Neurodevelopmental progress of young children with chronic renal disease.

Neurodevelopmental progress was prospectively studied in 33 children with chronic renal disease during a mean of 1.68 years. The mean age of the children when first evaluated was 1.11 years. Children with all levels of renal dysfunction were included, although end stage renal disease developed in 17 at some time during the study. When last evaluated, 10 of the children were developmentally delayed, 8 mildly delayed, and 2 moderately delayed. The developmental level achieved was significantly related to the children's growth and to the severity of their renal impairment. Also found was a strong correlation between the developmental quotients at first and final evaluations. This finding suggests that improvement throughout time is unlikely and underlines the need for early diagnosis and treatment of such infants. These observations suggest that the neurodevelopmental outcome of infants with chronic renal disease is considerably better than previously reported.