Texas Children's Hospital's Nephrology Department Gains International Recognition at the 32nd Annual Conference on Dialysis

HOUSTON, Feb. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Physicians, researchers and a nurse from the Renal Center at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston received prominent acclaim during the 32nd Annual Conference on Dialysis (ADC) held Feb. 26 through 28, in San Antonio, Texas.

The conference, sponsored by the University of Missouri-Columbia, convened an international group of thousands of practitioners and researchers to discuss current developments in the field of renal replacement therapies.  It addressed developments in the field of dialysis including established strategies and trends in the management of the services required by pediatric and adult dialysis patients.

The Renal Center at Texas Children's Hospital ranked #5 in kidney disorders by U.S.News & World Report received numerous accolades at this conference. Two researchers from Texas Children's Hospital received "Best Pediatric Abstracts" honors, a nephrology fellow was selected as one of three to present a challenging case for "Stump the Consultants" during the conference and a highly experienced Texas Children's Hospital nephrology nurse was awarded the "Lifetime Achievement Award in Nephrology Nursing."

"I want to congratulate these individuals on their awards and achievements garnered at the conference," said Dr. Michael Braun, chief of nephrology at Texas Children's Hospital and professor in the department of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine. "These honors underscore the talent and dedication in the Renal Center at Texas Children's and I am honored to be working with such an impressive and dedicated team."

The "Lifetime Achievement Award in Nephrology Nursing" was awarded to Helen Currier, BSN, RN, CNN, CNEP, director of Renal and Pheresis Services at Texas Children's Hospital. The award recognizes nurses who have made significant contributions to the advancement of nephrology nursing through clinical care, education and research. Currier's nursing career spans more than 35 years at Texas Children's Hospital.   To read more about this award please see: http://www.texaschildrens.org/AllAbout/News/2012/nephrology_nurse_honored.aspx

"Best" Pediatric Abstracts from the Texas Children's Hospital/BCM team included a paper from Poyyapakkam Srivaths, M.D, entitled, "Cardiac Calcifications are more Prevalent in hemodialysis(HD) when Compared to peritoneal dialysis (PD) Pediatric End-stage Renal Disease Patients."  This paper looked at prevalence and risk factors associated with cardiac calcifications in pediatric chronic dialysis patients and showed lower prevalence of cardiac calcifications in PD patients.  To date, there have been no other pediatric studies done that have examined modality difference in cardiac calcification prevalence.  A second "Best" pediatric abstract from Shari Neul, Ph.D, entitled, "Change in Health-related Quality of Life Functioning over a 2-year period in the Pediatric Patient with End-stage Renal Disease," analyzed quality of life metrics in patients and family members in order to foster unit-wide programs designed to improve and sustain patient and family treatment planning and outcomes. 

Miguel Prada, M.D. was selected as one of three fellows in training to present a case during the conference session "Stump the Consultants."   Dr. Prada's submission, entitled, "Unilateral blurred vision with ocular thrombotic microangiopathic changes, as a symptom of relapsed atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome in ESRD patient on  6-days weekly home hemodialysis," generated discussion among the faculty members in the audience as they conferred and debated about the differential diagnosis, treatment plan and outcome of the case.

The Renal Center provides diagnosis, treatment and follow-up care of infants, children and adolescents with renal conditions, such as urinary tract infections, congenital renal disorders, hereditary renal disease, nephritis, renal tubular diseases, nephrotic syndrome and cystic diseases, as well as for patients with proteinuria and hematuria.

For more information, please visit: http://www.texaschildrens.org/carecenters/Renal/Default.aspx

About Texas Children's Hospital
Texas Children's Hospital, a not-for-profit organization, is committed to creating a community of healthy children through excellence in patient care, education and research. Consistently ranked among the top children's hospitals in the nation, Texas Children's has recognized Centers of Excellence in multiple pediatric subspecialties including the Cancer and Heart Centers, and operates the largest primary pediatric care network in the country. Texas Children's is completing a $1.5 billion expansion, which includes the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute; Texas Children's Pavilion for Women, a comprehensive obstetrics/gynecology facility focusing on high-risk births; and Texas Children's Hospital West Campus, a community hospital in suburban West Houston.  For more information on Texas Children's, go to www.texaschildrens.org. Get the latest news from Texas Children's by visiting the online newsroom and on Twitter at twitter.com/texaschildrens.

Contact: Christy Brunton
832-824-2645
[email protected]

SOURCE Texas Children's Hospital