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Q: I recently went to my physician, who told me, after he had peformed an abdominal sonogram, that I had a kidney cyst.He told me that I did not have to worry. Could you tell me something about this?
A: A simple kidney cyst is usually a benign finding which is very frequently found when an abdominal sonogram is performed for any reason. Kidney cysts most frequently present as a single cyst appearing in one of the kidneys. Approximately 90% of these cysts contain a a clear fluid, and only about 5 to 10% contain a blood containing fluid.
Most of these cysts are, in fact, benign. However, it should also be mentioned that occasionally they can be difficult to differentiate from malignant cystic(fluid containing) kidney cancer.In particular, when calcium deposits are seen in the cysts, a malignant lesion is more probable, because this occurs more frequently with kidney cancer than with benign kidney cysts.
Most kidney cysts do not cause symptoms and are only incidentally discovered.Urine in the blood(hematuria), high blood pressure due to the cyst, and increased red blood cell count are very rare in the case of benign cysts and should raise the index of suspicion for kidney cancer. Rarely, there can be a cancerous component in the wall of a kidney cyst. A sonogram of the abdomen can demonstrate the presence of a kidney cyst with a very high degree of accuracy.
Updated: 06/13/99
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