Question

Adult polycystic kidney disease (PCKD) is associated with which of these?

• A. Fusiform abdominal aortic aneurysm
• B. Berry aneurysm
• C. Saccular aneurysm of ascending aorta
• D. Aneurysm of the arch of aorta

Hint:

ADPKD's weak vessel walls show up most clearly as circle of Willis (berry) aneurysms, not aortic aneurysms.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understanding the Question:
We need the vascular abnormality that adult (autosomal dominant) polycystic kidney disease is classically linked to.

Step 2: Key Formula or Approach:
Recall that ADPKD is caused by a defect in polycystin proteins found not just in kidney tubule cells but also in the walls of blood vessels, so its vascular complications follow from that shared defect.

Step 3: Detailed Explanation:
The polycystin defect weakens the muscular and elastic layers of arteries, and this effect is most clinically important in the circle of Willis at the base of the brain, where it predisposes to saccular (berry) aneurysms.
These aneurysms can rupture and cause a subarachnoid hemorrhage, so patients with a family history of this complication are actively screened.
Aortic aneurysms, whether fusiform or saccular, at the ascending aorta or the arch, are not the classic textbook vascular link for ADPKD; they belong more to atherosclerotic or connective tissue disease.

Step 4: Final Answer:
Adult polycystic kidney disease is associated with berry aneurysm.