CHILDREN WITH CHRONIC RENAL-FAILURE IN THE FEDERAL-REPUBLIC-OF-GERMANY .1. EPIDEMIOLOGY, MODES OF TREATMENT, SURVIVAL

  • 1 January 1985
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 23  (6) , 272-277
Abstract
By a nation-wide retrospective survey in West Germany, epidemiological data were obtained on children with chronic renal failure (CRF) up to the age of 16.0 yr. During a 4-yr period (1972-1975), an incidence of 6 new cases per yr of CRF occurred when referring to a 1 million population of the same age. The incidence of preterminal CRF (serum creatinine > 2 mg/dl to end-stage) was 4.4 per million per yr and its prevalence 6.4 per million per yr. The incidence of terminal CRF, analyzed for a 6-yr period from 1972-1977 increased only slightly with time (from 4.4-5.4 per million of the same age per yr). The proportion of children with terminal CRF admitted yearly for renal replacement therapy increased during the observation time from 27-79% up to the age 10 yr and from 80-96% between 10-16 years of age. The number of patients alive with terminal CRF rose significantly from 11.9 in 1972 to 22.0 per 1 million of the same age in 1977. At the end of 1977, 46% of all pediatric patients on renal replacement therapy had a functioning graft, compared to 38% in 1972. The increasing number of renal transplantations was accompanied by shortening of the waiting period from 1st dialysis to grafting. The patient survival on dialysis and after transplantation rose significantly during 2 subsequent 4-yr periods. The most frequent causes of death among dialyzed children and among children after transplantation infections were cardiovascular. In children with terminal renal failure rejected from dialysis and renal transplantation, psychosocial problems and mental retardation were the most frequent reasons.

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