Multicystic kidney dysplasia

The clinical course of 48 children (27 boys and 21 girls) with multicystic kidney dysplasia was analysed retrospectively. The patients were seen and treated at the Children's Hospital of Medical School Hannover between 1976 to 1989. There was no familial occurrence of the disease, yet in eight families various other renal diseases could be observed. In 20 patients the diagnosis of multicystic renal dysplasia was presumed by prenatal sonographic examination, in the other patients the diagnosis was established at the age between 1 day to 12 years. The first manifestations were palpable abdominal mass (n = 16), urinary tract infection (n = 4), casually because of a sonographic evaluation for other reasons (n = 4) and vomiting (n = 2). Associated malformations were found in 18 patients: cardiac malformations (n = 6), dysplasia of the other kidney (n = 5), ureter obstruction of the other kidney (n = 3), horseshoe kidney (n = 1) and others (n = 3). There was no hypertension and serum creatinine levels were normal in those children, who did not suffer from associated malformations of the other kidney. The multicystic kidney was removed operatively in 42 patients at the age of 3 days to 9.5 years (median 4 weeks). The prognosis of multicystic kidney dysplasia depends on associated renal and other malformations.