Growth in Children with End-stage Renal Disease Treated with Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis for at Least One Year

Abstract

Maintenance of adequate growth continues to be a major problem in the treatment of renal failure in children and adolescents. Poor growth seen with other forms of therapy for children with end-stage renal disease was the major reason we initiated our CAPD program at the Children's Hospital of Alabama in 1979. Since that time, we have treated 22 children with CAPD. We have an active transplant service and only 11 children have been maintained on CAPD for at least one year. This report concerns the growth of those 11 children, of whom eight grew at a rate greater than 80% of expected. The results to date with this form of treatment are very encouraging. The major determinants of growth in our patients seem to be maintenance of adequate caloric and protein intake, and control of hyperparathyroidism.