title: Clinical pattern of adult polycystic kidney disease in a northeastern region of Italy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common genetic renal disorder, with a prevalence of 1 : 500 to 1 : 1,000. ADPKD is genetically heterogeneous: the genes involved are PKD1 and PKD2. ADPKD occurs worldwide and in all ethnic groups and is an important cause of CKD Stage 5. Prevalence of ADPKD on renal replacement therapy (RRT) in Italy has been reported to be 8.2%. In the dialysis population of Vicenza, a province in Northeastern Italy, it accounts for 13.4%. The study aims to investigate reasons for the high prevalence of ADPKD in our region and to describe the clinical profile and genetics of these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Since April 2007, ADPKD patients have been enrolled. Patients from families not native to Vicenza have been excluded. The diagnosis of ADPKD is defined by ultrasound criteria. Complete clinical details have been recorded, including family history. We have used linkage analysis to identify the gene involved in each family.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We describe the first 100 patients recruited from a total of 42 families. 29 patients were in ESRD at the time of enrollment. Renal stones and hepatic cysts were present in 24% and 40%, respectively. The majority of the ADPKD patients (61%) were diagnosed either incidentally or by screening. Positive family history was recorded in 86 patients. The involved gene was PKD1 in 83.7% and PKD2 in 16.3% of the studied patients. PKD2 patients presented the common haplotype.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is the first epidemiological study from Northeastern Italy reporting clinical profile and genetic analysis of ADPKD patients. The clinical profile of the patients is similar to previous reports, but there is a high prevalence of ADPKD in our region. The presence of a common haplotype is in accordance with our hypothesis of a founder effect in our province, suggesting that a strong lineage-specific gene is present. If the sequence analysis confirms the same mutation, this might suggest a common ancestral origin and a segregation of a specific mutation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation, San Bortolo Hospital, Vicenza, Italy.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Corradi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gastaldon
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Virzì
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Cal
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Soni
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chionh
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clementi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ronco
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D008875:Middle Aged; D010375:Pedigree; D016891:Polycystic Kidney, Autosomal Dominant / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric