Juvenile nephronophthisis and renal medullary cystic disease

In the past 30 years 238 cases have been published which describe the nephronophthisiscystic renal medulla complex. Of these, 110 are sufficiently adequate to permit detailed analyses. Both isolated and genetically transmitted cases are reported. The latter include the dominant and recessive modalities, both autosomal, and the former perhaps also X-linked. Renal disease also has been inherited as a recessive trait in association with retinal degeneration. Medullary cysts have been found in 73% of cases in which kidney tissue has been examined directly. Their presence seems to bear no relationship to the ability of involved kidneys to conserve sodium. Salt wasting is described in the presence and absence of medullary cysts. Techniques short of anatomic examination of the kidneys have rarely allowed cysts to be detected and diagnosis continues to rest on a high index of suspicion, aroused in turn by a positive family history for the disease. Arterial hypertension occurs in roughly one third of cases. Aminoaciduria is not a part of the syndrome. A defect in maximum urinary concentrating ability may be the best single early sign of involvement but data are scarce.