Acquired renal cystic disease. Polysyndromatic entity as the cause of non-immunological progression of renal failure.

We present a patient with rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis who after immunosuppression and hemodialysis treatment showed an improvement in his c ondition. Eight years later a computed tomography discovered an acquired re nal cystic disease (ARCD) characterized by the development of 3 or more cys ts in both kidneys of patients with chronic renal disorders and no history of hereditary cystic disease. ARCD may be asymptomatic or as it ocurred in this patient, associated with several complications related to renal cysts such as polyuria-polydipsia syndrome, renal hemorrhagic cyst, perinephric h emorrhage and renal cell carcinoma. Along 12 years of follow-up the renal f unction showed a very slow declination which could be attributed to ARCD. I t is suggested that ARCD can be considered as a non-immunological factor of renal progression when it develops in patients with mild chronic renal fai lure.