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A Pioneer in Pediatric Kidney Transplant
An early pioneer in pediatric kidney transplantation, St. Louis Children's Hospital performed its first kidney transplant in 1964. The major program took hold in 1970. Over the last three decades, research and surgical innovations developed at Washington University School of Medicine have dramatically improved the outlook for pediatric renal patients. With improved immunosuppressive medications, better medical management and the use of adult kidneys for children and infants, transplantation has become the treatment of choice for children whose kidneys no longer function due to end-stage renal disease.
St. Louis Children's Hospital nephrologists and surgeons stress early intervention to minimize the complications of renal disease. This philosophy has made the hospital one of the few in the country with the expertise to perform transplants on children under one year of age. St. Louis Children's Hospital transplants kidneys from living-related and cadaver donors. Patient survival rate over the last three years has been 94.4 percent.