Background

The etiology of congenital solitary functioning kidney (CSFK) is largely unknown but likely includes various risk factors. We performed a case–control study to compare exposure to environmental and parental risk factors during embryonic kidney development between children with CSFK and healthy controls.

Methods

We included 434 children with CSFK and 1302 healthy controls from the AGORA data- and biobank matched on year of birth. Exposure to potential risk factors was investigated using parental questionnaire data. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated for each potential risk factor. Multiple imputation was used to deal with missing values. Confounders for each potential risk factor were selected using directed acyclic graphs.

Results

Maternal stress was newly identified as a risk factor for CSFK (aOR 2.1, 95% CI 1.2–3.5). Known associations with conception using in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (aOR 1.8, 95% CI 1.0–3.2), maternal infections during pregnancy (aOR 2.5, 95% CI 1.4–4.7), smoking during pregnancy (aOR 1.4, 95% CI 1.0–2.0), and parental CAKUT (aOR 6.6, 95% CI 2.9–15.1) were confirmed, but previous associations with diabetes and obesity could not be replicated. Folic acid supplement use and younger maternal age seemed to reduce the risk of CSFK (aORs 0.7, 95% CI 0.5–1.0, and 0.8, 95% CI 0.6–1.0, respectively).

Conclusions

Environmental and parental risk factors are likely to be involved in the development of CSFK and future studies should combine genetic, environmental, and gene-environment interaction analyses. Women wanting to become pregnant should consider optimizing their health and lifestyle.

Graphical abstract