Pronounced – POL-ee-SISS-tik KID-nee dih-ZEEZ

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an inherited disorder characterized by many grapelike clusters of fluid-filled cysts that make both kidneys larger over time. These cysts take over and destroy working kidney tissue.

Polycystic kidney disease may cause chronic kidney disease and kidney failure, also called end-stage renal disease (ESRD). About one-half of people with the most common type of PKD progress to kidney failure.

Usually after many years, Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) will cause the kidneys to fail. When the kidneys fail, the person will require dialysis or a kidney transplantation.

PKD can also cause cysts in the liver and problems in other organs, such as blood vessels in the brain and heart. The number of cysts as well as the complications they cause help doctors distinguish PKD from the usually harmless simple cysts that often form in the kidneys in later years of life.

In the United States, about 600,000 people have PKD, and cystic disease is the fourth leading cause of kidney failure.

The Kidneys

The kidneys are two organs that are located in the upper part of a person’s abdomen, toward the back. Each kidneys is about the size of a person’s fist. The kidneys filter wastes and extra fluid from the blood to form urine.