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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Nephrology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fped.2025.1429804
This article is part of the Research Topic Insights in Pediatric Nephrology View all 8 articles
Functional assessment of renal damage in children with primary vesicoureteral reflux
Provisionally accepted- Xinhua Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
Objectives: To evaluate the renal function damage in children with primary vesicoureteral reflux (VUR).Methods: A total of 226 children with VUR (65 cases with left, 39 with right, and 122 cases with bilateral VUR) were screened. Eighty-five urinary tract infection (UTI) cases, without urinary malformations, during the same period were collected as controls. Age at diagnosis, body weight, renal ultrasound, VUR grade, serum creatinine level, dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) level, and effective renal plasma flow (ERPF) values were retrospectively analyzed.Results: There were no significant differences in age at diagnosis between study groups. Total ERPF was significantly lower in the bilateral VUR group than in the control group. The ERPF in unilateral VUR was significantly lower than that in the contralateral or ipsilateral side in the control group (P<0.001). The mean split renal function, as assessed by DMSA of VUR, was 28.00% and 29.12% on the left and right sides, respectively, both of which were lower than the control group’s 40.27%. Renal damage was also correlated with a VUR grade (P=0.008), a transverse diameter (P=0.002), and pyelectasis (P=0.037).Conclusion: Split renal function was impaired in the reflux kidney. The total ERPF in the bilateral VUR group was lower than that in the unilateral VUR group. Renal damage was correlated with a VUR grade, a transverse diameter, and pyelectasis.
Keywords: vesicoureteral reflux, Children, Renal function, Dimercaptosuccinic acid, effective renal plasma
Received: 08 May 2024; Accepted: 24 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhu, Li, Jin and Jiajia. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yufeng Li, Xinhua Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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