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Vascular risk

Read about brain aneurysms and cerebrovascular complications in ADPKD, alongside guidance for care. Use these cards to discuss individual risk, not to choose a scan schedule on your own.

Cards in this collection

  1. Prevalence of unruptured intracranial aneurysms according to comorbidities, risk factors, country, and time period: a systematic review and meta-analysis

    A Lancet Neurology review pooled many studies and found unruptured brain aneurysms in about 13% of people with ADPKD who were scanned — roughly four times a reference group without major risk factors (~4%). That supports personalized screening talks with your care team, alongside blood-pressure and smoking control — it is not a call for everyone to get the same scan schedule.

  2. Factors associated with cerebrovascular complications in a cohort of patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease in South Africa.

    Reviewing 298 patient files at a South African hospital, doctors found brain-vessel complications in about 1 in 20 ADPKD patients — aneurysms in 3%, half of them ruptured, mostly men around 45. African data is scarce, so these numbers help fill a real gap.

  3. KDOQI US Commentary on the KDIGO 2025 Clinical Practice Guideline for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease

    U.S. kidney experts (KDOQI) walk through the international KDIGO 2025 ADPKD guideline and what it means for everyday care in the United States — from diagnosis and imaging to treatment choices. Helpful when comparing global recommendations with what your local clinic can offer.

  4. Development of a prediction model for aneurysmal events to guide imaging surveillance in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease

    People with ADPKD are more likely to have brain aneurysms, but there is no agreed plan for how often to re-scan small, untreated ones. Two Japanese centres built a simple 4-point score using three facts: having more than one aneurysm, high blood pressure, and a family history of ADPKD. Over 5 years, no one in the low-risk group had an aneurysm grow, change or bleed, versus nearly half in the high-risk group. It needs testing elsewhere before routine use.