What is (are) Polycystic Kidney Disease ?
Autosomal recessive PKD is a rare genetic disorder that affects the liver as well as the kidneys. The signs of autosomal recessive PKD frequently appear in the earliest months of life, even in the womb, so health care providers often call it infantile PKD. In an autosomal recessive disorder, the child has to inherit the gene mutation from both parents to have an increased likelihood for the disorder. The chance of a child inheriting autosomal recessive mutations from both parents with a gene mutation is 25 percent, or one in four. If only one parent carries the mutated gene, the child will not get the disorder, although the child may inherit the gene mutation. The child is a carrier of the disorder and can pass the gene mutation to the next generation. Genetic testing can show whether a parent or child is a carrier of the mutated gene. Autosomal recessive disorders do not typically appear in every generation of an affected family.
                
The following chart shows the chance of inheriting an autosomal recessive mutation from parents who both carry the mutated gene:
                

                

                
Read more about how people inherit genetic conditions at the NLMs Genetics Home Reference.