Ask the Doctor Questions about kidney disease? Risk factors?
Signs and symptoms? Are you concerned about yourself, a friend
or family member? Ask Dr. Spry. The kidneys perform many
functions that are vital to good health. It is not unusual,
however, to have only one kidney to do the work that two kidneys
ordinarily do. Many people are born with a single kidney. This
occurs in about one out of 750 people. Being born with a single
kidney is more common in males, and the left kidney is the one
more often absent. The ureter (the tube that takes urine from
the kidney to the bladder) on the affected side is usually
abnormal or absent. An abnormality of the reproductive tract may
also be seen on the same side. This occurs more often in females
than in males. In other cases, one kidney may need to be
surgically removed, leaving a single remaining kidney. A kidney
may need to be removed because of an anatomic abnormality such
as obstruction, or because of a tumor, or from a severe
traumatic injury after an accident. O