Which abbreviation refers to polycystic kidney disease?

• A. PKU
• B. PKD
• C. N&V
• D. OS

Answer: (B)

Abbreviations in medical terminology typically use the first letters of the main words. For polycystic kidney disease, those words give PKD, a standard shorthand you'll see in charts and literature to refer to the condition with multiple kidney cysts.

PKU stands for phenylketonuria, a different metabolic disorder; N&V is shorthand for nausea and vomiting, which are symptoms rather than a disease; OS can mean other things depending on context (such as left eye in ophthalmology), but it does not denote this kidney condition. So PKD is the appropriate abbreviation.