The kidney is a complex organ with many important tasks for the human body. As an excretory organ, it helps to get rid of unimportant or even harmful substances in the body, keeps the water balance in equilibrium, is an important contributor to blood pressure regulation and ensures that our mineral balance and acid-base balance are correct. In order to be able to perform all these tasks, a highly complex structure of the kidney is necessary. During the development process some things can go wrong, which causes the frequency and variety of malformations of the kidney. Fortunately, most of them are harmless and do not require therapy.
Absence of an organ (agenesia)
First of all, in the case of kidney malformations, the changed number of kidneys must be listed. Normally a person has two kidneys. If only one kidney is present, this is called unilateral agenesia, if no kidneys are present, it is bilateral agenesia.
An additional kidney is also possible. An aplasia, on the other hand, refers to an incomplete development of the kidney. This is a kidney with two renal pelvic calices (in which urine is collected after passing through the kidney and transferred to the ureter).
For example, the kidney may be in a different location than the usual one (ectopic kidney), i.e. often too deep compared to its normal position below the diaphragm from about the twelfth thoracic vertebra to the third lumbar vertebra. This occurs when the kidneys merge at the lower end during development. This is often without symptoms, but it can also lead to urinary flow problems and thus to recurrent infections.
Causes
The causes of the malformations are genetic. This means that these diseases are partly inherited or can also be caused by accidental mutations in the genetic material.
Symptoms
In most cases, malformations of the kidney are a random finding that does not result in further treatment. Complaints that therefore lead to a doctor are rare, but can be manifested by frequent inflammation of the renal pelvis and associated flank pain.