Polycystic Kidney Disease

Inheritance	autosomal dominant
Occurrence	about 600,000 cases in the United States
Description	a disease which causes cysts to grow on a person's kidneys (and liver); the third leading cause of kidney failure in the United States
Testing	there is testing available through ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging
Treatment	there is currently no cure or effective treatment for PKD; half of all patients develop kidney failure and need either constant dialysis or transplantation

Organ Transplants

Organ transplants are becoming a common practice in today's medical world. Misconceptions abound as to how organs are acquired and distributed. Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is an ideal way to introduce your students to transplants. Kidneys are one of the most common organs transplanted and PKD is a leading cause of kidney failure requiring kidney transplants. The cysts that grow on the kidney can become massive and cause the kidney to swell. The cysts can be small or large and can vary in number. Sometimes the kidneys can grow from their normal size (about the size of an apple or fist) to the size of a football and can weigh up to 38 pounds. Once kidney failure occurs, patients must undergo dialysis and/or wait for a transplant. Under most circumstances persons with kidney failure turn to other family members to find a living kidney donor. One of the problems with this disease is that it is a heritable condition and every sibling or child has a fifty percent chance of also suffering from PKD. So often other family members are not in a position to donate. If a donor cannot be immediately found then the person will be registered on the organ transplant waiting list. Then a period of waiting begins.

This is also a very relevant activity since most states identify organ transplant donors when an individual receives his or her driver license. Many students will be making these decisions in the near future (or have already made these decisions).

Here are some ideas for students to research. There is a great deal of information available on the Internet. If your school has a computer lab, this would be an ideal topic to have students research on the Internet in groups. Here are some possible topics.

(2) How are organs distributed from donors to recipients (especially when so few organs are available and so many are needed)?

(6) What is xenotransplantation? Is it ethical to raise another species of animal for the express purpose of providing organs for humans?

Initiate discussion with the class about these issues. Many students will know that Walter Payton, a famous athlete, has announced his need for a new liver due to a rare disease.