<http://schema.org/articleBody>
" Question My daughter has duplex kidney on both sides and possibly reflux in the bladder.  I would like to know what this is and what the treatment is for it. I have been told that she will need &amp;#039;MCUG&amp;#039; done.  Why do they do this and what are they looking for?   Answer If your daughter has duplex kidneys on both sides of her body this means that part, or all, of each kidney is duplicated.  She may therefore have four completely separate kidneys, instead of the usual two.  Each kidney may be draining via its own tube (the ureter) into the bladder, or it may be that only the kidneys are duplicated and each &amp;#039;double&amp;#039; kidney drains into a single ureter.  If duplex kidneys are the only abnormality affecting a child&amp;#039;s urinary tract and no other disease is present, then it is likely that no treatment will be necessary because duplex kidneys can function quite normally. However, duplex kidneys are sometimes associated with other problems.  Urine should flow from the kidneys, down the ureters to the bladder, but in some children there is an abnormal backflow of urine from the bladder up the ureter towards the kidney, a condition known as vesicoureteric reflux, which is sometimes associated with duplex kidneys.  The major concern for a child with vesicoureteric reflux is that if the urine becomes infected and flows back towards the kidney, it may cause damage and scarring in the kidney.  This kind of damage is most likely to happen in the first few years of life, but thankfully about 70 per cent of children will spontaneously stop refluxing over a period of a few years.  So if infections can be prevented by keeping the child on a continuous low dose of antibiotic trimethoprim (which your daughter is taking) it may be possible to stop the kidneys being damaged whilst waiting for the reflux to resolve. The MCUG test you refer to is a micturating cystourethrogram. This investigation involves putting a tube or catheter into the bladder and through this filling the bladder with a liquid that will show up on X-ray pictures.  If the fluid can be seen travelling from the bladder back up the ureters it confirms that the child has vesicoureteric reflux.  The test can also show whether the reflux is mild, moderate or severe.  All this information will help the doctors looking after your daughter decide what treatment she needs to have, and for how long.  Yours sincerely The NetDoctor Medical Team   Other Qs &amp;amp; As Biliary atresia Do children get pancreatitis? Horse shoe kidney &amp;amp;#8211; what should I expect? How can I find out about hypoglycaemia? I&amp;#039;ve got diabetes &amp;amp;#8211; will my kids get it too? My daughter has a scar on her kidney My daughter needs a liver ultrasound &amp;amp;#8211; what does this mean? My son has diabetes and thyroid problems My son has kidney stones My son only has one kidney Polycystic kidney disease in children   Last updated 13.05.2014 "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/ask-the-expert/pregnancy-and-family/a9677/what-are-duplex-kidneys/>