There is a lump on the kidney

The kidneys play an important role in human health, so once problems occur, it will cause great harm to your health. Renal cyst is a very common type in daily life. It can be divided into two types: benign and malignant. It is generally asymptomatic and needs to be discovered through medical examinations. Under normal circumstances, it is benign, but if it is found to be cancerous, it needs to be treated surgically.

1. Renal cyst

The "water cysts" on the kidneys are medically called renal cysts, which are divided into benign and malignant according to their internal shape and composition. In fact, renal cysts are also a type of renal tumor, most of which are benign, and a small part are malignant.

In terms of its causes, most renal cysts are congenital, a few are acquired, and a very small number have unknown causes. It can be single-sided or double-sided, single-shot or multi-shot. Generally speaking, renal cysts increase in size with age, but this growth is relatively slow, measuring in millimeters per year. Some renal cysts also grow rapidly in a short period of time. In this case, you should pay attention to the possibility of bleeding or cancer.

2. What are the common symptoms of renal cysts?

It can be said that renal cysts are usually asymptomatic and are mostly discovered accidentally during physical examinations or imaging examinations of other diseases. The most common subjective symptom is pain in the affected side of the waist, which is generally mild. The pain will be aggravated when intracystic bleeding or secondary infection occurs. Some patients also present with hematuria or proteinuria. But it is worth noting that the degree of hematuria or proteinuria is actually not related to the size of the cyst.

Whether the kidney cyst is discovered accidentally or due to the above symptoms, how should it be treated? Does everyone need surgery? The answer is no. Not all renal cysts require surgery.

Usually, when determining whether a cyst requires surgery, we mainly consider several aspects. 1. Size: Is it larger than 4 cm, or even compressing the renal pelvis and other anatomical structures? 2. Whether it causes clinical symptoms: obvious pain, affecting life or even causing mental burden? 3. Whether it causes secondary bleeding or is suspected of cancer. If one of the above conditions is met, surgical treatment is generally considered. Among the above three situations, the third one has more uncertainty.

(III) So, how do we determine whether a kidney cyst is cancerous?

A good B-ultrasound examination can easily diagnose simple renal cysts. The so-called simple means that the wall is thin, the juice is scarce, there are no partitions, and there is no calcification. This type of cyst usually has no symptoms and is considered noncancerous, so you don't need to pay attention to it.

Slightly worse than simple cysts are so-called mildly complex renal cysts. This type of cyst is usually suspected by ultrasound doctors and further CT examination is recommended. These cysts may show thin septa on CT scan, with fine calcifications dotted on the cyst wall and/or septa, and turbid cystic fluid. This type of renal cyst has a certain rate of malignancy, so regular follow-up imaging examinations are generally recommended.

Even more serious are the more complex renal cysts. In addition to irregular cyst walls and thick septa on CT, this type of cyst also has irregular calcification. Needless to say, this type of cyst also has a certain rate of malignancy, so regular follow-up imaging examinations are generally recommended.

The last type of kidney cyst is also the most likely to become cancerous. This type of renal cyst appears more exaggerated on CT, as if the proper shape of a cyst has been forgotten. Its cystic walls become rough and irregular, and the septa become rough and even nodular. The most characteristic feature is that the cyst appears enhanced under contrast agent enhancement. In most cases of this type, it is actually kidney cancer, and there is no doubt that surgery is needed.