Studies on nephrolithiasis in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Eighty two patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease were examined clinically. Nephrolithiasis was diagnosed in 23 patients (28.1%). In 17 (73.5%) the lithiasis was bilateral. There were no patients with nephrolithiasis under the age of 20 years. The disease frequency increased in the patients between 21 and 40 years (38.5%) reaching 58.1% in those above 41 years. Nephrolithiasis in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease is not induced by the chronic renal failure. The opposite is more likely-nephrolithiasis precipitates the onset of renal failure. The autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease is an etiologic factor for lithiasis.