Psychiatry Research EG

Background End-stage renal disease is a complicated disorder associated with specific problems occurring in children, such as impaired growth and psychosocial adjustment, in addition to cognitive affection. The lifespan and outcome of end-stage renal disease children have improved markedly since the development of dialysis techniques and kidney transplantation. The aim of our study was to compare cognitive functions in children on regular hemodialysis (HD) with children after successful renal transplantation (RTx). Patients and methods This study was carried out at the center of Paediatric Nephrology and Transplantation, Cairo University, where 20 children on regular HD, 20 children after successful RTx, and 20 children as healthy controls were assessed. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children was used for the assessment of cognitive functions. Results Children on regular HD and those after successful RTx were found to have a significant impairment in cognitive functions in all subtests including the full-scale intelligent quotient, verbal intelligent quotient, and performance intelligent quotient among HD and post-RTx patients compared with the healthy controls. Also, impaired cognitive functions were significantly lower in the children on dialysis compared with the post- RTx group. Conclusion Children on regular HD and after successful RTx have more impaired cognitive functions than healthy controls. Keywords: children, cognitive functions, hemodialysis, renal transplantation 3