Spontaneous Disappearance and Successive Reappearance of Renal Cyst

Abstract

The authors report a relatively rare case of dolichomegaureter followed over a period of almost 8 years which regressed spontaneously and almost completely. They envisage the various pathogenic hypotheses. The interest of this particular case lies, on the one hand, in the photographic documentation and, second, because of the regression of the dolichomegaureter slowly over the years, long after the disappearance of urinary infection and all treatment had been stopped. This course tended to confirm that the hypothesis of infectious megaureter due to a reversible acute inflammatory obstruction is not the sole explanation for the regression of certain large ureters in the infant.

Case Details

Personal Characteristics

Fifty-one-year-old woman, history of high temperatures, microscopic hematuria and albuminuria at age thirty-five

Clinical Characteristics

A urogram of the left kidney showed a parapyelic cyst which shifted the renal pelvis and lumbar ureter medially. One year later she concluded a normal pregnancy with a normal delivery. At age thirty-nine a urogram showed that the renal cyst had disappeared without any subjective symptoms, and both the kidney and upper urinary tract were shown to be normal. A third urogram ten years later showed the reappearance of the parapyelic cyst of the left kidney with the same characteristics found on the first examination. Two years later a urogram showed that the cyst was reduced in volume.

Remission Characteristics

Renal cyst disappeared without any subjective symptoms, and both the kidney and upper urinary tract were shown to be normal

Treatment & Mechanisms

Proposed Remission Mechanisms

Not discussed

Additional Notes

The renal cyst reappeared ten years later with the same characteristics found on the first examination. Two years later the cyst was reduced in volume.