Long-Term Survival of Children with End-Stage Renal Disease

Although renal-replacement therapy for children with end-stage renal disease has been used for several decades, data on patients' long-term survival are sparse.

We examined the long-term survival of all children and adolescents who were under 20 years of age when renal-replacement therapy commenced (study period, April 1963 through March 2002), using data from the Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant Registry. Survival was analyzed with the use of Kaplan-Meier methods and age-standardized mortality rates. Risk factors for death were analyzed with the use of Cox regression analysis with time-dependent covariates.