Pediatric Kidney Disease

Our entire staff is dedicated to evaluating and treating pediatric patients from infancy through adolescence. Our team has many years of experience and a great depth of knowledge about kidney diseases affecting children and adolescents. Our specialists include:

• Board-certified pediatric nephrologists
• Kidney transplant surgeons
• Pediatric nurse practitioners
• Pediatric dietitians
• Imaging specialists
• Social workers
• Psychologists
• Dedicated pediatric dialysis staff

Our team also works closely with all other Lurie Children’s specialists as needed, including close affiliations with the divisions of Urology, Cardiology, Gastroenterology and Rheumatology.

For physicians who want to specialize in pediatric nephrology, the division has the only comprehensive fellowship training program​ in Illinois, which exposes fellows to a wide array of kidney diseases. Our graduates are leaders in the field around the world.

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 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 bases of kidney diseases.