Kidney cyst

[DS22]

A few months ago a close friend of mine was complaining of abdominal pain and I said I'd pay for her to go and have it checked out. She went to see a gastrointestinal specialist and had some scans done. They didn't find anything wrong with her digestive system but in the process they did find a calcified wall cyst in the kidney that is "at least" Bosniak 2. There was no follow up besides offering painkillers.

 

I am no doctor but from what I have been able to find out "at least" Bosniak 2 is not very helpful. The percentage of Bosniak 2 cysts that are malignant is 0%, whereas for 2F it's 5% and for 3 it's 55%. The best sense I can make of it is that the radiologist was effectively saying "more tests needed" but the doctor didn't do anything about it. Have I got the wrong end of the stick here?

 

My friend is not especially worried, but this is partly because she misunderstood me as saying I didn't think it was a big deal (don't ask me why she thinks I know what I'm talking about in the first place). I'm unsure whether to reopen the subject. If it's benign then I'd just be worrying her for nothing, and she already has a lot to deal with. If it's not, then it's better to know sooner as long as it's treatable, but what would the treatment be, would it need to be paid for, and would it be affordable? Is it too late for insurance? I would help to the best of my ability but dread a scenario where I have to choose between abandoning her and committing my life savings to a treatment that has only a modest chance of success.

 

 

[blackcab]

@Sheryl is away for a few days. I have tagged this post so that she can reply to you on her return.

[Sheryl]

First of all, the renal cyst was likely an incidental finding unrelated to her abdominal pain.

 

Secondly, renal cysts are almost always benign and seldom require any treatment. More than half of us will have at least one renal cyst by the time we are 50 years old - it is very, very common and due to increased use of scans, more often discovered than used to be the case.

 

It is likely no treatment was mentioned because  none is indicated  -- though it would help to see the actual scan report, and to know what type of scan it was e.g. CT vs MRI. If you gave the report, please post it here minus the identifying information.

 

By the way if your friend is Thai she has access to free health care through the government system. No need  for you to be paying anything.

 

Has her abdominal pain resolved?

 

 

[Lorry]

The way to deal with  an " at least Bosniak 2" cyst is a follow up in a year.

It has to be checked by CT or ultrasound with contrast (i doubt you can get this in Thailand,  maybe in Bangkok).

As Sheryl said, it's not the reason for her abdominal pain,  and renal cysts are almost always harmless.