The haemolytic uraemic syndrome in childhood: a study of the long-term prognosis.

From January 1970 to June 1976, 45 children with the haemolytic uraemic syndrome were admitted to our department. They all received heparin in addition to supportive therapy. For the last ten patients heparin was given with dipyridamole (Persantin). Three children died in the acute stage of the illness giving an acute fatality rate of 6.6%. A fourth patients immediately needed chronic haemodialysis. In the other 41 patients, kidney function only partially recovered in two; they subsequently developed terminal renal insufficiency after 18 months and four years, respectively. The remaining 39 children have been regularly followed for three to eight years. None has been lost to follow-up. With only one exception, they all have shown a favourable evolution with negative urinalysis, normal blood pressure, and an endogenous creatinine clearance within the normal range for age.