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Background: Therapeutic apheresis (TA) is already used to treat various diseases in the field of nephrology. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency and types of complications that occur during TA in children with kidney disease. Methods: Records of children (≤ 18 years) who underwent TA between 2007 and 2022 were retrospectively reviewed. Children with missing data and those with a diagnosis of nonnephrological disease were excluded. Results: A total of 1214 TA sessions, including 1147 therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) sessions and 67 immunoadsorption (IA) sessions, were performed on the 108 patients enrolled in the study. Forty-seven percent of the patients were male, and the mean age was 12.22 ± 4.47 years. Posttransplant antibody-mediated rejection (64.8%) and hemolytic uremic syndrome (14.8%) were the most common diagnoses indicating TA. Overall, 17 different complications occurred in 58 sessions (4.8%), and 53 sessions (4.6%) were not completed because of these complications. The distribution of complications among the patients was as follows: 41.4% had technical complications, 25.9% had allergic complications, and 32.7% had others. The most common technical complication was insufficient flow (37.5%). The incidence of complications was greater in patients aged 3–6 years than in patients in the other age groups (p = 0.031). The primary disease, type of vascular access, and rate of fresh frozen plasma/albumin use were similar between patients with and without complications (p values of 0.359 and 0.125 and 0.118, respectively). Conclusions: Our study showed that complications occurred in only 4.8% of TA sessions. The most common complication was technical problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: C3 glomerulopathy (C3G) is characterized by heterogeneous clinical presentation, outcome, and predominant C3 accumulation in glomeruli without significant IgG. There is scarce outcome data regarding childhood C3G. We describe clinical and pathological features, treatment and outcomes, and risk factors for progression to chronic kidney disease stage 5 (CKD5) in the largest pediatric series with biopsy-proven C3G. Methods: Sixty pediatric patients with C3G from 21 referral centers in Turkey were included in this retrospective study. Patients were categorized according to CKD stage at last visit as CKD5 or non-CKD5. Demographic data, clinicopathologic findings, treatment, and outcome data were compared and possible risk factors for CKD5 progression determined using Cox proportional hazards model. Results: Mean age at diagnosis was 10.6 ± 3.0 years and follow-up time 48.3 ± 36.3 months. Almost half the patients had gross hematuria and hypertension at diagnosis. Nephritic-nephrotic syndrome was the commonest presenting feature (41.6%) and 1/5 of patients presented with nephrotic syndrome. Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis was the leading injury pattern, while 40 patients had only C3 staining. Patients with DDD had significantly lower baseline serum albumin compared with C3GN. Eighteen patients received eculizumab. Clinical remission was achieved in 68.3%. At last follow-up, 10 patients (16.6%) developed CKD5: they had lower baseline eGFR and albumin and higher frequency of nephrotic syndrome and dialysis requirement than non-CKD5 patients. Lower serum albumin and eGFR at diagnosis were independent predictors for CKD5 development. Conclusions: Children with C3G who have impaired kidney function and hypoalbuminemia at diagnosis should be carefully monitored for risk of progression to CKD5. Graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is the most common kidney replacement therapy in children. Complications associated with PD affect treatment success and sustainability. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of PD-related non-infectious complications and the predisposing factors. Methods: Retrospective data from 11 centers in Turkey between 1998 and 2018 was collected. Non-infectious complications of peritoneal dialysis (NICPD), except metabolic ones, in pediatric patients with regular follow-up of at least 3 months were evaluated. Results: A total of 275 patients were included. The median age at onset of PD and median duration of PD were 9.1 (IQR, 2.5–13.2) and 7.6 (IQR, 2.8–11.9) years, respectively. A total of 159 (57.8%) patients encountered 302 NICPD within the observation period of 862 patient-years. The most common NIPCD was catheter dysfunction (n = 71, 23.5%). At least one catheter revision was performed in 77 patients (28.0%). Longer PD duration and presence of swan neck tunnel were associated with the development of NICPD (OR 1.191; 95% CI 1.079–1.315, p = 0.001 and OR 1.580; 95% CI 0.660–0.883, p = 0.048, respectively). Peritoneal dialysis was discontinued in 145 patients; 46 of whom (16.7%) switched to hemodialysis. The frequency of patients who were transferred to hemodialysis due to NICPD was 15.2%. Conclusions: Peritoneal dialysis-related non-infectious complications may lead to discontinuation of therapy. Presence of swan neck tunnel and long duration of PD increased the rate of NICPD. Careful monitoring of patients is necessary to ensure that PD treatment can be maintained safely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Although orthostatic proteinuria (OP) is the most common cause of childhood proteinuria, excluding transient proteinuria, data regarding prevalence and long-term prognosis are limited. We aimed to determine prevalence of OP in healthy schoolchildren evaluating relationships with age, gender and body mass index, and determine follow-up. Methods: A total of 1701 healthy children aged 6–15 years were selected using a population-based, stratified, cluster-sampling method; and random urine samples were taken. For proteinuria ≥ 1+ in first urine samples, second and third random samples were taken at least 2 weeks apart to exclude transient proteinuria. For continuing proteinuria after third samples, first morning urine samples were collected. Cases where proteinuria was not detected in first morning urine samples were diagnosed as OP. Results: Sixty-four of 1701 children (3.7%) had proteinuria on first random urine samples. After second and third urine samples, proteinuria persisted in only 16 (0.94%). OP was detected in 11 (0.65%). Prevalence of OP tended to decrease with increasing BMI, though not statistically significant. All 7 cases with OP who were re-evaluated later, had no proteinuria 3 years after diagnosis. Conclusions: Prevalence of OP in our study was lower than the literature. At least three random urine samples should be taken to exclude transient proteinuria in an asymptomatic child/adolescent before making a diagnosis of OP using first morning urine samples. OP is a benign condition and resolves spontaneously in most cases. Underweight children had a tendency for OP compared with overweight and obese children; however, further studies with larger number of patients are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An increase in the number of circulating endothelial cells (CEC) indicates endothelial damage and the risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim of our study was to investigate the association of CEC with various clinical parameters in pediatric renal transplant recipients. Methods: CEC, defined as CD45CD146, were enumerated by flow cytometry from the peripheral blood of 50 pediatric renal transplant recipients and 20 healthy controls. Clinical parameters, including renal function tests, fasting blood glucose, serum cholesterol and triglyceride, cyclosporine A (CsA) (trough and 2nd-hour) and tacrolimus (tac) trough blood levels and their association with CEC numbers were analyzed. Results: CEC numbers of patients were higher than those of controls (respectively, 128 ± 89 cells/ml (42-468 cells/ml), 82 ± 33 cells/ml (32-137 cells/ml), p = 0.024). There was a statistically significant negative correlation between CEC numbers and glomerular filtration rate (GFR) ( r = −0.300, p = 0.012). There was also a statistically positive association between CEC numbers and transplant duration as well as cyclosporine trough level (respectively, r = 0.397, p = 0.004, r = 0.714, p = 0.004). CEC numbers in patients on tac and CsA were similar ( p = 0.716). Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that renal transplant recipients with high CsA trough blood level, longer transplant duration, and lower GFR, are at greater risk of developing endothelial damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]