title: Demography of dialysis and transplantation in children in Europe, 1985. Report from the European Dialysis and Transplant Association Registry.
abstract: At the end of 1985 there were 5482 patients known to the Registry who started renal replacement therapy (RRT) between the ages of 6 months and 15 years. Of these, approximately 25% had died, 30% were still aged less than 15 years, and the other 45% were older. The acceptance rate of new patients over the last 10 years has slowly but steadily increased; six new paediatric patients per million child population probably represents the likely needs of the near future. Hospital haemodialysis remained the main form of renal replacement therapy in new patients, while 3 years after start of RRT, transplantation became the most frequently used replacement therapy; CAPD appeared to be used mainly in children with a short waiting time for transplantation. Out of the 384 grafts reported in 1985, only 16% were from living related donors; among 321 cadaver grafts, 24% were second and only 3% were third grafts. Glomerulonephritis and pyelonephritis accounted for 50% of all primary renal diseases. During the last 5 years, the proportion with glomerulonephritis seems to have decreased slightly. Hyperkalaemia and fluid overload have still to be considered the main causes of death. Only in 17% of all cases was the cause of death reported as unknown or undetermined.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D012042:Registries; D006435:Renal Dialysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013997:Time Factors