Kidney transplantation in small children with live related donors: 20 years of experience.

OBJECTIVES Kidney transplantation (Tx) with a live related donor is the best option available for the treatment of end-stage renal disease at any age. Modern dialysis has allowed many very young and small children to receive a renal transplant with good results in spite of the limitations of space and the size of the adult kidney. Here, we report our experience with renal Tx with live related donors in this complex group of pediatric patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS From 1978 to 2004 a kidney transplantation was performed in 211 pediatric patients. Of this group, 23 patients between 1 and 10 years of age (16 males and seven females) of less than 17 kg (8.9-16.9 kg) received their first live related donor transplantation between 1985 and 2004. Renal insufficiency was secondary to nephropathy in 11 patients, infravesical obstruction in six and renal dysplasia or renal infarcts in six. RESULTS Patient and graft survival was 100% and 95.6% with an average follow up of 89.6 months (6-231). There were no vascular or urological complications. Urinary infection in five (21.7%) and acute rejection in three (13%) were the most common complications. One patient has returned to dialysis 11 years after Tx. CONCLUSIONS Young pediatric patients with a low body weight did not suffer a higher percentage of postoperative surgical complications, and the follow-up results are similar to those in older patients. A complex urological malformation has not prevented a living related Tx. These results encourage us to perform this procedure more frequently in younger patients when a live donor is available.