[Thrombosis of the renal veins in the newborn: treatment and long term prognosis].

Thirty-nine neonates with renal vein thrombosis diagnosed in our hospital department between 1973 and 1991 were studied retrospectively. Twenty-five patients were and 14 were not treated with urokinase (UK). Among the five deaths (13%), four occurred at the acute stage from non-renal complications and one occurred at the age of three months from end-stage renal failure. Eight patients (21%) have moderate renal failure after a mean follow-up of 7.4 years; a single patient (2%) developed end-stage renal failure after 7.9 years and 25 patients (64%) have a normal glomerular filtration rate after a mean follow-up of 4.5 years. Rates of death and chronic renal failure were 8% and 32%, respectively, in the group given UK and 21% and 7%, respectively, in the group not given UK. Among 54 involved kidneys, only 10 (19%) recovered normal function and morphological features. Functional impairment was seen in 11 of 37 (30%) kidneys treated by UK and 10 of 17 (59%) kidneys not treated by UK. Although these data suggest that UK may be effective in promoting recanalization of renal veins obstructed by thrombosis, confirmatory evidence could be obtained only by performing a prospective therapeutic trial.