Types

• The types of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) are autosomal dominant PKD and autosomal recessive PKD. The dominant version usually shows no symptoms until adulthood, with the recessive form developing at birth or early childhood.
  
  

Cysts

• PKD is a genetic disorder that causes kidneys to develop numerous, fluid-filled cysts. When these cysts become large, they damage the kidney's ability to function. This leads to kidney failure, the need for dialysis or transplantation, and occasionally, death.
  
  

High Blood Pressure

• Do kidney cysts cause high blood pressure? Hypertension or high blood pressure is the most common sign of the presence of PKD and its cysts. "Occasionally, patients may develop headaches related to high blood pressure, or their doctors may detect high blood pressure during a routine physical exam," states the National Kidney Foundation.
  
  

Autosomal Dominant PKD

• Autosomal dominant is the most common form of PKD, primarily affecting young to middle-aged adults. "High blood pressure or hypertension affects about 60 to 70 percent of people with ADPKD and begins early in the course of the disease," according to the publication "Hypertension" from The PKD Foundation. "Fully half of the people with ADPKD who have normal kidney function already have hypertension."
  
  

Medication

• Hypertension in ADPKD is usually treated by angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE inhibitors) or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs).