One enlarged kidney, one too small

[KiteMarked]

Today DD, age 5 1/2, had a scan, and the radiographer measured her bladder and kidneys.

Her right kidney is smaller than normal, and her left is larger than normal. Her bladder doesn't hold a lot of urine before urgency (and accidents) and she doesn't empty it all the way.

She has had a few UTIs over the past 12 months, so this could be the result of chronic low-level infection I believe.

But looking back, I don't think she has ever been properly toilet trained; she started using the potty at 19 months or so, and I supported her with reminders, help with clothes, etc. As she got older I reduced my assistance in line with what I perceived to be her abilities, but she always had accidents. She still has accidents, averages about 4-5 per day.

We thought it was down to constipation, but she's been on movicol for a year and really doesn't struggle with that anymore (although we are still keeping at it, because without a scan/x-ray of her bowels we can't be sure).

If anyone has similar health issues with their DC, I'd be interested to hear. What can the specialists do? Would there be blood tests involved? Medications? How serious is this?

I was similar to your dd. Constantly having UTI and unexplained pains. Finally had an ultrasound at 12 and they found one kidney tiny and working 4% and the other large working 96%. I've lived a mainly normal life. Tiny kidney started getting infected often in my 20s so when I was 25 I had it out. Now, big Phil my bully boy kidney runs himself and I have no issues there. That was 10 years ago. Please don't worry. As long as she has 100% function it's fine.

It’s called dyplastic kidney op

They’ll monitor and test kidney function via a blood test. Also they should keep an eye on her blood pressure.
They’ll probably just monitor unless there’s a clinical reason to intervene.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and the information.

I will wait to hear back from the consultant before I worry. At least we know more information now!

DD (12) has this as a result of recurrent UTIs causing kidney damage. One is at 30pc (out of 50 pc) and the other has grown to 70 pc to compensate and you can see on the scan that one is visibly larger than the other.

She has regular checkups at the hospital to make sure things aren't getting worse (MAG3 scan every two years plus ultrasound scans between times). The only other thing is to check that blood pressure is under control which the GP does now and again.

The UTIs are in abeyance for now after a full year on prophylactic antibiotics and she now takes D Mannose (you can get it on Amazon - recommended by her urologist) which seems to be working reasonably well to keep things under control.

Thanks for sharing, rightreckoner.

Can I ask, did your DD have trouble with potty training? My daughter is still having 4-5 accidents a day, and I'm thinking this is all connected to a possible constant underlying infection.

I had a kidney stone around 19 years of age, when they scanned me they saw that my kidneys were abnormal in size. That was counting in fingers and toes 21 years ago and I haven’t had any problems since.

No she didn’t kite. But I can understand your reasoning. If she’s got bladder issues and lets urine dribble out rather than emptying properly and then possibly retaining some urine, this will create a good environment for UTIs and hence kidney damage. DDs paediatric urologist was really comprehensive at looking at all this and all her bowel habits (which were also fine) when looking for the cause.

In DD’s case it is more that she is just prone to UTIs rather than there being any mechanical cause. In all cases though I think part of the solution is to drink more.

In case you are in London, we saw Dr Anne Wright at the Evelina Children’s Hospital who was excellent.