[Risk factors for cystic kidney disease in hemodialysis patients]

Acquired bilateral cystic transformation of kidneys in patients on chronic dialysis has been increasingly noted by morphological and clinical studies. Our study aims to identify a group of high-risk patients for incidence and extent of such disease. We studied with ultrasonography 87 patients on maintenance hemodialysis (60 men and 27 women), median age 58 years (range 18 to 81), mean duration of hemodialysis 75 months (range 2-256). The presence of cysts was divided into five grades from 0 no cysts to 4 more than 15 cysts detected for each kidney. 74 patients 85% of our dialytic population had acquired cystic disease; cysts varied in size from 0.5 to 4.5 cm in diameter. The cysts were found in 97% of patients dialyzed for more than 8 years and in 73% of patients on hemodialysis for less than 3 years. The incidence of cystic disease was highly and significantly correlated with the duration of dialysis, the grade correlated with duration of chronic renal failure and hemodialysis. The extent of disease appears to be increased in males. Because of high incidence of disease in long term dialysis patients ultrasonography monitoring is recommended for patients on dialysis for more than 3 years with more attention for males.