High blood pressure usually occurs early in PKD, often before cysts appear. However diagnosis is only possible with imaging studies once cysts have formed. Ultrasound Typically in a patient with PKD, ultrasound provides a picture of the kidneys identifying the location and number of cysts present in the kidneys. Ultrasound is safe for all patients and can even detect cysts in the kidneys of a fetus. More powerful and expensive imaging studies exist that can detect the cysts, but these methods are usually not required because ultrasound can provide adequate information about the cysts.
All treatment is aimed at relieving the symptoms.
Treatment of pain. The treatments include medicine and surgery to reduce pain. For most but not all cases of severe pain, surgery to shrink cysts can relieve pain in the back and flanks. However, surgery provides only temporary relief and does not slow the disease's progression, in many cases, toward kidney failure. Treatment of urinary tract infections .