Pediatric Nephrology & Kidney Transplant
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Kidney disease can occur at any age and often strikes infants, children, and adolescents. We understand the care and vigilance that these young patients need as they grapple with a serious kidney condition. These diseases can threaten their well-being, interfere with their growth and development, and even sometimes require a transplant.
About our Children's Kidney Services
Our pediatric nephrology services are aimed at serving families who are struggling with kidney and hypertensive disorders. The pediatric nephrology team includes dedicated, accomplished surgeons and specialists who have performed more kidney transplants than any other health care facility in the state.
Your child may be referred to our Children's Kidney Program if they are experiencing:
- Kidney stones
- Urinary tract infections (UTI)
- Blood in their urine (hematuria)
- Protein in their urine (proteinuria)
- Hypertension
- Immune-mediated conditions
- Kidney failure
Our Children's Kidney Program also provides comprehensive pre-natal counseling for expecting mothers and families. Our skilled professionals can help test for genetic diseases and fetal renal anomalies while a child is still in utero and, if needed, recommend and provide treatment.
The Children's Kidney Program consistently exceeds the national average for kidney transplant success. We regularly work with families where parents are prepared to donate a kidney to their child and provide state-of-the-art care throughout every stage of the transplant process.
Pediatric Kidney Transplantation
Since 1996, The Pediatric Nephrology and Transplantation Program has been improving the quality of life for New Jersey’s youngest patients with renal disease, renal dysfunction and hypertension.
Started as the first complete pediatric nephrology service in the state, it has established a reputation of technical excellence, clinical research and advocacy for the growing number of families who are choosing the transplant alternative for their children.
“When a child’s kidneys are not working, the whole body’s physiology changes,” explains Isabel Roberti, M.D., Director of Pediatric Nephrology and Transplantation. “The digestive system doesn’t function normally, brain development and bone growth are impaired, even taste sensation is affected. The kidney performs many functions, but dialysis can only correct a few of them.” It requires an interdisciplinary team of pediatric specialists to coordinate the care of children with renal disease, and, for many of the tiniest patients, transplant is the only good option.
Since 1996, The Pediatric Nephrology and Transplantation Program has performed more than 152 kidney transplants in patients between 10 months and 19 years of age with excellent results. With nearly three quarters of their patients receiving kidneys through living donation – mostly from their parents – the program consistently exceeds national averages for both short-term and long-term graft survival rates and acute rejection rates.
Over the years, the Program’s firm commitment to transplantation has been evident through its extensive involvement with clinical research trials for it young kidney recipients who face different challenges than adult kidney recipients in regards to drug therapies and physical and cognitive growth and development.
“There have been tremendous advances in our ability to support kidney failure with various forms of dialysis, medication, diet and replacement of the failed kidneys through transplantation,” explains Dr. Roberti. “Due to recent advances in the understanding of the immune system and the development of better drugs, the success rate for kidney transplantation is very high.”
The Program continues to be one of only a few in the country to participate in clinical drug trials that are improving the odds for young transplant recipients, including multiple multicentric studies in the fields of hypertension, Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) and FSGS. The results of these studies and the experience of this program have been presented internationally at professional meetings and published in medical journals.
Dr. Roberti and the entire transplant team work closely with parents and families throughout the transplant process. “It is not just medical expertise and technology that create success stories in pediatric renal transplantation,” stresses Dr. Roberti. “These children survive because of the love, strength and dedication of their families.”
The Children’s Kidney Center is now offering transplant evaluations to be completed through telemedicine to best accommodate the safety of all patients. Please call our office at 973-322-6767 for details or to schedule an evaluation.