Unilateral multicystic renal disease in adults

Patients with multicystic kidneys that remained undetected for many years are currently our best source of information on the long-term fate of this type of renal dysplasia. We review 24 cases with adequate data reported in the literature and add 3 personal cases. Significant problems that were encountered and were related to these retained multicystic kidneys include abdominal pain, erroneous diagnosis of renal agenesis leading to repeated unrewarding medical studies for abdominal pain, abdominal mass and renal neoplasm arising in the dysplastic kidney.