Background Patients with congenital solitary kidney have an increased risk of developing hypertension, proteinuria and renal insufficiency. However, the specific factors associated with the progression of renal function in adults with congenital solitary kidney remain still unclear. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that are independently associated with renal function progression in patients with congenital solitary kidney.
Methods Sixty-five Chinese adults with congenital solitary kidney (48 patients with unilateral renal agenesis and 17 with severe unilateral renal dysplasia) were recruited into our study retrospectively. Clinical data were analyzed.
Results Of sixty-five patients with congenital solitary kidney, the prevalence of hypertension, proteinuria and renal insufficiency was 36.9%, 35.4% and 38.5%, respectively. There was no significant difference in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) between patients with and without hypertension, whereas GFR in patients with proteinuria was significantly lower than in those without proteinuria (p<0.05). While there was no statistically significant difference in prevalence of hypertension between patients with and without renal insufficiency, the prevalence of proteinuria in patients with renal insufficiency was significantly higher than in those without renal insufficiency (p<0.05). Logistic regression analysis revealed that kidney length and proteinuria were independently associated with the progression of renal function (OR=0.20, 95%CI 0.05-0.79, and OR=8.30, 95%CI 2.30-29.96, respectively).
Conclusion Hypertension, proteinuria or renal insufficiency was present in approximately one-third of adults with congenital solitary kidney. Those with a kidney length of less than 120 mm or proteinuria had a much higher risk of renal insufficiency.