Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) belongs to a group of congenital hepatorenal fibrocystic syndromes and is a cause of significant renal and liver-related morbidity and mortality in children. The majority of individuals with ARPKD present in the neonatal period with enlarged echogenic kidneys. Renal disease is characterized by nephromegaly, hypertension, and varying degrees of renal dysfunction. More than 50% of affected individuals with ARPKD progress to end-stage renal disease (ESRD) within the first decade of life; ESRD may require kidney transplantation. Pulmonary hypoplasia resulting from oligohydramnios occurs in a number of affected infants. Approximately 30% of these infants die in the neonatal period or within the first year of life from respiratory insufficiency or superimposed pulmonary infections. With neonatal respiratory support and renal replacement therapies, the long-term survival of these infants has improved to greater than 80%. As advances in renal replacement therapy and kidney transplantation improve long-term survival, it is likely that clinical hepatobiliary disease will become a major feature of the natural history of ARPKD. In addition, a subset of individuals with this disorder are identified with hepatosplenomegaly; the renal disease is often mild and may be discovered incidentally during imaging studies of the abdomen. Approximately 50% of infants will have clinical evidence of liver involvement at diagnosis although histologic hepatic fibrosis is invariably present at birth. This can lead to progressive portal hypertension with resulting esophageal or gastric varices, enlarged hemorrhoids, splenomegaly, hypersplenism, protein-losing enteropathy, and gastrointestinal bleeding. Other hepatic findings include nonobstructed dilatation of the intrahepatic bile ducts (Caroli syndrome) and dilatation of the common bile duct, which may lead to recurrent or persistent bacterial ascending cholangitis due to dilated bile ducts and stagnant bile flow. An increasing number of affected individuals surviving the neonatal period will eventually require portosystemic shunting or liver transplantation for complications of portal hypertension or cholangitis. The classic neonatal presentation of ARPKD notwithstanding, there is significant variability in age and presenting clinical symptoms related to the relative degree of renal and biliary abnormalities. [from GeneReviews]