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Kidney transplantation is the optimal method for managing children with chronic kidney disease stage V. From Syria, there is very little published work and limited data on the status of pediatric kidney transplantation. Thus, this study was conducted and aimed to present the experience and results of pediatric KT program at our center.
A single-center observational study was conducted at Children’s University Hospital in Damascus, Syria. We reviewed the medical charts of all kidney transplants performed between April 2018 and December 2022. All patients were under 14 years old when they underwent kidney transplant. All donors were living as there is currently no effective deceased donor program in Syria.
From April 2018 to December 2022, a total of 33 kidney transplants have been performed at our center. The majority of our recipients was male (24/72.7%) with 9 female recipients (27.3%); median age was 10 years (range: 4.5–14 years). Most frequent underlying diseases for kidney failure were renal dysplasia-hypoplasia (42.5%), reflux nephropathy (18.2%), neurogenic bladder with posterior urethral valves (12%). In 10 patients, kidney transplantation was performed pre-emptively (30.3%). Initial graft function was observed in all grafts (100%). During observation time (5 years), 28 patients (85%) had an adequate graft function till now. The 1-year graft and patient survival rates were 91%.
Syria is still suffering from the consequences of the war, affecting organ transplantation in many ways. The commitment of transplant teams despite these huge challenges remains unique and extraordinary.
The good one-year graft and patient survival in our study was encouraging. However, we admit that the number of patients was small and the follow-up duration was also not long enough, and we need future researches for improving long-term outcomes.