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There are several complications which can develop with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) including:

• Acute and chronic pain - occurs in at least 50% of people with PKD
• Hypertension - usually develops early in the course of the disease and affects the majority of patients with PKD
• Urinary tract infections
• Liver cysts - liver cysts occur in approximately 60% of people with PKD and are particularly common in women
• Kidney stones - develop in up to 30% of people with PKD
• Abnormal heart valves - mitral valve prolapse occurs in up to 25% of people with PKD
• Inguinal and abdominal hernias
• Cerebral (intracranial) aneurysm and possible rupture - bulges in the walls of the blood vessels in the brain and occurs in about 15% of patients with PKD and often runs in families
• Polycythemia - abnormally high red blood cell counts due to over-production of erythropoietin

The major cause of morbidity and mortality in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is progressive renal dysfunction which leads to kidney failure or end stage renal disease (ESRD). Approximately half of ADPKD patients undergo renal replacement therapy by hemodialysis or kidney transplantation by the age of 60.

Complications associated with ACKD include:

• Bleeding cysts
• Renal cell carcinoma - this is a rare cancer of the kidneys that occurs twice as often in people with ACKD than in the general population.