Pathogenesis of Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)

2015-03-27 08:04

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is a common type of kidney disease, which can be genetic or caused by other factors. Since most of the PKD is genetic, and patients may have the polycystic gene when they were born, so the pathogenesis of PKD can be got easily, which can help PKD patients to get early attention and take effective treatment promptly. In this article, we will get further understanding of the pathogenesis of PKD.

Depending on the pathogenesis of PKD, the disease can be divided into 5 stages, which include emergence period, growth periods, enlargement period, burst period, uremic period. The following is the details of the 5 different periods for PKD patients.

1. Emergency period

In this period, the cysts are small enough, and patients will have no symptoms with that. But if there are family members who have PKD, people need to take early checkups to observe the condition of their disease, and take early prevention.

2. Growth period

In general, in 30-40 years old in PKD, the cysts grow fast. In this period, western doctors have no treatment for the growth of the cysts, they can just give medicines to control their symptoms. In fact, this period is the best time for treatment to shrink the cysts and prevent the enlargement of cysts.

3. Enlargement period

When PKD patients develop into their 40 years old, the cysts will get further enlarged. If the cyst is larger than 4 cm, we call it enlargement period. In this period, the enlarged cysts will oppress surrounding kidney tissues and cause kidney damage, then patients may have some severe symptoms, such as back pain, protein in urine, blood in urine, elevated blood pressure, etc. Patients need to take effective treatment to control their symptoms and shrink their kidney cysts to prevent cyst rupture.

4. Burst period

In this period, the cyst is big enough, which can get ruptured easily, and the burst of cysts will cause severe infections in kidneys. So patients need to take effective treatment to prevent the kidney cyst rupture, which will be helpful for them.

5. Uremic period

Uremic period is the most advanced stage of PKD when their kidney cysts cause severe damages to kidneys. When patients suffer from a low kidney function, they may need to start dialysis to prolong their life expectancy.

Above are the details about the pathogenesis of polycystic kidney disease (PKD), so the earlier patients take treatment, the better prognosis patients will have. If you still have any questions after reading, you can consult online doctor, or you can also leave a message below.

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