renal cyst. The main symptoms are abdominal discomfort, abdominal masses, and occasionally hematuria. Ultrasound and CT scans revealed a cystic mass in the renal parenchyma. But the interior of the cyst is divided into multiple liquid dark areas.

The above is an introduction to the relevant issues. If the disease is discovered early and treated early, you can cure your disease in advance and it will not develop into a more serious situation. Therefore, when your body shows symptoms of discomfort, do not think that you are fine. It may be a manifestation of certain diseases. Not everyone can be a doctor, so we can learn more about this knowledge in our daily lives to be prepared.