The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2013 , Vol 55 , Num 1
Renal Function and Linear Growth of Children with Nephrocalcinosis: A Retrospective Single-Center Study
1Division of Pediatric Nephrology, Department of Pediatrics, and 2 Department of Radiology, Akdeniz University Faculty
of Medicine, Antalya, Turkey. E-mail: d.caglaserpil@yahoo.com
The aim of this study was to analyze the etiology of nephrocalcinosis (NC)
and whether it has any effect on growth and renal function in children.
Forty-three children who were diagnosed with bilateral NC were studied
retrospectively. Two neonates treated with furosemide and five premature
infants were excluded from the study. The most common condition leading
to NC was hereditary tubulopathies (50%). Data of 27 children who had
a follow-up period of at least two years were examined in more detail. Of
the 27 patients, the median age at first examination was 12 (range: 2-132)
months and median follow-up time was 57 (range: 24-209) months. Thirteen
of 27 (48.1%) patients had height standard deviation scores (hSDS) <-2 at
presentation, and 6 (22.2%) patients who had normal glomerular function
were still below -2 SDS at the last examination. Hypercalciuria was present
in 25 (92.6%) patients at the first evaluation and in 6 (22.2%) patients at
the last examination. The degree of NC worsened in 6 (22.2%), remained
stable in 15 (55.5%) and decreased in 6 (22.2%) patients during the followup
period. Chronic renal insufficiency (CRI) developed in 5 patients without
there being any increase in the degree of NC.
In conclusion, growth and renal function in these patients generally depend on the nature of the underlying disease but not the degree of NC.
Keywords : nephrocalcinosis, hypercalciuria, renal function, longitudinal growth, childhood.