A collaborative team of physician-scientists at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Research Institute has developed a new evidence-based, clinical algorithm to help physicians treat complex patients with autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD). Their invited review article, written by Grzegorz Telega, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics (gastroenterology and hepatology) at MCW and program director of hepatology at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin; David Cronin, II, M.D., Ph.D., professor of surgery and member of the new Transplantation Institute; and Ellis D. Avner, M.D. professor of pediatrics (nephrology) and physiology at MCW, and director of the Multidisciplinary Childhood PKD Program (MCPP) at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin Research Institute, was published online on April 17, 2013 in Pediatric Transplantation. ARPKD is a rare genetic disorder that causes progressive disease of the kidneys and liver. Of the patients with ARPKD who survive the first year of life, more than 85 percent will reach their tenth birthday. However, despite dramatic improvements in overall survival and quality of life, nearly 50 percent of those survivors develop end-stage kidney disease during that time. Based on a comprehensive analysis of published medical literature, unique insights generated from the MCPP (established in 2005 and the only such program in the U.S.) and more than 50 years of clinical experience by the authors in treating complex problems in ARPKD patients, an algorithm was developed to guide patient therapy. Of particular note, the authors recommend an innovative approach for a subgroup of ARPKD patients with severe kidney and liver disease: simultaneous kidney and liver transplantation.Login Or Register To Read Full Story