1 Department of Pediatrics, University of California, and San Francisco General Hospital, San Francisco, California
Fourteen children, 2 to 16 years of age, were dialyzed three times weekly for periods of 1 to 27 months on the modified Kiil or Dow Hollow Fiber Kidney. There was one deathfrom recurrence of Wilms' tumorand seven children received renal transplants. The superficial femoral, brachial, posterior tibial, or radial artery was cannulated and blood flow during dialysis was > 150 ml/minute without a pump. Mean pre-dialysis serum urea nitrogen levels of 70 to 86 mg/100 ml were maintained in children from 10 to 52 kg by varying the efficiency of the dialyzer and the number of dialysis hours with the size of the child. The children were active and symptoms of uremia were uncommon.
Complications found included hemodynamic effects of the shunt, shunt clotting and infection, anemia, hypertension, heart failure, and renal osteodystrophy. Growth was related to calorie intake and was normal in four of eight children. Chronic dialysis was considered successful therapy for uremic children.
Submitted on March 30, 1970