Volume: 13 Issue: 2
Year: 2025, Page: 123-127, Doi: https://doi.org/10.47799/pimr.1302.25.4
Received: May 28, 2025 Accepted: June 17, 2025 Published: Aug. 13, 2025
Background: Autopsy studies still give rare insight into silent kidney disease, especially where imaging or screening is limited. Objective: To profile the spectrum and frequency of incidental renal lesions identified at medicolegal autopsy. Methods: A cross-sectional study using consecutive sampling was conducted between April 2017 and March 2018 at the police morgue affiliated with R. G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata. All kidneys that appeared grossly abnormal during 786 medicolegal autopsies were retrieved (n = 50) and processed by standard histopathology (H&E and Van Gieson). Lesions were enumerated and categorized; summary statistics were generated. Results: The 50 kidneys belonged to 34 males and 16 females (mean age ± SD 58.5 ± 13.2 years. Microscopy revealed 56 separate lesions including simple cortical cysts 39 (69.6 %), granular contracted kidneys 8 (14.3 %), renal calculi 3 (5.4 %), hydronephrosis 3 (5.4 %), autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease 1 (1.8 %), capsular leiomyoma 1 (1.8 %), and clear-cell renal cell carcinoma 1 (1.8 %). Most simple cysts (89.7 %) lie in the cortex, and 92.3 % measured under 5 cm. Five granular contracted kidneys also showed simple cysts, and one hydronephrotic kidney contained multiple stones. Conclusions: Almost seven out of ten incidental renal lesions found at autopsy were simple cysts, yet important conditions such as polycystic kidney disease, end-stage granular kidneys, and an unsuspected carcinoma were also present. Routine, careful examination of autopsy kidneys can uncover the hidden burden of renal disease and may guide future community-based screening programmes.
Keywords: Adult Polycystic Kidney Disease, Hydronephrosis, Leiomyoma, Renal Cell Carcinoma
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©2025 (Mridul Kanti Biswas) et al. This is an open-access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
Biswas MK, Ghosh S, Sarkar SK. Incidental Findings of Renal Lesion in Autopsy Specimens of Kidney – Not Directly Related to the Cause of Death: A Cross-Sectional Study. Perspectives in Medical Research.2025;13(2):123-127 DOI: 10.47799/pimr.1302.25.4