Kids with kidney failure are living longer than ever, thanks to better rates of organ transplantation from living donors, finds a new report.
The report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) found that from 1981 to 2005, the number of young people diagnosed with "end-stage renal disease" remained fairly stable - between 66 and 103 Canadians aged 19 and under were diagnosed each year.
But during that period, the number of young people living with the disease rose by 169 per cent.
Margaret Keresteci, Manager of Clinical Registries at CIHI says that transplantation has now become the treatment of choice for these patients and that is improving five-year survival rates.
"A diagnosis of kidney failure in early life can have far-reaching, life-long consequences," she says. "The good news is that children with kidney failure are living longer."
The proportion of children under the age of 19 receiving transplants has risen significantly, the report found, while the proportion of children being treated with dialysis has declined. And that's resulted in longer survival times.
For those treated in the 1990s, five-year survival rates for young patients were 96 per cent for those living with a kidney transplant, compared to 84 per cent for those on dialysis.
Most of the children receiving kidney transplants are receiving them from a parent of sibling; about 90 per cent of these organs come from a close family member.
Only 23 children were waiting for a kidney transplant in 2005, while 2,920 adults were on a waiting list.
Dr. M. Clermont, pediatric nephrologist at Montreal's St-Justine Hospital, said in a CIHI statement that he was encouraged by the statistics revealed in the report.
"We consider the increase in transplantation, and the corresponding decline in dialysis treatment, a step in the right direction for the quality of life for young kidney patients," he said.
