Common Complications in Polycystic Kidney Disease(PKD)

Polycystic Kidney Disease is well known as a genetic kidney disorder. Patients with PKD develop numerous cysts in the bilateral kidneys. The cysts can increase in size over long periods of time and may cause the following complications.
What are the common complications in PKD?
1. Cysts in other organs
Many patients with ADPKD will develop liver cysts during their lifetime. Generally, incidence of liver cysts increase over time.
There is often an increase in liver size, but liver tissue function stays fairly constant. Women who have been pregnant are more likely to have liver cysts; and the cysts are more numerous and larger in women who have been pregnant compared to women who have not been pregnant. Besides the liver, other organs such as spleen, pancreas, vasculature, testes and intestines can also be affected.
2. Cardiovascular complications
Cardiovascular complications in PKD mainly include high blood pressure, cerebral aneurysms and mitral valve prolapse (MVP), a condition where the valve separating the top and the bottom of the left side of the heart does not close properly. Sometimes this causes blood to leak back to the top part of the heart, which is called regurgitation or a heart murmur. MVP occurs in approximately 26% PKD patients. MVP can result in palpitations sensations.
3. 5%-10% of patients with POKD are at risk of intracranial aneurysms; in incidence increases in those with a family history of aneurysms. An aneurysm is an out-pouching in a blood vessel. Intracranial aneurysms occur in the blood vessels of the brain. Aneurysms can leak or rupture. A ruptured aneurysm can I result in such symptoms as severe headache, pain in moving the neck, nausea and vomiting, and even loss of consciousness. All such symptoms require immediate medical attention.
4. Gastrointestinal complications
Gastrointestinal complications include diverticulosis. Diverticula are out-pouchings of the large intestine (colon).PKD patients on dialysis or have had a transplant are more likely to suffer from diverticula and have more complications from diverticula, including infection (divertiulitis), than people who have other kidney diseases.
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