Kidney Disorders

Facing a potential kidney disorder often raises fears for both parents and children.  The symptoms can be unsettling and questions loom about the possibility of a serious illness and the impact it could have on the future of the child and the family.   

In these circumstances, parents can be assured that care is available for their children at Mission Children's Hospital.  Our monthly pediatric nephrology clinic is the only program in Western North Carolina that provides specialty care for a range of kidney diseases and disorders that affect children.  

The staff is readily available to help diagnose and treat kidney ailments.  They can also provide guidance and information to help  calm fears and concerns about topics such as quality of life or medication for  chronic conditions and the emotional, financial, and other concerns that may accompany a diagnosis or particular course of treatment.

Symptoms and Conditions Treated
Kidney disorders are often present a variety of symptoms. If your child has one of the following symptoms or conditions, or you have other concerns, please contact our team for an appointment.  

Symptoms of Potential Kidney Disorders

• Back pain
• Fever with back pain (but not cold symptoms)
• Blood in the urine
• Dark urine
• Small amount of urine
• Blood or protein in the urine (typically identified during a checkup)
• High blood pressure
• Kidney stones  

• Hemateuria - or blood in the urine
• Proteinuria - protein in the urine
• High blood pressure - caused by kidney disorder
• Glomerulonephritis - chronic infection of the kidneys
• Nephrotic Syndrome/Nephritis - infection from somewhere in the body that settles in the kidneys (common symptoms are pain in back, fever, edema)
• Congenital Genitourinary Anomalies - babies identified in utero as having one kidney
• Polysystic Kidney Disease - children whose kidney(s) have a cyst and may need a kidney transplant
• Kidney Transplant Follow-up - Mission Children's Hospital cares for children after they have undergone a kidney transplant  

Our Services
The Mission Children's Hospital Nephrology program is lead by a Pediatric Nephrologist who is on-site once a month and has a team of nurses available for day-to-day questions.  We also provide continual monitoring of symptoms and diseases when necessary.  Other services include:  

• Renal Ultrasound - snapshots of the kidney
• 24/hour urinalysis -tracks the patients urine over a 24 hour period
• Blood work - identifies the possibility of a condition such as strep throat that can cause a kidney infection
• Voiding cystourethrogram (VCUG - puts dye through the kidneys to watch how they are working and how the dye flows
• Echocardiogram and Thyroid test - checks for potential causes of high blood pressure
• Phone consultation with Pediatric Nephrologist