Located at Children's Hospital, London Health Science Centre, the Paediatric Nephrology & Hypertension Program established in 1992 and is the first formal program in Southwestern Ontario. The mission of the program is three-fold; to deliver optimal care to children of Southwestern Ontario and parts of Northern and Central Ontario that suffer from acute and chronic kidney disease, congenital renal abnormalities and hypertension; to maintain a multi-disciplinary childhood end-stage renal disease program including renal replacement therapies; and to foster the development of an integrated basic and clinical research program focusing on the understanding of biology and mechanisms of childhood kidney disease and hypertension.


The Program provides a full range of clinical services including both inpatient and outpatient care for children with primary kidney disease, as well as consultative services for children hospitalized with other disorders, including life-threatening disease, and for unborn children with kidney anomalies. The other focus is hypertension, for which full diagnostic work-up is offered including ambulatory 24-hr blood pressure monitoring.


Both acute and chronic peritoneal and hemodialysis services are offered, with acute dialysis providing an essential component of the tertiary and quaternary care necessary to support the activities of the Paediatric Critical Care program. In collaboration with the Paediatric Critical Care program, continuous renal replacement therapy is available. In collaboration with our adult nephrology colleagues, all blood purification methods are performed including plasma exchange and leukopheresis. LDL apheresis is in development.


Collaborative partnerships with the adult nephrology service, the adult hemodialysis unit of LHSC and with the Southwestern Ontario Regional Self-Care Dialysis Clinic (SORSCDC) ensure full service dialysis care and teaching for children with end-stage renal disease and their families. The program is also associated with the Transplant programs at the Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto and the adult Renal Transplant Program at the University Campus of LHSC.

 

Areas of research include epidemiology of childhood kidney disease, measurement of kidney function, strategies for slowing progression of chronic kidney disease, dialysis adequacy, aetiology and treatment of hypertension, improving outcome after paediatric renal transplantation and paediatric pharmacology of drugs used in the field of paediatric nephrology and hypertension. A particular research focus is the ontogeny (developmental changes) of drug disposition of immunosuppressive drugs used in paediatric renal transplantation.


The Team:

The Facts:

 

Figure 1: Development of clinical activities over the last few years.


Top: Clinic statistics - presented as stacked bar graph with new consults, chronic kidney disease patients, transplant patients and general nephrology follow-up patients.
Bottom: Inpatient statistics - presented as stacked bar graph with new consults, consult visits and inpatient days of patients admitted under nephrology.

 

 

 

Links:

 

Children's Hospital - Paediatric Nephrology & Hypertension

Children's Hospital - Main Website

Renal Transplant Program at the University Campus of LHSC

London Health Sciences Centre

Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto

 

 

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