The Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Clinic cares for people with PKD and other inherited kidney diseases that cause cysts. Kidney doctors, called nephrologists, lead a team of experts with experience in PKD.
The clinic also evaluates people with a family history of PKD who may develop the disease. Care may include genetic testing to help diagnose PKD and imaging tests over time to check for signs of the disease.
Mayo Clinic's campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota are PKD Foundation Centers of Excellence. This designation recognizes clinics with expertise in treating the disease, access to advanced treatment options and active PKD research programs.
Polycystic kidney disease is an inherited condition. It causes fluid-filled sacs, called cysts, to grow in the kidneys and sometimes other organs. Over time, these cysts can damage the kidneys and lead to conditions such as high blood pressure or kidney failure.
PKD can worsen more quickly in some people than others, depending on the type of disease and other factors. At the PKD Clinic, specialists use testing to learn how your disease may progress and help guide your treatment and care.
The clinic offers advanced treatment options. Some adults with autosomal dominant PKD (ADPKD) may be treated with the medicine tolvaptan by specially trained kidney doctors. Specialists also perform procedures such as cyst aspiration, ablation and nerve blocks to treat symptoms caused by kidney cysts.
Mayo Clinic Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Resource Center
Explore articles and videos created by Mayo Clinic PKD experts.
Team-based care for PKD
A kidney doctor leads your care team. Team members have experience caring for people with PKD and may include:
- Physician assistants.
- Nurse practitioners.
- Nurses.
- Pharmacists.
- Dietitians.
- Patient care staff.
- Dialysis technicians.
- Social workers.
Your team also may collaborate with Mayo Clinic experts in other areas, such as radiology, gastroenterology and hepatology, pain medicine, clinical genomics and transplant.
This team approach helps make sure all parts of your health are considered and helps reduce the need for multiple visits.
What to expect at your first visit
At your first visit, you meet with a kidney doctor who reviews your medical and family history and does a detailed exam and testing. The goal is to confirm your diagnosis and understand your risk of the disease getting worse.
Your evaluation may include:
MRI also may be used to measure kidney size, called total kidney volume, and track how PKD changes over time.
In many cases, testing can be completed and a care plan developed within a few days. Your care team works with you to plan treatment based on your needs, goals and type of PKD.
Advanced PKD treatment
Treatment of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) focuses on slowing the disease and treating symptoms and complications caused by PKD.
The PKD Clinic offers tolvaptan, a medicine that may help slow kidney damage in some adults with autosomal dominant PKD (ADPKD). Your care team can help decide if this treatment may help you.
Specialized procedures may be used to treat pain and other health issues caused by large kidney cysts or cysts that might develop in the liver.
Procedures may include:
- Cyst aspiration. A needle drains fluid from a cyst to reduce pressure and pain.
- Cyst ablation. This is used when cysts keep coming back. The cyst is drained and treated to help keep fluid from building up again.
- Nerve blocks. This treatment blocks pain signals from nerves.
- Partial liver resection. This is used when large liver cysts cause severe pain. Surgeons remove part of the liver.
Expertise and rankings
Each year, Mayo Clinic cares for more than 1,700 people with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) across its campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. Mayo Clinic care teams have expertise in treating PKD and related complications, including advanced disease that may require a kidney or liver transplant. When needed, PKD specialists coordinate care with Mayo Clinic's Kidney Transplant Program and Liver Transplant Program.
Children with cystic kidney diseases receive care in the Pediatric Nephrology Clinic at Mayo Clinic Children's in Rochester, Minnesota — a PKD Foundation Pediatric Center of Excellence.
Research and clinical trials
Mayo Clinic researchers study the causes and progression of polycystic kidney disease (PKD) and work to develop new treatments.
People treated at Mayo Clinic may be able to take part in clinical trials or other research studies. Talk to your care team about whether a clinical trial might be right for you.
Mayo Clinic researchers have helped identify genes linked to PKD and develop tools to measure kidney size, which can help predict how the disease may progress. They also have helped develop treatments such as tolvaptan.
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Dec. 05, 2025