ABSTRACT

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common hereditary renal disease which affects about 1 in 400 to 1 in 1000 people worldwide. Therefore it is vital to know the natural course of the disease elaborately. The aim of this study is to assess the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD).

Medical records of 144 patients with Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) were examined and the data were acquired from these records. The investigated demographic and clinical characteristics were age, gender, history of smoking, hypertension, types of antihypertensive drugs used, macroscopic hematuria, urinary tract infection, urinary tract stones, renal replacement therapy, cysts found in other organs, and results of the patients’ blood and urine tests such as blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, cholesterol, albumin, hemoglobin and proteinuria. Patients who had a blood pressure (BP) of 140/90 mmHg or greater and/or using antihypertensive medications were considered as hypertensive.

The study included 61 male and 83 female patients. The mean age of patients was 44.9 years. 11.9% of the patients were smokers whereas 4.2% were ex-smokers. The mean systolic and diastolic blood pressures (BP) were 139.2 mmHg and 89.5 mmHg, respectively. The mean arterial pressure was 106.1 mmHg. 82.4% of the patients had hypertension. 71.5% used antihypertensive drugs and 49.5% of those used renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers). 13.2% of the patients had macroscopic hematuria and 16.7% had urinary tract stones. Liver cysts were found in 27.1% of the investigated patients. Out of patients, 11.2% had end stage renal disease and were treated with hemodialysis.

This study showed that hypertension is the most common clinical finding in Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) patients and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) blockers are widely used. The presence of potential risk factors such as age, smoking, clinical renal manifestations, hypertension and disease in family members should be questioned and investigated for the early diagnosis and treatment of this disease.

Keywords: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, hypertension, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, angiotensin receptor blocker