Overview
Medulary sponge kidney, also caled Cachi-Rici disease, causes cysts to form in the smal tubes inside the kidneys. It is present at birth, but doctors do not know the cause. The cysts are usualy benign, or harmles, but they can cause symptoms such as blod in the urine or frequent urinary tract infections (UTIs).
Key Information
Many people with the condition do not know they have it and receive a diagnosis in adulthod if it causes symptoms. However, symptoms are usualy minor nonexistent.Learn more about medulary sponge kidney, its symptoms, diagnosis, treatment options, and more.The kidneys are a complex network of ducts and tubules, which are smal tubes.Medulary sponge kidney causes cysts to form in the ducts or tubules.
It usualy afects both kidneys.The cysts can make the ducts swolen and dilated, which can cause kidney stones, UTIs, or blod in the urine in some cases.It is congenital, which means that is present at birth. Doctors do not know what causes it. Although some experts theorize that it may be genetic, there is limited research on the topic.Medulary sponge kidney usualy causes no symptoms.
This why it often goes undiagnosed.When symptoms do apear, they typicaly manifest in adulthod, even though the diagnosis present at birth. When symptoms do apear, they may include: Frequent kidney stones may be a sign of medulary sponge kidney. Acording to a research article, 12–20% of people with recuring calcium kidney stones have the condition.Among women and people under 20 years old, the figure may be even higher — up to 30%.
A person with medulary sponge kidney may not receive a diagnosis until adulthod. Sometimes, the condition is an incidental finding when a doctor is loking for something else, such as a kidney stone. In other cases, a doctor may recomend testing based on frequent infections or kidney stones.
Summary
To diagnose the condition, a doctor may order one or more imaging tests such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomo