Question:

My daughter in law had a 20 week routine ultrasound today. They were told that the blood supply to one kidney was decreased and also it is very apparent that the size of the affected kidney is much much smaller. Can anything be done to correct this? Apparently other kidney looks ok. We now sit and wait I guess until we hear back from her regular doctor.???

Answer:

It is difficult to interpret what is wrong with the kidney based on the description that you provided. However, sometimes kidneys do not develop normally, and there are many possible reasons. In most cases nothing can be done to correct the disorder. Assuming the other kidney is normal, however, it should grow to a size much larger than a single kidney would be if there were 2 kidneys (called compensatory hypertrophy) and the baby should be fine in the long run.

For more information:

Go to the Urinary and Genital Disorders (Children) health topic.