The Approach to Patients with Polycystic Kidney Disease: The Rational Bases for an Information Network on the Disease

Abstract

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (APDKD) is the most relevant hereditary disease in Nephrology being common in patients with renal failure or in hemodialysis. The disease has significant comorbidities complicating the everyday life of patients, and is characterized by a disabling set of symptoms: acute or chronic pain, abdominal obstruction, and gastrointestinal disorders. The natural history of the disease is still unknown, thus making it hard to plan and design the appropriate clinical approaches. A modern information network as well as a web database, aimed at gathering a variety of patient information (clinical and epidemiological), could be a valuable tool to identify more easily patients suffering from the disease and, thus, improve clinical management.