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kidney disease

Our patients’ stories: Yahya’s journey

by Andrea Mooney on April 30, 2012

The Boston Globe recently ran a story about a young Boston Children’s Hospital patient who came to the hospital from Palestine. Coordinating his care was a combined effort of many people, crossing geological and political borders.

Yahya at Boston Children's

When Yahya Ahmad Masalma was born in a small village in Palestine, Israeli doctors diagnosed him with posterior urethral valves (PUV), a congenital and chronic condition that compromises the kidneys and urological system. In Yahya’s case, his kidneys and bladder were unable to properly function, causing serious problems, so doctors in Jerusalem began performing regular dialysis—a process that takes the blood out of the body, filters it through a machine and puts back into the body.

But a person—especially a child—can only undergo dialysis for so long before the body begins to revolt. After five years, Yahya’s blood vessels were damaged and failing and he would soon be unable to undergo any more of the life-sustaining treatment.

Without dialysis, Yahya’s condition would worsen quickly, and the only way he could survive was to get a kidney transplant.

Michael Agus, MD, director of Medicine Critical Care Program Boston Children’s Hospital had heard about Yahya’s case through his Israeli colleagues, and made William Harmon, MD, chief of Boston Children’s Division of Nephrology, aware of the situation. Although the Israeli Hospital has performed kidney transplants in small children before, Yahya had very low blood pressure and they felt that it would not be safe to do so for him. The Israeli physicians could not find a transplant program that was willing to accept Yahya. Full story »

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This week on Thrive: Jan. 11 – 15

by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on January 17, 2010

Children’s research made the Huffington Post’s Top 10 Medical Research Trends to Watch in 2010. We find out exactly how dangerous secondhand smoke is to children. Are American destined to be obese? Two studies show how important a good night’s sleep for your children is. A gene for a devastating kidney disease is discovered. Do you know the dangers of leaving your child in the car alone? Dr. Rich responds to comments on his Call of Duty post. Have Americans finally hit an obesity plateau? The Flu Fighters invade Facebook. Children’s sends a team into Haiti and we offer advice on how to talk to your children about this devastating event.

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Gene for devastating kidney disease discovered

by Childrens Hospital Boston staff on January 13, 2010

stockphotopro_4658724TJN_closeup_of_a_yoA genetic discovery by researchers at Children’s and Brigham and Women’s Hospital brings new hope for a mysterious, devastating kidney disease called focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). It’s the second leading cause of kidney failure in children and forces patients onto dialysis and, all too often, kidney transplant – only to recur in the transplanted kidney, sometimes within hours.

The research team, led by Elizabeth Brown, MD, of Children’s Division of Nephrology, performed a genetic linkage analysis in two large families with FSGS and identified a variety of mutations in a gene known as INF2. They then sequenced INF2 in 91 additional families. In all, they found INF2 mutations in 11 of 93 families, as reported online in Nature Genetics on December 20. Full story »

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