Does Abdominal Wall Hernia,renal Cyst And Fatty Liver Cause Serious Health Risks?

Posted on Thu, 2 Jan 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 2 Jan 2014 Answered on

Thu, 23 Jan 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : I have been diagnosis with; "abdominal wall hernia, small left renal cyst, fatty liver and everything else normal" "at the site of the palpable bowel is adentfied cocnsistent w/abdominal wall hernia" 1.1 cm simple cyst left kidney hispanic male, 5'7" 260lbs, good health no major illness, glucose test 5.7 % of total Hgb Do I need to be concern? Biospy needed or recommended? Cancerous/ Thank you

Answered by Dr. Dr. Michelle Gibson (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: none of the findings are associated with cancer Detailed Answer: HI, thanks for using healthcare magic A hernia is a protrusion or bulging out of part of an organ through the cavity or space that contains it. A abdominal wall hernia means that there is a protrusion of abdominal contents through some aspect of the abdominal wall. It may be a small or large protrusion and the care depends on the size, location and any symptoms that may be present. If it is not causing you any discomfort or any other symptoms and is not large, your doctor may choose to observe it. If it is associated with symptoms then surgical repair can be done. Abdominal hernias are not associated with cancer. The cyst in the kidney is described as a simple cyst. This is a common kidney cyst, over 50% of persons over the age of 50 have simple kidney cysts. They do not enlarge the kidney, do not affect the function of the kidney and are not associated with cancer, no biopsy is needed. Normally they may be followed by annual or 2 yrly ultrasound to assess the size. None of the findings on your tests are indicative of cancer. I hope this helps, feel free to ask any additional questions

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Michelle Gibson (20 hours later)

Thank you for the answer. I was informed that my brother, age 70 had a case kidney cancer. Is this an family characteristic? Again should I be concern?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Michelle Gibson (46 minutes later)

Brief Answer: small risk of family association Detailed Answer: HI There are different types of cancers that can occur in the kidneys and other parts of the urinary tract. There are different risk factors that may increase the risk of developing cancer and there is a small risk of genetic association but that is in families with conditions such as von hippel XXXXXXX which can cause kidney changes. There are other genetic conditions as well. Simple cysts are not cancerous and do not become cancerous. The other risk factors that are associated with an increase risk of developing kidney cancer are: smoking, obesity, exposure to toxic agents, family history (at present it is thought this may occur because of exposure to the same agents), high blood pressure Therefore there is a small risk of a family association but your results did not show any evidence of any cancerous changes. Please feel free to ask anything else

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar