hi im 40years old and lost my right kidney when i was four i habve had lots of urine infectiond since ,for the past 12 month i have had bad pain in my other kidney ,i was sent for a scan 3 months ago and they found a 4mm mass,i have been back today for a follow up and there was no change i am still suffering for pain in my kidney area and lost lots of weight and appetite ,do you think the mass could be serious and are all the symptoms connected
Hi, Thanks for writing in. A 4 mm mass is too small to characterize on ultrasound scan. Besides it is not showing any change in size since the last scan, so it is not a concern keeping in mind your pain. It is important to do a CT scan to evaluate the kidney and look for any other condition which can cause your pain. This is because ultrasound scan can have certain imaging and technical limitations and when you say that you only have a left kidney, it is important to evaluate it in detail. Loss of weight and appetite certainly calls for a complete evaluation and a CT scan might help in this regard. It is important to rule out any chronic or serious disease. I suggest you get complete blood count done and also get a cancer screening done should you have a family history of cancer. If you have vomiting, diarrhea or constipation then please consult a gastroenterologist and upper GI endoscopy or colonoscopy might be required.