What are the Early Signs of Polycystic Kidney Disease

The main manifestation of the disease of Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is that there are numerous cysts in the kidneys. As it is a type of genetic disease, the cysts have formed before the birth of the patients. However, these cysts are very small at the beginning and they won’t affect the normal health and life of the patients. And there is no obvious sign at the early stage. With the increase of the age, the cysts will enlarge gradually, and then there will be series of symptoms. What are the early signs of Polycystic Kidney Disease?

1, proteinuria: but the urine protein is little, usually the amount of urine protein of 24 hours' urine is less than 2g and usually the amount of urine protein won't lead to Nephrotic Syndrome.

2, hematuria: it can express as gross hematuria or microscopic hematuria. The attack of hematuria has the characteristic of periodicity, and when it attacks, the pain will be more serious. It can be aggravated by strenuous exercise, injuries and infections. The cause of hematuria is that the various arteries under the cysts wall are affected by the pressure and infections to rupture or to be over-stretched.

3, hypertension: the cysts will gradually press kidney with their enlargement and cause the ischemia of kidney, which will cause the increase of renin secretion and further cause hypertension. There are more than 50 percent of patients have the symptom of hypertension when their renal function is still normal. When the renal function decreases, the morbidity of hypertension will be higher.

4, abdominal phymas: sometimes, the abdominal phymas are the main reasons for patients to see a doctor. About 60-80 percent of patients' swollen kidneys can be touched. Generally speaking, the bigger the swollen kidney is, the worse the renal function is.


5, pain and discomfort of waist and abdomen: the main cause of this is that the enlarged cysts lead to the increase of water amount in kidney, which make the kidney heavier or cause the change of kidney shape. And then the heavier kidney will pull the organs nearby. The characteristic of the pain is dull pain. The pain may be unilateral or bilateral and radiate downward or to the back. If the cysts are infected or there is hematuria, the pain will be more serious. There may be renal colic if the urinary tract is blocked by stones or clottages after hematuria.