Pediatric Nephrology

At Winthrop Pediatric Associates, we provide a comprehensive state of the art and cutting edge care for young patients suffering from disorders of the kidney and urinary tract.  These range from mild and transient kidney disease to complete kidney failure requiring dialysis and kidney transplantation, bladder control problems, congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract, immunologic and inflammatory diseases of the kidney, kidney stones, and high blood pressure. Both hospital-based and outpatient hemodialysis treatments and training for home-based peritoneal dialysis are available for infants as well as older children.  Through it all, we understand that young children are infinitely more frightened and weary of doctor’s visits, hospitals, and equipment.  Our team, consisting of a pediatric nephrologist and nephrology staff, is experienced with treating children. We instinctively adopt a caring and gentle attitude from the very first visit, so that young patients and their parents are at ease.

The pediatric nephrologist at Winthrop Pediatric Associates has practiced her art for over 30 years. She and her team are proficient at providing the patients and their family easily-understandable explanations about diseases and their management.  The results of treatment in terms of patient satisfaction and improvement and cure of disease are unparalleled.

The Center for Children’s Kidney and Bladder Disorders provides certain unique services not available under any one roof at other pediatric nephrology centers in the Tri-State New York area.  These include point-of-care ultrasonography of the urinary tract, urodynamic testing for lower urinary tract dysfunction, and state-of-the-art treatment of disorders of urination like bedwetting, daytime urinary incontinence, and recurrent urinary infections.  Our pediatric nephrologist is nationally and internationally known for her expertise in evaluating and managing voiding dysfunction.

Some of the specific conditions that we treat include:

1. Absent and small kidney.
2. Bedwetting.
3. Blood in the urine (hematuria).
4. Congenital abnormalities of the kidneys and urinary tract.
5. Cysts in the kidney.
6. Daytime wetting.
7. Diabetes insipidus.
8. Diabetes mellitus related kidney problems.
9. End-stage kidney disease.
10. Fluid and electrolyte imbalances.
11. glomerulonephritis
12. Growth retardation.
13. Hemolytic uremic syndrome.
14. Henoch-Schönlein purpura.
15. High blood pressure.
16. Hydronephrosis.
17. IgA nephropathy.
18. Inflammatory diseases of the kidney [nephritis].
19. Kidney failure.
20. Kidney stones.
21. Nephritis.
22. Nephrotic syndrome [leakage of large amount of protein in the urine].
23. Neurogenic bladder [like in spina bifida].
24. Polycystic kidney disease.
25. Protein in the urine.
26. Pre-nontubular acidosis.
27. Pyelonephritis.
28. Renal tubular disorders of genetic origin and acquired.
29. Systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE].
30. Vasculitis.
31. Urine leakage.
32. Urinary tract infections.
33. Vesicoureteral reflux.
34. Voiding dysfunction.

Identifying Kidney Disorders in Young Children

Kidney disease in children is often referred to as a silent disease. The reason being, that the symptoms of pediatric nephrology disorders in children are different from those in adults. They might suffer from growth impairment or polyuria and be tested for diabetes. Once this comes out negative, no further tests may take place. As a result many of our experienced pediatric nephrologists encounter young adolescents coming to see them with advanced renal disease after spending most of their lives gradually losing kidney function without getting treated.

Since most kidney disorders in children are congenital, the first step is to conduct a thorough screening of newborn babies to identify any irregularities right from the start. Other common symptoms are failure to thrive and grow normally but most of the answers lie in blood and urine tests.

What causes Pediatric Nephrology Disorders?

Kidney failure can be acute or chronic. Acute kidney disease is temporary in nature and while it gets quite serious, once it is treated it goes away for good. It usually occurs due to poisoning or some kind of injury. These two factors are mostly responsible for loss of blood, which could result in little or no kidney function for a while. Once this is treated, kidney function returns to normal.

Chronic kidney disease is less easy to find and therefore go unnoticed for an extended period exacerbating the problem. They could occur due to birth defects in which the kidney is not formed or functioning properly. Blocked urine flow can affect the functioning of the kidney. There are a number of hereditary diseases, which cause children to inherit harmful genes causing kidney disease.

Treating Kidney Diseases in Children

Children whose kidney’s completely fail or are unable to work properly usually require either dialysis or a transplant as a treatment plan. Dialysis is the process of replacing kidney function. The dialysis machine works to extract all the waste and excess water from the patient’s blood, in effect purifying the blood, the way the kidneys normally do.

Transplant surgery can be considered a cure for kidney disease as it involves removing the weak organ and replacing it with a strong and healthy one. 

Contact Winthrop Pediatric Associates today to make an appointment.

Winthrop Pediatric Associates proudly serves Nassau & Suffolk counties in Long Island, New York, and the entire NY-Metropolitan area.