title: [Etiologies of end-stage renal disease of children in Tunisia].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The end-stage renal disease (ESRD) in children has special features in terms of etiologies, therapeutic modalities and access to renal transplantation. In Tunisia, there are no data on the epidemiology of ESRD in children. The aim of our study was to describe epidemiology of ESRD among Tunisian children.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective study was conducted in pediatric departments in Charles-Nicolle Hospital, Tunis and Hedi Chaker hospital, Sfax, during a period of 15 years (1st January 1998-31st December 2013). We included children who develop ESRD before the age of 15 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 166 patients were included. The median duration of follow-up was 48 months. We collected respectively 24 children (14.5%) aged less than 2 years, 24 children (14.5%) aged between 2 and 6 years and 118 children (71%) older than 6 years. The sex ratio was equal to 1.4. The mean incidence was 4.25 cases per million children. The main causes were represented by congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract (35.5%), hereditary renal disease (31.3%) and glomerular kidney disease (9.6%). All patients were treated in kidney transplant dialysis programs; the main mode of dialysis was represented by peritoneal dialysis, which represented the initial dialysis mode in 81% of cases. The transition to hemodialysis was noted in 43.4% cases. Thirty-eight patients (22.8%) were transplanted. The mortality rate was 27.1%. The leading cause of death was cardiovascular diseases (37.7%) and infections (22.2%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The creation of a national registry of kidney disease in Tunisia is necessary for a better knowledge of needs for dialysis and renal transplantation in children.
authors.affiliation: Service de pédiatrie, hôpital Charles-Nicolle, Tunis, Tunisie. Electronic address: maneljellouli@yahoo.fr.
authors.forename: Manel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jellouli
authors.affiliation: Service de pédiatrie, hôpital Charles-Nicolle, Tunis, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Abir
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boussetta
authors.affiliation: Service de pédiatrie, hôpital Charles-Nicolle, Tunis, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Kamel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Abidi
authors.affiliation: Service de pédiatrie, hôpital Hédi Chaker, Sfax, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Bayen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maalej
authors.affiliation: Service de pédiatrie, hôpital Charles-Nicolle, Tunis, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Ouns
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Naija
authors.affiliation: Service de pédiatrie, hôpital Charles-Nicolle, Tunis, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Yousra
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hammi
authors.affiliation: Service de pédiatrie, hôpital Charles-Nicolle, Tunis, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Chokri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zarrouk
authors.affiliation: Service de pédiatrie, hôpital Hédi Chaker, Sfax, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Abdelmajid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahfoudh
authors.affiliation: Service de pédiatrie, hôpital Charles-Nicolle, Tunis, Tunisie.
authors.forename: Tahar
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gargah
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D016030:Kidney Transplantation; D008297:Male; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Children; Dialyse; Dialysis; End-stage renal disease; Enfant; Greffe rénale; Incidence; Insuffisance rénale chronique terminale; Kidney transplant; Mortality; Mortalité