What can son expect from PKD?

DEAR DR. GOTT: My son was recently diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease (PKD) at age 27. He was told he’s had it all his life since it’s hereditary. He is upset that his newborn son has a 50 percent chance of having it, too.

He has been going through a thorough work-up to determine a base line, but before he sees his nephrologist again, I thought he might benefit from having independent information to help him.

Currently he has enlarged kidneys with many cysts on both and a liver cyst. He has had a blood pressure problem since college and has been tired most of his life. A heart murmur was detected when he was young, so he takes antibiotics before dental work.
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