Kidney Disease in African American Children: Biological and Nonbiological Disparities.

Pediatric-onset chronic kidney disease (CKD) is as relevant to adults as it is to children. Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract may have a significant impact on health from birth or during childhood or may not manifest until adulthood. Many acquired kidney diseases start to appear in late childhood and adolescence. The propensity for more rapid progression of CKD to end-stage kidney disease in adults of African ancestry, as well as disparities in access to kidney transplantation and allograft longevity, have been well documented for decades. Similar disparate patterns are seen in children, and we now know that there are a range of biological and nonbiological risk factors for the development and progression of CKD in people of African descent that are pertinent to CKD in children. In some cases, it is unclear whether there are effective potential interventions, whereas in other situations, there are opportunities to improve outcomes.