Acquired renal cystic disease in HD: a study of 82 nephrectomies in young patients.

In order to study the development of acquired renal cystic disease (ARCD) and its potential complications, we studied, macro- and microscopically, 82 surgical specimens of nephrectomy carried out on young patients with chronic renal failure previous to renal transplantation. Statistical correlation of pathological findings with age, sex and time on hemodialysis (HD) have been done. There were 72 cases of ARCD (87.8%). It was statistically correlated with male sex (p less than 0.02) and prolonged time on HD (p less than 0.001) as has been previously reported. Hyperplasia of the cystic epithelium was found in 42 cases (52%), with 18 (22%) showing marked papillary proliferation. Also, there were 22 cases (27%) with renal adenomas. This incidence of hyperplastic and neoplastic proliferations, more than would be common in such a young population (males: 33.5 +/- 9.3 years; females: 35.4 +/- 11.7 years), suggests the potential of patients affected by ARCD to develop neoplasms. Thus, we consider that these patients must be checked periodically to detect possible malignant neoplasms.