Prenatal risk factors for childhood CKD.

Development of CKD may be programmed prenatally. We sought to determine the association of childhood CKD with prenatal risk factors, including birth weight, maternal diabetes mellitus (DM), and maternal overweight/obesity. We conducted a population-based, case-control study with 1994 patients with childhood CKD (<21 years of age at diagnosis) and 20,032 controls in Washington state. We linked maternal and infant characteristics in birth records from 1987 to 2008 to hospital discharge data and used logistic regression analysis to assess the association of prenatal risk factors with childhood CKD. The prevalence of CKD was 126.7 cases per 100,000 births. High birth weight and maternal pregestational DM associated nominally with CKD, with respective crude odds ratios (ORs) of 1.17 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.03 to 1.34) and 1.97 (95% CI, 1.15 to 3.37); however, adjustment for maternal confounders attenuated these associations to 0.97 (95% CI, 0.79 to 1.21) and 1.19 (95% CI, 0.51 to 2.81), respectively. The adjusted ORs for CKD associated with other prenatal factors were 2.88 (95% CI, 2.28 to 3.63) for low birth weight, 1.54 (95% CI, 1.13 to 2.09) for maternal gestational DM, 1.24 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.48) for maternal overweight, and 1.26 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.52) for maternal obesity. In subgroup analysis by CKD subtype, low birth weight and maternal pregestational DM associated significantly with increased risk of renal dysplasia/aplasia. Low birth weight, maternal gestational DM, and maternal overweight/obesity associated significantly with obstructive uropathy. These data suggest that prenatal factors may impact the risk of CKD. Future studies should aim to determine if modification of these factors could reduce the risk of childhood CKD.

Acute kidney injury: can we improve prognosis?

The incidence of pediatric acute kidney injury (AKI) is increasing. AKI has been found to be independently associated with increased mortality, and current management options are limited in that they are mainly supportive. The use of various definitions of AKI can still be found in the literature, making it difficult to discern the epidemiology behind pediatric AKI. The use of a more uniform definition is a necessary first step to clarify AKI epidemiology and direct our research efforts, and it will ultimately improve prognosis. There is evidence that neonates and infants may be at higher risk for AKI than adults. However, the least amount of research is found for this youngest age group, and more focused efforts on this population are necessary. This paper reviews existing data on and definitions for pediatric AKI, general preventive and treatment strategies, as well as ongoing research efforts on AKI. We are hopeful that the prognosis of AKI will improve with collaboration on a multicenter, multinational scale in the form of prospective, long-term studies on pediatric AKI.