Why is one of my kidneys a shortie?
March 10, 2008 9:35 AM Subscribe
During an ultrasound to inspect an angry gall bladder (which I will shortly be having removed) it was discovered that, although I haven't had any symptoms, not only do I also have kidney stones, but one of my kidneys is half the size of the other (normal) one and there is "something wrong" with a related blood vessel. Yes I know YANAD and/or YANMD. I am under medical care.
It's just my doc said we should focus on the gall bladder issue right now, since I will need it out soon, and some test, maybe she said a renal scan, wouldn't be possible right after gall bladder surgery. In any case she said it wasn't life threatening, that it was likely congenital, and that if the blood vessel "issue" was fixed, my medication controlled high blood pressure would very possibly cease to need medication control. She said we'd talk about all this later. However, I'm kind of curious now! What are the possibilities here? It's pretty hard to google "half-sized kidney." My understanding is that by saying it's congenital, that basically means "born with it," right?
Points of note. I am a decently health though overweight 27-yo female. I was born quite premature for the time, about 8 wks early, by C-section. My mother and I are both part of a longitudinal study for DDT and DDE exposure (my grandmother took one or the other, I can't remember which). As far as I'm aware we've never shown any signs of problems related to my grandmother's exposure. Though it was once said to me that the drug my grandmother took could explain my premature birth, i don't remember the source of that statement and can't speak to its veracity or feasibility.
I will obviously be speaking about this at length with my doc LATER and it's my understanding I will have some tests to undergo.
Any insight, thoughts, or questions you could give me would be much appreciated. What should I be asking when the time comes? What could I be learning about in the meantime? What kind of impact could this have had on my life so far (besides possibly accounting for my high blood pressure) and what could I expect down the road? When she says there's a blood vessel that needs to be fixed, can anyone take a guess at what will "fix" it? Anything I've left out?
Thanks in advance.
It's just my doc said we should focus on the gall bladder issue right now, since I will need it out soon, and some test, maybe she said a renal scan, wouldn't be possible right after gall bladder surgery. In any case she said it wasn't life threatening, that it was likely congenital, and that if the blood vessel "issue" was fixed, my medication controlled high blood pressure would very possibly cease to need medication control. She said we'd talk about all this later. However, I'm kind of curious now! What are the possibilities here? It's pretty hard to google "half-sized kidney." My understanding is that by saying it's congenital, that basically means "born with it," right?
Points of note. I am a decently health though overweight 27-yo female. I was born quite premature for the time, about 8 wks early, by C-section. My mother and I are both part of a longitudinal study for DDT and DDE exposure (my grandmother took one or the other, I can't remember which). As far as I'm aware we've never shown any signs of problems related to my grandmother's exposure. Though it was once said to me that the drug my grandmother took could explain my premature birth, i don't remember the source of that statement and can't speak to its veracity or feasibility.
I will obviously be speaking about this at length with my doc LATER and it's my understanding I will have some tests to undergo.
Any insight, thoughts, or questions you could give me would be much appreciated. What should I be asking when the time comes? What could I be learning about in the meantime? What kind of impact could this have had on my life so far (besides possibly accounting for my high blood pressure) and what could I expect down the road? When she says there's a blood vessel that needs to be fixed, can anyone take a guess at what will "fix" it? Anything I've left out?
Thanks in advance.
Congenital renal anomalies are not uncommon. Sometimes the culprit is as simple as a stenotic (small) renal artery on that side, which restricted the flow of blood to that kidney while it was developing. (The renal artery branches off the aorta, supplying the kidney with blood.) Renal artery stenosis is also a common cause of hypertension, as the blood-starved kidney dumps hormones into the bloodstream, calling the heart to pump blood harder and faster.
The 'fix' often involves an operation to remove the defective/damaged kidney.
Yes I know you are not my doctor
Good. Don't be afraid to discuss these issues with your own doc.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:47 AM on March 10, 2008
The 'fix' often involves an operation to remove the defective/damaged kidney.
Yes I know you are not my doctor
Good. Don't be afraid to discuss these issues with your own doc.
posted by ikkyu2 at 9:47 AM on March 10, 2008
I'm sure it could be any number of things, but since you asked: I have a friend whose son was recently diagnosed with kidney reflux (it has some other, more correct name but that's the layman's term she was given and it's all I remember). One of his kidneys is smaller than the other and there's some issue with some other part of the kidney (yes, I know! Not very specific! Sorry!) that will be fixed surgically very soon. He had recurrent UTIs (very uncommon in boys/men) that led them to the urologist. She said there's some other medical treatment that could possibly fix the issue (not the smallness, that will never change) but that since his issue is so far along, the surgical way is the better way to go. Again, sorry for the vagueness. She and her family are on vacation in Florida right now so I can't get in touch with her.
posted by cooker girl at 9:50 AM on March 10, 2008
posted by cooker girl at 9:50 AM on March 10, 2008
In our family, on my husband's side, one of the siblings has one kidney and never knew it, while another has a second undersized kidney. I understand you worrying and wondering about this, but I think the gallbladder issue really is the more serious one, and the kidney situation is an anomaly that you would never even have known about had the gallbladder problem not come up.
posted by misha at 10:28 AM on March 10, 2008
posted by misha at 10:28 AM on March 10, 2008
Response by poster: thanks so far. Yes DES could be the right thing. All i remember is getting surveys in the mail every few years, I tried googling to figure out what it was...
also, i've never been prone to UTIs, kidney infections, or any problems in that region.
You're right, i may have never known about it had it not shown up on ultrasound but it does sound like something they want to address when the time is right. i'm not getting too worked up as i trust my doc and she said not to worry...i just want to be prepared...
thanks for the answers (so far)
posted by Soulbee at 10:54 AM on March 10, 2008
also, i've never been prone to UTIs, kidney infections, or any problems in that region.
You're right, i may have never known about it had it not shown up on ultrasound but it does sound like something they want to address when the time is right. i'm not getting too worked up as i trust my doc and she said not to worry...i just want to be prepared...
thanks for the answers (so far)
posted by Soulbee at 10:54 AM on March 10, 2008
I have a different renal anomaly, which I discovered when they did a dye pyelogram some 15 years ago to see why I was getting frequent UTIs. I actually found out about it when reading some medical records -- it was so unremarkable they didn't tell me, and I don't even know what it is, really. I supposedly have "an extra renal lobe" on one kidney. Maybe it's the half-kidney you're missing, Soulbee! But at any rate, many of these renal abnormalities are trivial, I guess.
posted by lleachie at 11:03 AM on March 10, 2008
posted by lleachie at 11:03 AM on March 10, 2008
My transplant doc said it was common for people to discover they only had one kidney, or one and a half, or even three, though the third was usually undersized. In this particular clinic they only discovered it when they were being evaluated as a potential donor. None of these variations caused them trouble.
posted by small_ruminant at 11:11 AM on March 10, 2008
posted by small_ruminant at 11:11 AM on March 10, 2008
If you want to discuss it now, you should be able to make an appointment with your doc (in addition to the appointments for the gall bladder) to do so.
The people doing the study may be interested in hearing about this and a discussion with them might yield some interesting information if they believe that these conditions may be related to the issues they're studying.
posted by winston at 11:18 AM on March 10, 2008
The people doing the study may be interested in hearing about this and a discussion with them might yield some interesting information if they believe that these conditions may be related to the issues they're studying.
posted by winston at 11:18 AM on March 10, 2008
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posted by 45moore45 at 9:45 AM on March 10, 2008