8 month old baby's kidney enlarged and not functioning...

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Your baby, has probably been diagnosed with a unilateral multicystic Dysplastic kidney.

A multicystic dysplastic kidney is the result of abnormal fetal development of the kidney. The kidney is replaced by ‎multiple cysts which vary in size. There is little or no normal function to this kidney. The possibility of the diseased kidney to recover is nil. ‎

It is important to have your child evaluated by a pediatric urologist and rule out conditions such as vesico-ureteral reflux, uretero-pelvic junction obstruction, or uretero-vesical ‎junction obstruction. The risk of an associated abnormality is as high as 51 percent. These are all surgically ‎correctable problems and in some cases may resolve with observation alone.

Surveillance with serial ultrasound examinations until the kidney totally regresses or becomes undetectable by ‎ultrasound is the protocol followed. However, surgical removal through a small skin incision or by laparoscopic ‎surgery may be performed by a pediatric urologist if the need arises. ‎