EDUCATIONAL REVIEW Cystic kidney diseases: many ways to form a cyst

Abstract Renal cysts are a common radiological finding in both adults and children. They occur in a variety of con-ditions, and the clinical presentation, management, and prognosis varies widely. In this article, we discuss the major causes of renal cysts in children and adults with a particular focus on the most common genetic forms. Many cystopro-teins have been localized to the cilia centrosome complex (CCC). We consider the evidence for a universal ‘cilia hypothesis ’ for cyst formation and the evidence for non-ciliary proteins in cyst formation