Pediatric Kidney Care
Kidney disease can affect your child in many ways.
Most kidney issues are treatable and don't last long. But kidney disease can seriously impact a child's life. Getting a diagnosis and seeking care is also stressful for the entire family.
Kidney disease may be found at any time during childhood. Our pediatric nephrologists are dedicated to keeping you and your family comfortable while helping manage your child's kidney disease.
Our specialized pediatric kidney disease services include:
- Hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis
- Continuous renal replacement therapy
- Apheresis services (a process of collecting peripheral blood stem cells)
- Lasix Renal Scan
Meet The Team
UVA Health Children’s pediatric kidney team includes:
- Nephrologists (kidney doctors)
- Nurses
- School specialists
- Social workers
- Nutritionists
- Pharmacists
We help children with congenital and acquired kidney disease manage their condition and have as normal a lifestyle as possible. We also work closely with pediatric urologists to treat children with combinations of kidney and urinary tract issues.
Solving Lauren's Mystery
The cause of Lauren Davidson's health problems was hard to pin down. But she was diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) soon after seeing our pediatric kidney care team. For Lauren's mom, choosing UVA Health Children's was "the best decision we ever made."
Susan Davidson: I'm Susan Davidson, and my daughter is Lauren Davidson, she's 12 years old. The sweetest child. I mean, I don't have any trouble with her at all. She has always. She's been a very healthy girl, she was a very athletic girl, she loves her dog, she loves her friends. And to see that transition in her when she was feeling so bad was very hard for me to see as a parent.
Lauren Davidson: I have a disease called GPA. It's a really technical name. granulomatosis with polyangitis. It affects your lungs and kidneys.
Susan: In October of 2015, when her swim coach sent me a text and she said, I had to make Lauren get out of swim practice. She just-- I don't know what's wrong with her. She said she can't breathe, and her coloring looks really strange. It was about a week after her 11th birthday. She started complaining about joint pain.
Aarat Patel, MD: GPA is hard to diagnose because of the non-specific symptoms. This is your immune system attacking organs in your body. A lot of people will look like they have an infection.
Susan: I would learn later she was having trouble breathing, and her oxygen was low because the disease was starting to manifest in her lungs.
Patel: A lot of the medications we use for infection have some anti-inflammatory properties, meaning it'll decrease inflammation. So it looks like some people might be getting better, but they're in fact not getting better, and it's just putting a Band-Aid over underlying inflammation.
Patel: Her shortness of breath, the fact that she couldn't breathe when she was doing her swim meets made her come into the hospital.
Susan: They gave us two hospitals, and without hesitation, I said, UVA. That's where-- I've grown up in Virginia and I've only heard good things. I couldn't have been more pleased with all of the doctors-- everyone we encountered. She has seen rheumatologists, nephrologists, pulmonologists, every one of them has just been fantastic.
Lauren: Well, I had a doctor that I really liked. Her name was Dr. Charlton and she was very encouraging. And I really liked her because of her personality, kind of like mine-- it's really bouncy, just kind of fun. And so she kind of made me feel really better about the whole situation.
Jennifer Charlton, MD: I don't even think that I saw Lauren initially. I told the ICU what labs to get, and within hours, those labs came back and we had a pretty good idea of what she had. I see a lot of me in Lauren and I think that's part of why we gravitate to each other.
Susan: Dr. Charlton has just been such a loving influence. She just cares for Lauren. And she told Lauren one time, she said, you have a tiger living inside of you. That tiger is either in its cage or it's out of its cage. And my job is to try to keep that tiger in the cage.
Patel: Her quality of life should be that of another girl her age. So for someone that was that sick and had to be poked and prodded so much, she did great.
Susan: UVA. That was an easy decision and it turned out to be the best decision we ever made.
Nationally Ranked Kidney Care
U.S. News & World Report has ranked our nephrology department one of the best in the nation. This score reflects the complexity of the cases we handle as well as the positive outcomes we deliver. With a nationally ranked nephrology and urology department, UVA Health Children's is prepared to handle even the most challenging of pediatric kidney cases.
- At-Home Dialysis
We offer peritoneal dialysis support. It can be done at home during the night while your child is asleep. Our nurses train you to do the procedure. This means less hospital visits and disruptions. Talk to your child's care team about getting peritoneal dialysis support.
- Kidney TransplantLearn More About Kidney Transplant
Kidney transplants are very complex procedures. Every child is different and needs a different level of care. With more than 40 years of experience, our kidney transplant team is one of the most active in Virginia.
- Urology TeamLearn More About Urology
Our nationally recognized urology care team can manage issues from simple urinary tract infections to surgery for complex cases. We work closely with social workers, translation services, and other specialists to keep your child comfortable through each test and procedure.
