ETIOLOGY OF CHRONIC-RENAL-FAILURE IN TURKISH CHILDREN

The etiology of chronic renal failure (CRF) was studied in 459 Turkish children (205 girls, 254 boys) for the period January 1979-December 1 993. Their mean age at onset of CRF was 9.5 +/- 4.2 years (range 1-16 years); CRF was defined as a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) below 50 ml/min per 1.73 m(2) for at least 6 months. When a GFR determination was not available, the serum creatinine concentration was used: greate r than 1 mg/dl for children aged 1-3 years, greater than 1.5 mg/dl for those 3-10 years and greater than 2 mg/dl for those 10-16 years. Prim ary renal disorders were as follows: reflux nephropathy 32.4% glomerul ar diseases 22.2%, hereditary renal disorders 11.4%, amyloidosis 10.6% , urinary stones 8% and other renal disorders 15.4%. Twenty-three case s of reflux nephropathy (15.4%) were associated with neural tube defec ts (NTD) and 20 (13.4%) were caused by infravesical obstruction. CRF c aused vesicoureteral reflux associated with NTD and amyloidosis are mo re frequent in our series compared with west European and Nordic count ries.