Effects of initiating chronic renal replacement therapy in children, now and later in life: Data from the LERIC cohort and ERA-EDTA Registry

This thesis describes the most important results of LERIC (Late Effects of Renal Insufficiency in Children), a very a long-term follow-up study to the late somatic and psychosocial consequences of renal insufficiency in children. LERIC is a comprehensive study to evaluate the late effects of renal insufficiency in all Dutch children who had started chronic renal replacement therapy (RRT) between 1972 and 1992 at an age less than 15 years and who were born before 1979. We established the actual health status of patients, especially focusing on cardiovascular abnormalities, infections, malignancies and quality of life. Since the literature over the last decades has indicated that infections and malignancies form potentially lethal comorbidity in end-stage renal disease (ESRD), we broadened our study by using data from the European Renal Association - European Dialysis and Transplantation Association (ERA-EDTA) Registry