Publications by authors named "Ilse Maria Ratsch"

Background: Sociocultural issues play a key role in children needing kidney replacement therapy (KRT).

Methods: Data of incident patients < 18 years treated with chronic dialysis or preemptive kidney transplantation (pTx) between 2007 and 2016 were retrospectively collected from the Italian Pediatric Dialysis Registry; KRT modality and outcome were compared between patients with at least one non-Italian parent ("resident foreign patients," RFPs) and those from native parents ("domestic patients," DPs) and between the quinquennium 2007-2011 (period 1) and 2012-2016 (period 2).

Results: We included 448 children (26.

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Unlabelled: Data concerning outcomes of children on hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) are scarce and frequently derived from single-center experiences. We sought to compare survival and transplantation rates in a large cohort of PD and HD patients. We extracted all patients initiating dialysis under 16 years of age between 2004 and 2013 from the Italian Registry of Pediatric Chronic Dialysis.

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Background: The ESPN/ERA-EDTA Registry collects data on European children with end-stage renal disease receiving renal replacement therapy (RRT) who are listed on national and regional renal registries in Europe. In this paper we report on the analysis of demographic data collected from 2009 to 2011.

Methods: Data on primary renal disease, incidence, prevalence, 4-year survival, transplantation rate and causes of death in paediatric patients receiving RRT were extracted from the ESPN/ERA-EDTA Registry for 37 European countries.

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Background: Paediatric literature about encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is limited and comes primarily from anecdotic experiences. In this study, we described the incidence and characteristics of EPS in a large paediatric chronic peritoneal dialysis (CPD) patient population.

Methods: We reviewed files of patients starting CPD at <16 years of age, recorded from January 1986 to December 2011 by the Italian Registry of Pediatric Chronic Dialysis (n = 712).

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Background: Although chronic peritoneal dialysis (CPD) is considered the replacement therapy of choice for infants with end-stage renal failure, many questions persist about treatment risks and outcomes.

Methods: We present data on 84 infants who started CPD at <1 year of age; these patients represent 12% of the total population of the Italian Registry of Paediatric Chronic Dialysis. We analysed patient records from all children consecutively treated with CPD between 1995 and 2007 in Italy.

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Article Synopsis
  • Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can lead to end-stage renal failure in children, and while angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEi) are known for their protective effects in adults, their effectiveness in pediatric cases remains uncertain.
  • A study using data from the ItalKid Project compared 41 children treated with ACEi for hypodysplastic CKD to 123 matched controls, measuring the decline in kidney function over time.
  • Results showed that ACEi-treated patients had a 40% slower decline in creatinine clearance compared to controls, but this difference was not statistically significant, indicating the need for further research before ACEi can be recommended as a standard treatment for children with CKD.
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Background: Dent's disease is an inherited tubulopathy caused by CLCN5 gene mutations. While a typical phenotype characterized by low-molecular-weight (LMW) proteinuria, hypercalciuria, nephrocalcinosis, nephrolithiasis, rickets and progressive renal failure in various combinations often enables a clinical diagnosis, less severe sub-clinical cases may go under-diagnosed.

Methods: By single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis and direct sequencing, we screened 40 male patients from 40 unrelated families for CLCN5 gene mutations.

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Background: Dialysis efficiency has a great influence on the outcome of patients. Few data are available on the removal of solutes with molecular weights higher than urea and creatinine. The aim of our study was to assess the transport and the removal of substances with molecular weights up to 15 kD and to evaluate the contribution of residual renal function in peritoneal dialysis (PD) children.

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