AUTHOR=Lopez-Gonzalez Mercedes , Munoz Marina , Perez-Beltran Victor , Cruz Alejandro , Gander Romy , Ariceta Gema 

TITLE=Linear Growth in Pediatric Kidney Transplant Population

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2020.569616

DOI=10.3389/fped.2020.569616

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Introduction:</bold> Growth retardation is one of the main complications of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children and induces a negative impact on quality of life.</p><p><bold>Materials and Methods:</bold> Retrospective analysis of all consecutive patients younger than 18 years old who received a first KT in our center between 2008 and 2018.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> 95 first KT recipients, median age at KT of 7.83 years. At the time of KT, 65.52% of males and 54.05% females showed normal height. After transplantation, linear growth improved from −1.53 at transplant to −1.37 SDS height at the last visit. We detected a different linear growth pattern according to patient age at KT. Children younger than 3 years old exhibited the most significant growth retardation at baseline and the greatest linear growth over time (−2.29 vs. −1.82 SDS height), whereas catch-up was not observed in older patients. Multivariate analysis showed that use of corticosteroids was negatively related to SDS height at 1 year after transplantation and final SDS height only was positively associated with SDS height at KT. 44.2 and 22.1% patients received rhGH treatment before and after KT. 71.88% patients reached adulthood with normal final height.</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> In our study, pediatric KT recipients exhibited a normal height in more than half of cases at KT and in more than two thirds at the final adult height. Only children younger than 6 years old presented a relevant growth catch-up after KT. Treatment with rhGH was used before and after KT with significant improvement in height.</p>