What are the causes of fetal renal cysts?

Renal cyst is a very common tumor and a very common benign tumor. Although the incidence rate among adults is relatively high, fetuses are also likely to suffer from renal cysts. Why would a fetus be infected with renal cysts while in the mother's womb? Many babies are found to have kidney cysts after birth, and their families find it very strange. So what causes fetal renal cysts? Let me introduce it to you below.

1. Causes of disease

1. The cause of polycystic kidney disease is gene deletion. Adult polycystic kidney disease is often caused by gene deletion of chromosome 16, and occasionally by gene deletion of chromosome 4. It is a dominant inheritance with 100% penetrance. Therefore, chromosome deletion of a single parent will make their children have a 50% chance of inheriting the disease. Infantile polycystic kidney disease is an autosomal recessive trait. Both parents must have genetic changes for the disease in order for their children to develop the disease, with a 25% chance of developing the disease.

Evidence that this disease is related to heredity includes that Buck et al. reported a family of 8 brothers and sisters, 6 of whom had renal cysts, their father and uncle also died of uremia, and 5 of their next generation suffered from kidney disease; Brasck et al. reported that four generations of a family were found to have polycystic kidney disease; Reason et al. reported that twins both suffered from the disease; Crawford reported that 17 out of a family of 40 were found to have polycystic kidney disease.

70% to 90% of this disease is bilateral. Among the 62 cases reported by Lejars, only 3 were unilateral. Oickinson reported that the ratio of unilateral to bilateral was 1:26. Gross specimen examination showed that the volume of polycystic kidneys was 2 to 3 times larger than that of normal kidneys. There was a report of a case of bilateral polycystic kidneys weighing 14436g. Schacht reported that a cystic kidney weighed 7248g. The appearance of polycystic kidney disease is mostly irregular cystic nodules, and the cross-section shows countless cysts of varying sizes in a honeycomb shape.

The cyst cavity of infantile (Potter type Ⅰ) polycystic kidney is the size of a needle head. There is very little renal tissue between the cysts. When the cysts grow larger, the renal parenchyma atrophies due to compression, so the medulla and cortex are underdeveloped. The cyst cavity contains yellow-brown mucous, purulent or bloody fluids.

The above article introduces some reasons why the fetus may develop renal cysts. In addition to congenital reasons, these reasons may also be caused by the mother's careless diet and lifestyle during pregnancy, such as wearing makeup, dyeing hair, applying nail polish, unhealthy diet, etc., so you must pay special attention to your lifestyle during pregnancy.