renal cysts

Morphological types

 spherical renal cysts

• macrocysts
• microcysts

 elongated renal cysts

According to cyst types

 renal glomerular cysts (glomerulocysts)
 renal tubular cysts (tubulocysts)
 renal simple cysts
 renal peripheral cortical cysts
 renal tumoral cysts ( renal cystic tumors )

According to cysts localization

 renal medullary cysts
 renal cortical cysts
 renal diffuse cysts

According to the number of cysts

 unique renal cyst (unilocular renal cyst)
 multiple renal cysts (oligocystic kidneys)
 diffuse renal cysts (multicystic kidneys)

• diffuse renal multicystic kidneys
  • renal polycystic diseases
  • diffuse renal multicystic diseases

Etiology

A. Renal cysts of embryonic origin

 renal simple cysts

• solitary renal cysts
• multilocular renal cysts

 calyceal diverticula or pelvic diverticula
 renal cystic diseases

• renal cysts in multicystic renal dysplasia
• renal cysts in polycystic kidney diseases (PKD)
• glomerulocystic disease
• cystic dilatation of renal pyramids
• renal medullary cystic diseases
  • medullary sponge kidney
  • medullary cystic disease (familial juvenile nephronophtisis complex)

 renal cysts associated with malformative syndromes and genetic diseases

• Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS)
• metabolic diseases
  • Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome
  • xanthinuria type 2
  • multiple acyl-CoA dehydrogenation deficiency (MADD)
  • Pearson syndrome

B. Renal cysts of nonembryonic origin

 retention renal cysts

• cysts associated with calculi
• obstructive renal dysplasia

 inflammatory renal cysts

• cysts associated with infections

 parasitic renal cysts

Differential diagnosis

 tumoral renal cysts (renal cystic tumors)

• cystic nephroma
• cystic partially differentiated nephroblastoma
• cystic classical Wilms tumor
• cystic renal cell carcinomas

See also

 fetal renal cysts (fetal multicystic kidneys)