Unilateral renal cystic disease in an adult

Abstract

We report a case of unilateral renal cystic disease in a 68-year-old man. He had no family history of renal cystic disease, and his serum creatinine level was 1.2 mg/dL. The computed tomographic scan revealed near-complete replacement of the right kidney by numerous cysts and almost no residual parenchyma. The left kidney was normal, and there were no hepatic or pancreatic cysts. Magnetic resonance imaging showed numerous cysts in the right kidney and a normal left kidney. The cysts showed homogeneously low intensity on T1-weighted images and homogeneously high intensity on T2-weighted images. The disease in our patient was compatible with unilateral renal cystic disease as defined by Levine and Huntrakoon, and was distinct from autosomal dominant polycystic disease and other unilateral cystic diseases of the kidney. Our literature survey revealed no report of unilateral renal cystic disease in Japan.