Renal Cystic Diseases

The kidneys remove waste from your blood. They do this by filtering the blood and making urine. As people get older, sacs filled with fluid can form in the kidneys. These sacs are called “cysts.” They are usually small, oval or round thin-walled sacs with watery fluid in them

Kidney cysts are almost always benign (not cancerous). Usually, the cysts don’t cause any problems. In fact, people can go through life without even knowing that they have them.

Sometimes, Simple Cysts can progress to Complex Cyst which can be Tumors.

Some people have kidney cysts caused by an inherited disease called polycystic kidney disease (PKD). This disease can cause symptoms such as high blood pressure, pain in the back and side, blood in the urine, or frequent kidney infections. Not all people who have PKD will have these symptoms.

How common are kidney cysts?

Up to 50 percent of people older than 50 years of age have kidney cysts.

Symptoms of kidney cysts

If you have kidney cysts, you may have these symptoms:

• Pain on your side between your ribs and your hip.
• Pain in your belly or back.
• A fever.
• Frequent urination.
• Blood in your urine or dark urine.

If you’re having any of these symptoms, you should contact our experienced nephrologists at Kidney Care El Paso.

What causes kidney cysts?

If your kidney cysts are caused by PKD, then they are inherited. This means you have them because they run in your family. For most people, though, this is not the case. Doctors aren’t sure why kidney cysts form for them. It could be that the kidney surface weakens over time. This could explain why kidney cysts are most common in people who are age 50 and older.