Medullary sponge kidney - the mysterious name of a simple disease

Abstract

Medullary sponge kidney (renal spongiosis), (MSK) is a rare developmental anomaly of the kidney of unknown cause. It is presumed, that people with a genetic predisposition (<5% family occurrence) are prone to the disease. The peak of diagnosis is between the ages of 20-50, usually by chance (due to lack of symptoms) during an abdominal X-ray, where the so-called nephrocalcinosis (calcifications in the kidney) can be observed. Another radiologic test, that may suggest the condition in question is abdominal ultrasound, where cysts up to 8 mm in diameter in the medullary part of the kidney and calcifications can be seen. Diagnosis may also be based on the diagnosis of pre-existing stones and urinary tract infections, or hematuria. Urography has the highest sensitivity to sponge kidney. Symptoms, if already present, are characterized by low back pain, hematuria, hematuria, recurrent urinary tract infections, proteinuria, sterile purulence. Ultimately, the aforementioned pathologies can lead to kidney failure. To date, no causal treatment has been developed; only symptomatic treatment of lithiasis foci and urinary tract infections is possible. The purpose of the following paper was to describe the definition, epidemiology and etiology of MSK and to highlight the randomness of diagnosis and the problem in the lack of specific therapy for this renal developmental disorder. Current publications and guidelines from scientific societies around the world were reviewed, using MeSH-compliant keywords.

Retrograde intrarenal surgery for stones associated with renal anomalies: caliceal diverticulum, horseshoe kidney, medullary sponge kidney, megacalycosis, pelvic kidney, uretero-pelvic junction obstruction

“…MSK or renal spongiosis is a rare anomaly in the development of the kidney considered a sporadic congenital malformities condition of unknown cause and it is an incidental finding in 0.5-1% of individuals undergoing renal imaging due to the lack of symptoms [26]. However, 70% of MSK patients develop renal stones.…”

“…At 3-months follow-up visit, no complication was described nor residual stones were found at the kidney-ureter-bladder (KUB) X-ray [27]. Moreover, the lack of information in stone management because of this condition seems accurate to perform a periodic urinalysis to rule out hypercalciuria and hypocitraturia due to the greater tendency of these patients to develop kidney stones [26]. Moreover, removal of intraductal stones by ureteroscopic laser papillotomy relieves chronic pain in MSK patients [25].…”