Nephrotic syndrome in children
Congenital nephrotic syndrome is usually caused by an inherited faulty gene. For the condition to be passed on to a child, both parents must have a healthy copy of the gene and a faulty one.
This means they don't have nephrotic syndrome themselves, but there's a one in four chance that any children they have will develop the condition.
If your child has congenital nephrotic syndrome, they'll need frequent albumin infusions to help them grow and develop normally. This often requires a stay in hospital.
Sometimes parents can be trained to administer the treatment at home. Your child will be regularly reviewedat a clinic, where their blood pressure, growth, weight, kidney function and bone health will be monitored.
It can be difficult for parents to decide which option is best, so you should talk to your doctor about the pros and cons of hospital-based and home-based treatment.
In some cases, your doctor may recommend surgery to remove one or both of your child's kidneys. This will stop proteins being lost in your child's urine and reduce their risk of potentially serious problems, such as blood clots.
This means they'll be dependent on dialysis, where a machine replicates kidney function, from an early age until they can receive a kidney transplant.
A person only needs one kidney to survive, soa living person can donate a kidney. Ideally, this should be a close relative.
This helps scientists look for better ways to prevent and treat this condition. You can opt out of the register at any time.
Find out more about the NCARDRSregister .
Read about nephrotic syndrome, a condition that causes the kidneys to leak large amounts of protein into the urine. This can lead to a range of problems.
Most children with nephrotic syndrome have times when their symptoms are under control (remission), followed by times when symptoms return (relapses). In most cases, relapses becomeless frequent as t
Most children with nephrotic syndrome have "minimal change disease". This means thattheir kidneys appear normal or nearly normal if a tissue sampleis studied under a microscope. The cause of minimal c
Nephrotic syndrome can usually be diagnosed after dipping a dipstick into a urine sample. If there are large amounts of protein in a person's urine,there will be a colour change on the stick. A blood
The main treatment for nephrotic syndrome is steroids, but additional treatments may also be used if a child develops significant side effects. Most children have relapses until their late teens and
If your child has been diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, you'll need to monitor their condition on a daily basis to check for signs of relapses. You'll need to use a dipstick to test your child's ur
Congenital nephrotic syndrome is usually caused by an inherited faulty gene. For the condition to be passed on to a child, both parents must have a healthy copy of the gene and a faulty one. This mea