Polycystic Kidney Disease: What It Means, and What Can Now Be Done

Ultimo aggiornamento: Agosto 28, 2026

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Polycystic kidney disease is an inherited condition in which fluid-filled cysts form throughout both kidneys and slowly enlarge over decades, gradually crowding out working tissue. It affects somewhere between one in 500 and one in 4,000 people, men and women equally, and is the commonest inherited cause of kidney failure.

It is usually silent in childhood and starts causing problems in the thirties and forties. Around half of those affected need dialysis or a transplant by about sixty — although, as below, that varies far more between individuals than a single figure suggests.

This is primarily a kidney physician’s condition, managed jointly. A urologist deals with its mechanical complications — pain, bleeding, infection, stones — and with transplantation. Both matter, and neither replaces the other.

• Centro di urologia Ospedale di Bangkok Thailandia Prenotazione online 02-310-3009 bhquro@bdms.co.th
• Ospedale Samitivej Sriracha Chonburi 088-022-1445

Symptoms that are an emergency

This section was absent from the earlier version, and the first item on it is the most important thing on the page. In an emergency in Thailand, call 1669.

• A sudden, severe headache — the worst you have ever had — particularly with neck stiffness, vomiting or altered consciousness. People with this condition have a higher rate of aneurysms in the blood vessels of the brain, and this presentation is treated as bleeding around the brain until proved otherwise. Go to an emergency department immediately.
• Fever with flank pain — an infected cyst, which is difficult to treat because many antibiotics do not penetrate cysts well, and which needs urgent assessment rather than an ordinary course of tablets.
• Severe flank pain with heavy bleeding or clots, or bleeding with dizziness and a racing pulse.
• Passing little or no urine, or rapidly worsening swelling and breathlessness.
• Sudden severe abdominal pain, since cysts can rupture and diverticular problems are commoner in this condition.

How it is inherited

The earlier version described the condition as genetic without explaining the inheritance, which is what families most want to know.

The common adult form is autosomal dominant: each child of an affected parent has a one in two chance of inheriting it, regardless of sex, and it does not skip generations. A minority have no family history at all, the gene change having arisen new in them.

Two genes account for most cases, and which one matters: one is associated with earlier kidney failure than the other, which is part of why outcomes differ so widely between families. A separate, much rarer recessive form affects infants and behaves quite differently.

Screening relatives is a decision worth taking deliberately rather than by default — it has implications for insurance and for living-donor assessment, and it is normally discussed before testing rather than afterwards.

What it causes

In the kidneys

• High blood pressure — the commonest problem, often appearing before kidney function declines at all, and the single most important thing to control because it drives the decline.
• Dolore al fianco, from a bleeding cyst (blood in the urine is the clue), an infected cyst (fever is the clue), a stone, or simply the weight of enlarged kidneys.
• Kidney stones, in around one in five.
• Urinary infections, including kidney infection — see infezione renale.
• Declining kidney function over decades, ending in dialysis or transplantation in a substantial proportion.

Outside the kidneys — absent from the earlier version

• Brain aneurysms. Uncommon but the most serious association. Screening with a brain scan is not routine for everyone; it is recommended where there is a family history of aneurysm or of bleeding around the brain, and in certain occupations. If that applies to your family, raise it — it is the question most worth asking at your next appointment.
• Cysts in the liver, which are very common, usually harmless, and often larger in women.
• Heart valve abnormalities, usually mild.
• Hernias and diverticular disease of the bowel.

Treatment: what has changed

The earlier version of this article said there is no treatment beyond controlling blood pressure and managing complications. That is out of date and has been corrected.

A drug now exists — tolvaptan — that slows the growth of the cysts and the decline in kidney function. It does not cure the condition and it does not suit everyone: it is for people whose disease is progressing rapidly, judged on kidney size, the rate of functional decline and age. It causes an enormous increase in thirst and urine output, which many find hard to live with, and it requires regular blood tests to monitor the liver, since liver injury is a recognised risk.

Whether it is appropriate is a nephrology decision. What matters here is that the question should be asked — a page saying nothing can be done leaves people not asking it.

The rest of management

• Blood pressure control, tightly and from early on. Still the most effective intervention available.
• Generous fluid intake and reduced salt, which may slow cyst growth and certainly helps the blood pressure and the stones.
• Avoiding anti-inflammatory painkillers where possible — a practical point for a condition whose main symptom is pain, and one people are rarely told.
• Prompt, adequate treatment of infections, with antibiotics chosen for their ability to penetrate cysts.
• Preparing for transplantation early where function is declining. A transplant from a living donor before dialysis begins gives the best outcomes, and relatives being considered as donors need testing for the condition themselves first.

On the outlook

The earlier version contained two statements that pulled in opposite directions: that patients cannot avoid end-stage kidney failure with age, and that the condition is not serious if well understood. Both have been rewritten.

It is a serious condition — and the course varies enormously. Some reach kidney failure in their forties; others have normal function into their seventies and die of something else entirely. Which gene is involved, blood pressure control, and how large the kidneys already are all shape that. Neither fatalism nor false reassurance is warranted, and what changes the trajectory is regular specialist follow-up rather than waiting for symptoms.

Domande frequenti sulla malattia renale policistica

Will my children inherit it?

The common adult form is autosomal dominant, so each child of an affected parent has a one in two chance regardless of sex, and it does not skip generations. Testing relatives is worth discussing deliberately beforehand, since it has implications for insurance and for living-donor assessment.

Is there any treatment, or only monitoring?

There is now a drug, tolvaptan, that slows cyst growth and functional decline in people whose disease is progressing rapidly. It is not a cure and does not suit everyone — it causes a large increase in thirst and urine output and needs liver monitoring — but the possibility should be raised with a kidney specialist. An earlier version of this article said no treatment existed beyond blood pressure control.

Should I have my brain scanned?

Not routinely. Screening for brain aneurysms is recommended where there is a family history of aneurysm or of bleeding around the brain, and in some occupations. A sudden severe headache — the worst of your life — is an emergency regardless of whether you have been screened.

Will I definitely end up on dialysis?

No. Around half need dialysis or a transplant by about sixty, which means about half do not, and the course varies widely — some reach kidney failure in their forties, others retain normal function into their seventies. Blood pressure control and regular follow-up influence which.

Which painkillers can I take for the pain?

Anti-inflammatory painkillers are best avoided where possible because of their effect on kidney function — an awkward point in a condition whose main symptom is pain, which is why persistent pain should be managed with your specialist rather than with what is available over the counter.

Arranging a consultation

Polycystic kidney disease is managed jointly with a kidney physician. For its urological complications — pain, bleeding, infected cysts, stones, and transplant assessment — Dr. Soarawee Weerasopone sees patients at Ospedale Bangokok Sede Centrale and at Samitivej Sriracha Hospital in Chonburi on 088-022-1445. Bring previous scans and kidney function results with their dates, and note any family history of kidney failure, brain aneurysm or stroke at a young age.

Bangkok Hospital Telemedicine is available for patients who cannot attend in person, including international patients — arrange it in advance by email to the Urology department at bhquro@bdms.co.th. Samitivej Sriracha is in-person only. Enquiries about cost are answered by the hospital, not by this website.

Disclaimer: This content is written and reviewed by Dr. Soarawee Weerasopone, a board-certified urologist at Bangkok Hospital Headquarters, and is intended for education only. It is not medical advice, diagnosis or a prescription for any individual, and no advice, diagnosis or prescription is given through personal messaging channels or social media. Dr. Soarawee operates no public social media account; any account offering private consultation in his name is fraudulent. In an emergency in Thailand, call 1669.