Renal Agenesis

Agenesis may be bilateral or unilateral. Unilateral agenesis ('solitary kidney') occurs in 1 in 1000 of the population. It is usually associated with compensatory hypertrophy of the single kidney and normal renal function.

Save for the potential hazard of trauma to this solitary kidney, it has no clinical significance.

Cause of Renal Agenesis

Renal agenesis is usually an isolated sporadic abnormality but, in a few cases, it may be secondary to a chromosomal abnormality or part of a genetic syndrome (such as Fraser syndrome), or a developmental defect.

Bilateral Renal Agenesis

Bilateral Renal Agenesis is the absence of both kidneys at birth. It is a genetic disorder characterized by a failure of the kidneys to develop in a fetus. This absence of kidneys causes a deficiency of amniotic fluid (Oligohydramnios) in a pregnant woman.

Newborns with bilateral renal agenesis have low-set, floppy ears, a broad, flat nose, and underdeveloped lungs. These newborns often die of respiratory failure within a few hours of birth.

Lungs of infants with at least one functional kidney usually develop normally; thus, unilateral renal agenesis is often not detected during the perinatal period.

Bilateral renal agenesis is a lethal condition, usually in the neonatal period due to pulmonary hypoplasia. The prognosis with unilateral agenesis is normal.

Bookmark This Page:   :: :: ::