CT SCAN

I was having real bad back pain on the left side so I went to the emergency ward.  They thought I had kidney stones but none were indicated on the scan.  However, the report from the scan said: "A 4.4 cm left renal cyst is observed.  Smaller hypoattenuating circumscribed lesions involving both kidneys are less well-characterized but also most likely represent cysts.  No perinephric inflammatory changes are seen".  The pains were bad but over time, 3 weeks, went away.  My doc did urine test and said they were "ok".  Doc said it was not necessary for me to do anything because the cysts/lesions were nothing to be concerned about.  The pains have not occured again but this did happen to me previously about 2 years ago - also thought to be stones but all that was found at that time was smaller cysts then this more recent episode.  Whats going on?

[Ash Tewari, MD, M.Ch.]

Hello Madam,

It is possible to have many small cysts on the kidney. If you are not experiencing any additional symptoms you can have them monitored via CT scan every 6 months to one year, depending on what your clinician suggests. You could have a disease known as adult polycystic kidney disease, however will small cysts, which are measurable in number, it is unlikely. Also if you do not have high blood pressure or headaches or other symptoms of APKD, it is more unlikely. If you have no pain/ problems/ or symptoms, they are probably something you can just ignore.

Thanks!