Is renal tuberculosis contagious?

Renal tuberculosis is a type of urinary system disease. If it is not treated in time, the bacteria may spread to the genitals along with the urine, or cause other complications. Therefore, renal tuberculosis is a relatively serious disease.

1. Renal tuberculosis is a common disease among urinary system diseases. It is part of systemic tuberculosis and accounts for about 8% to 20% of tuberculosis. Renal tuberculosis is mostly secondary to pulmonary tuberculosis. The tuberculosis bacilli enter the kidneys through the blood and form tuberculosis lesions. Symptoms of renal tuberculosis often appear only after a long period of occurrence or recovery from pulmonary tuberculosis. If treated with timely medication in the early stages, it can be cured. If not treated promptly, the bacteria will flow down with the urine and spread to the ureters, bladder, and urethra. It may also spread to the genitals and even cause late complications, seriously affecting recovery.

2. Tuberculosis bacteria invade the kidneys through the bloodstream from primary lesions such as the lungs, bones, joints, and intestines, forming multiple miliary nodules in the glomerular vascular plexus in the cortical layer. When the body's resistance is strong, most cases can heal themselves, and often no clinical symptoms appear. This is called pathological renal tuberculosis. If the resistance is reduced, the tuberculosis bacteria will invade the walls of the glomerular capillaries and then stay in the renal tubular loops in the medullary layer to form tuberculosis lesions. The lesions then spread through the renal tubules, lymphatic vessels or directly to the renal papilla, penetrate the renal papilla to reach the renal calyces and renal pelvis, causing tuberculous pyelonephritis and causing symptoms, which is called clinical renal tuberculosis. It usually takes a long time for pathological renal tuberculosis to develop into clinical renal tuberculosis.

3. Tuberculous nodules are mainly composed of fibrous tissue proliferation, with plasma cells, lymphocytes and epithelial cells surrounding the colonies. After the lesions infiltrate, their range gradually expands, they fuse with each other, the center becomes necrotic, and a dry, cool-like abscess is formed. Sometimes the abscess will rupture around the kidney and form a sinus tract. The kidney may be filled with caseous and calcified substances, forming calcified kidney. Tuberculous fibrosis may also cause narrowing of the renal infundibulum or the junction of the renal pelvis and ureter, forming tuberculous pyonephrosis.