Pediatric Nephrology
For children with kidney diseases and high blood pressure, the Division of Pediatric Nephrology and Hypertension offers the most advanced care available in Suffolk County.
We are the only Suffolk County hospital to perform renal transplants and dialysis for children, and one of the largest pediatric nephrology programs on Long Island, seeing approximately 1,400 patients annually.
Services
The Division of Pediatric Nephrology diagnoses, treats and manages a wide range of kidney disorders including chronic and acute conditions. Ambulatory 24-hour blood pressure monitoring using specialized monitoring equipment helps diagnose children with pre-hypertension or masked hypertension who may be at higher risk for kidney and cardiovascular disease. Kidney biopsies, a minimally invasive, same-day procedure, are performed in Stony Brook’s Pediatric Special Procedure Unit (PSP) under sedation.
Hypertension, or higher than normal blood pressure, is a growing problem in children, largely due to an increase in obesity and metabolic disorders. Hypertension is one of the most reliable predictors of future problems with the kidneys, in addition to raising a child’s risk for other serious health issues such cardiovascular disease.
To address pediatric hypertension, Stony Brook Children’s has launched the region’s first Pediatric Hypertension Center. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, the center brings pediatric specialists together to comprehensively address emerging or existing hypertension issues in children. In addition to family education, counseling and lifestyle and medical management, the center uses ambulatory blood pressure monitoring to track blood pressure changes for 24 hours. The information obtained by the monitor helps doctors develop an individualized program addressing each patient’s needs.
Close to 70 adult and pediatric kidney transplants are performed at Stony Brook Medicine annually with excellent immediate surgical and long-term results. Most transplant recipients can expect to lead normal, healthy lives after surgery. At Stony Brook, the success rate of the new kidney function in pediatric patients is 100 percent after one year.
For chronic and acute kidney conditions, including nephritis, nephrosis and nephrotic syndrome, congenital anomalies of kidney and urinary tract, renal artery stenosis, hemolytic uremic syndrome, and renal failure, Stony Brook offers a number of options.
Outpatient hemodialysis. A process for removing waste products and water from the blood when the kidney is no longer able to perform its functions. Maintenance dialysis is typically done on an outpatient basis.
In-house acute hemodialysis. This is dialysis performed in the hospital in cases where the child may need additional medical support.
Peritoneal dialysis. A treatment for severe chronic kidney failure that involves the surgical implantation of a catheter into the patient’s abdomen to cleanse the blood. This is used as an alternative to hemodialysis.
Hemofiltration. A renal replacement therapy similar to hemodialysis that is performed in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit for patients with acute renal failure.
Outpatient infusions of biologic agents.
Our Team
Team members include physicians, dialysis nurses, and other medical professionals with pediatric nephrology expertise. The team works closely with other pediatric specialty departments at Stony Brook, in particular pediatric surgery, pediatric urology, and transplantation services, to provide state-of-the-art, compassionate and family-centered care.
Locations
Commack Advanced Pediatric Care
500 Commack Road, Suite 104Commack, NY 11725
(631) 444-KIDS (5437)
Fax: (631) 638-0157
Lake Grove Advanced Pediatric Care
4 Smith Haven Mall, Suite 101Lake Grove, NY 11755
(631) 444-KIDS (5437)
Fax: (631) 444-4990
Patient Resources
Stony Brook is the only hospital in Suffolk County to host a chapter of NephCure, a nationwide organization dedicated to sharing resources, educating, and supporting children and families with nephrotic syndrome.
For information, call (631) 444-7884.
Research and Education
As Suffolk County’s only academic medical center, Stony Brook is committed to training the next generation of physicians. Six to 12 residents a year rotate through the Division of Pediatric Nephrology, not only gaining valuable experience in state-of-the-art medicine, but continually infusing the program with the latest ideas and approaches.
Our unique specialty deals with all aspects of relatively rare kidney disease in children and adolescents, and our passion is collaborative research, particularly in neonatal and critical care medicine, acute kidney injury (AKI), chronic kidney disease, nephrotic syndrome, renal transplantation and hypertension. Through collaborative efforts, pediatric nephrologists have been able to describe, define and manage kidney diseases that affect kids.
Our Division of Pediatric Nephrology at Stony Brook plays an active role in Assessment of Worldwide AKI in Pediatrics and in Neonates through nephrology and neonatology consortia (AWARE, NKC), examining whether early kidney injury signs will predict severe subsequent AKI in critically ill children.
Stony Brook's Pediatric Nephrology Division plays an active part in the Pediatric Nephrology Research Consortium, collaborating on clinical trials in nephrotic syndrome, hypertension, chronic kidney disease and transplantation. In addition, for a number of years now, we are part of the North American Pediatric Renal Trials and Collaborative Studies (NAPTRCS), which is creating an updated North American database on patients with kidney disease, patients undergoing dialysis, and patients who have received transplants.
To learn more about our current research, network publications, and academic activities please visit the following websites:
For Dr. Woroniecki:
For Dr. Fine:
For Dr. Supe-Markovina:
Definitions
Also known as high blood pressure, hypertension occurs when the force of the blood flow is too high, stretching the tissue that makes up the walls of arteries beyond its healthy limit. This can often lead to heart attack and heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and other health consequences.
A process for removing waste products and water from the blood when the kidney is no longer able to perform its functions.
The presence of blood in the urine. Blood that you can see is called gross hematuria. Urinary blood that’s visible only under a microscope is known as microscopic hematuria and is uncovered after a urine test.
Typically occurring with another disease, hydronephrosis is a condition in which the kidney swells, due to a backup of urine.
A cyst is a closed pocket or pouch of tissue filled with fluid or air that can form anywhere in the body. Cysts that form on the kidneys usually contain fluid. One or more cysts may develop on small tubes in the kidneys. The simple kidney cyst is different from the cysts that develop when a person has polycystic kidney disease, which is a genetic disease.
Kidney disease is a condition, most often caused by diabetes or high blood pressure, in which the small blood vessels in the kidneys are damaged, making the kidneys unable to do their job. Waste then builds up in the blood, harming the body.
Also called albuminuria or urine albumin, proteinuria is an abnormally high amount of protein in the urine. It occurs when proteins from the blood leak into the urine when the filters of the kidney, called glomeruli, are damaged. Proteinuria is a sign of chronic kidney disease (CKD), which can result from diabetes, high blood pressure, and diseases that cause inflammation in the kidney.
A kidney transplant is a surgical procedure that replaces a diseased kidney or kidneys with a healthy kidney. The transplanted kidney takes over the work of the kidneys that have failed, eliminating the need for dialysis.
