Management of renal cyst infection in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease: a systematic review

Background: Renal cyst infection is one of the complications faced by patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). Cyst infection is often difficult to treat and potentially leads to sepsis and death. No evidence-based treatment strategy exists. We therefore performed a systematic review to develop an effective approach for the management of renal cyst infection in ADPKD patients based on the literature.

Methods: A systematic search was performed in PubMed (January 1948-February 2014), EMBASE (January 1974-February 2014) and the Cochrane Library (until February 2014) according to the PRISMA guidelines.

Results: We identified 60 manuscripts that included 85 ADPKD patients with renal cyst infection (aged 52 ± 12 years, 45% male, 27% on dialysis, 13% history of renal transplantation and 6% diabetes mellitus). Included patients received a total of 160 treatments of which 92 were antimicrobial, 29 percutaneous and 39 surgical. Initial management often consisted of antimicrobials (79%), and quinolone-based regimens were favoured (34%). Overall, 61% of patients failed initial treatment, but treatment failure has decreased over time (before the year 2000: 75%; during and after the year 2000: 51%, P = 0.03). Post-renal obstruction, urolithiasis, atypical or resistant pathogens, short duration of antimicrobial treatment and renal function impairment were documented in patients failing treatment.

Conclusions: First-line treatment of renal cyst infection in ADPKD consists of antimicrobials and is associated with a high rate of failure, but treatment success has increased over recent years. A large-scale unbiased registry is needed to define the optimal strategy for renal cyst infection management in ADPKD.