Pediatric Nephrology (Kidney Disease)

Lurie Children's is home to the region’s largest pediatric kidney diseases (pediatric nephrology) team, caring for more than 4,000 infants, children and adolescents each year.

Our Division of Nephrology (Kidney Disease) offers a full scope of care, including dialysis and kidney transplantation for children with kidney failure. Children can also receive multi-organ transplantation, such as liver-kidney transplantation for oxalosis or polycystic kidney disease. We are a world-renowned program, and our outcomes rank among the top centers in the U.S. for both transplant and dialysis. Our Pediatric Kidney Transplantation Program continues to rank among the nation’s ten best pediatric programs and is the largest of its kind in Illinois.

Our Approach 

We believe in family-centered care​, which means that we involve the whole family along with the patient to promote the best health outcomes. Our many family support services include:

• ​A school services program
• Family education
• Teen groups
• Coordination of home healthcare, as needed
• Prenatal counseling for disorders involving the kidney

Kidney disease can cause other health problems, such as failure to thrive, heart disease, physical limitations and, sometimes, unique behavioral problems. Therefore, it is important that children with kidney disease receive care from many types of healthcare providers who jointly create a care plan. Our multidisciplinary team approach makes it easier for you to see every specialist your child needs, often in the same visit.

The division provides a complete patient evaluation in the outpatient setting at our main hospital, as well as on the kidney diseases inpatient service as needed. We offer specialized tests and kidney biopsy procedures (percutaneously [through the skin] removing a small piece of kidney tissue for inspection under a microscope) when needed. We have pioneered a new method for accurately measuring kidney function called measured glomerular filtration rate (mGFR), rather than using estimates.

Our full range of medical and surgical treatments includes kidney replacement therapies such as dialysis and kidney transplants as well as plasma exchange (plasmapheresis) and removal of dangerously elevated cholesterol levels (lipopheresis).

Our team also takes a coordinated specialty care approach for children with multisystem diseases, including tuberous sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, congenital abnormalities of the kidney/urinary tract, primary hyperoxaluria, kidney stones, hypertension and nephropathic cystinosis. 

Our physician-researchers actively conduct research in patients and the laboratory. Our studies are improving kidney disease treatments for children, as well as our knowledge about the genetic basis of kidney diseases.