Growth references are useful in monitoring a child's growth, which is an essential part of child care. The aim of this paper was to provide updated growth references for Polish school-aged children and adolescents and show the prevalence of overweight and obesity among them. Growth references for height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were constructed with the lambda, mu, sigma (LMS) method using data from a recent, large, population-representative sample of school-aged children and adolescents in Poland (n = 17,573). The prevalence of overweight and obesity according to the International Obesity Taskforce definition was determined with the use of LMSGrowth software. Updated growth references for Polish school-aged children and adolescents were compared with Polish growth references from the 1980s, the Warsaw 1996–1999 reference, German, and 2000 CDC references. A positive secular trend in height was observed in children and adolescents from 7 to 15 years of age. A significant shift of the upper tail of the BMI distribution occurred, especially in Polish boys at younger ages. The prevalence of overweight or obesity was 18.7% and 14.1% in school-aged boys and girls, respectively. The presented height, weight, and BMI references are based on a current, nationally representative sample of Polish children and adolescents without known disorders affecting growth. Changes in the body size of children and adolescents over the last three decades suggest an influence of the changing economical situation on anthropometric indices.

We investigated the value of genetic, histopathologic, and early treatment response information in prognosing long-term renal outcome in children with primary steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. From the PodoNet Registry, we obtained longitudinal clinical information for 1354 patients (disease onset at >3 months and <20 years of age): 612 had documented responsiveness to intensified immunosuppression (IIS), 1155 had kidney biopsy results, and 212 had an established genetic diagnosis. We assessed risk factors for ESRD using multivariate Cox regression models. Complete and partial remission of proteinuria within 12 months of disease onset occurred in 24.5% and 16.5% of children, respectively, with the highest remission rates achieved with calcineurin inhibitor–based protocols. Ten-year ESRD-free survival rates were 43%, 94%, and 72% in children with IIS resistance, complete remission, and partial remission, respectively; 27% in children with a genetic diagnosis; and 79% and 52% in children with histopathologic findings of minimal change glomerulopathy and FSGS, respectively. Five-year ESRD-free survival rate was 21% for diffuse mesangial sclerosis. IIS responsiveness, presence of a genetic diagnosis, and FSGS or diffuse mesangial sclerosis on initial biopsy as well as age, serum albumin concentration, and CKD stage at onset affected ESRD risk. Our findings suggest that responsiveness to initial IIS and detection of a hereditary podocytopathy are prognostic indicators of favorable and poor long-term outcome, respectively, in children with steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome. Children with multidrug-resistant sporadic disease show better renal survival than those with genetic disease. Furthermore, histopathologic findings may retain prognostic relevance when a genetic diagnosis is established.

Congenital anomalies of the kidney and urinary tract (CAKUT) are a major cause of pediatric kidney failure. We performed a genome-wide analysis of copy number variants (CNVs) in 2,824 cases and 21,498 controls. Affected individuals carried a significant burden of rare exonic (that is, affecting coding regions) CNVs and were enriched for known genomic disorders (GD). Kidney anomaly (KA) cases were most enriched for exonic CNVs, encompassing GD-CNVs and novel deletions; obstructive uropathy (OU) had a lower CNV burden and an intermediate prevalence of GD-CNVs; and vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) had the fewest GD-CNVs but was enriched for novel exonic CNVs, particularly duplications. Six loci (1q21, 4p16.1-p16.3, 16p11.2, 16p13.11, 17q12 and 22q11.2) accounted for 65% of patients with GD-CNVs. Deletions at 17q12, 4p16.1-p16.3 and 22q11.2 were specific for KA; the 16p11.2 locus showed extensive pleiotropy. Using a multidisciplinary approach, we identified TBX6 as a driver for the CAKUT subphenotypes in the 16p11.2 microdeletion syndrome.

The DiGeorge syndrome, the most common of the microdeletion syndromes, affects multiple organs, including the heart, the nervous system, and the kidney. It is caused by deletions on chromosome 22q11.2; the genetic driver of the kidney defects is unknown. We conducted a genomewide search for structural variants in two cohorts: 2080 patients with congenital kidney and urinary tract anomalies and 22,094 controls. We performed exome and targeted resequencing in samples obtained from 586 additional patients with congenital kidney anomalies. We also carried out functional studies using zebrafish and mice. We identified heterozygous deletions of 22q11.2 in 1.1% of the patients with congenital kidney anomalies and in 0.01% of population controls (odds ratio, 81.5; P=4.5×10⁻¹⁴). We localized the main drivers of renal disease in the DiGeorge syndrome to a 370-kb region containing nine genes. In zebrafish embryos, an induced loss of function in snap29, aifm3, and crkl resulted in renal defects; the loss of crkl alone was sufficient to induce defects. Five of 586 patients with congenital urinary anomalies had newly identified, heterozygous protein-altering variants, including a premature termination codon, in CRKL. The inactivation of Crkl in the mouse model induced developmental defects similar to those observed in patients with congenital urinary anomalies. We identified a recurrent 370-kb deletion at the 22q11.2 locus as a driver of kidney defects in the DiGeorge syndrome and in sporadic congenital kidney and urinary tract anomalies. Of the nine genes at this locus, SNAP29, AIFM3, and CRKL appear to be critical to the phenotype, with haploinsufficiency of CRKL emerging as the main genetic driver. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others.)

Background: The growth of children is an indicator of health and society's wellbeing. Growth references are useful in monitoring a child's growth, which is a very important part of child care. Poland's growth references are not updated regularly. Although several growth reference ranges have been developed in Poland over recent years, sampling was restricted to urban populations of major cities. The aim of this study was to assess how well Polish children match with, or diverge from, regional charts and to compare them with international growth references. Methods: Four Polish and two international (WHO 2007 and USCDC2000) growth references were used to calculate the height, weight and BMI z-scores in a recent, large, population-representative sample of school-aged children and adolescents in Poland. The distributions of z-scores were analysed with descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Results: Mean height z-scores calculated with the use of the WHO 2007 and USCDC2000 references were positive and significantly different from zero over the entire age range. The mean height z-score was closest to zero in the Poznan reference for boys (0.05) and Warszawa reference for girls (0.01). Median weight z-scores were positive under all weight references over the entire age range with only the exception of 18-year-old girls' weight z-score calculated relative to USCDC2000. Median BMI z-scores were positive in males in early childhood, decreasing with age. In the case of girls, the median BMI z-score calculated using WHO 2007 and USCDC2000 was close to zero in early childhood, decreased in adolescents and reached minimum values at age 18 years. Median BMI z-scores calculated with the use of the Lodz reference fluctuated between 0.05 and 0.2 over the studied age range. Conclusions: In this contemporary sample of Polish school-aged children, distributions of height, weight and BMI differed from those of children from the international growth references. These differences should be considered when using the references. There exist certain limitations to the analysis of height, weight, and BMI z-scores when Polish regional references are used.