Kidney Enlargement - Polycystic Kidney Disease

Kidney is the vital organ of human being and its basic function is to produce urine during which metabolic wastes and toxins will be discharged while water and other useful materials will be re-absorbed.

The normal kidney size: length is about 10-12cm, width is about 5-6cm and thickness is 3-4cm. Enlarged or shrunk kidneys all indicate renal diseases and renal damages.

PKD patients usually have enlarged kidneys due to the continuous enlargement and increase of fluid-filled cysts. Both the renal cortex and renal medulla are filled with cysts with varying sizes from a few millimeters to a few centimeters. The size and number of the cysts will increase as the illness conditions progress and the degree of cyst increase is higher in male patients than the female.

Usually lesions in the two kidneys are asymmetric and their sizes are not the same. In the end stage the kidneys can fill the whole abdominal cavity. There are many cysts in the surface and the shape of the kidney is irregular.