title: The clinical profile and prognosis of Chinese children with melamine-induced kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Studies have reported inconsistent results regarding clinical feature and the prognosis status of the affected children in China melamine-contamination event. We summarized available literatures by performing a review and meta-analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Statistical pooling was performed using random-effects model; the sources of heterogeneity were explored through subgroup analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-six studies involving 2164 patients with kidney abnormalities were identified; 94.4% of the patients had urinary calculi and 95.8% of the calculi were < 10 mm in diameter. Of 2040 patients with known types of treatment, 5.6% underwent surgical treatment. The pooled recovery rates at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after diagnosis or treatment initiation were 67.1%, 76.3%, 85.4%, and 92.3%, respectively; these pooled rates did not differ between the study subgroups stratified by mean age at diagnosis, mean duration of melamine exposure, types of patients (inpatient/outpatient), and treatment types (specific/nonspecific), except that the 1-month recovery rate for studies involving a specific treatment (71.9%) was higher than that for studies involving non-specific treatment (46.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The majority of patients had small calculi and could recover without surgical treatment. Kidney abnormalities remained in about 8% of the patients at 12-month followup, indicating a need for longer-term followup.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Reproductive and Child Health/Ministry of Health Key Laboratory of Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, Peking University, 38 College Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, China.
authors.forename: Pei-Xin
authors.initials: PX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hong-Tian
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jian-Meng
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007669:Kidney Calculi / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014227:Triazines / Q000506:poisoning*
chemical_list: D014227:Triazines; C011907:melamine