Cystic Diseases of the Kidney

Abstract

Since one or more macroscopic cysts are to be found in the majority of adult kidneys examined at autopsy, it is not surprising that attempts at delineating cystic entities have often defied Occam's injunction and have rarely been clinically useful. As a first approximation cystic diseases may be divided into two main groups, of which one is characterized by large cysts in large kidneys, and the other by small cysts in small or Normal-Sized kidneys.In the adult familial form of polycystic kidney disease the greatly enlarged kidneys resemble bunches of grapes. An autosomal dominant, with virtually complete penetrance if . . .