Renal transplantation in infants, a therapeutic option?

Renal transplantation is widely accepted as the treatment of choice for endstage renal failure in childhood. Since dialysis is regularly applied to infants with renal failure, the question logically arises, can infants also receive renal transplants and what are the outcomes? A review of the literature and the clinical experience at the University of Minnesota supports the performance of renal transplantation in infancy. Present patient and graft survival rates for infants are indistinguishable from those of older children. While living adult donors are preferred, adult cadaveric kidneys have also been successfully transplanted. Following successful transplantation, the infants have generally enjoyed "catch-up" growth and accelerated psychomotor development. While there may be problems related to fluid and electrolyte balance in these smallest patients, the majority of the problems encountered mirror those seen in any child undergoing transplantation. Renal transplantation is regularly successful in infancy and should be considered an integral component of the therapy for any child with chronic renal failure.