Anemia, an important marker of ill health, is persistently worse in African-American children with end-stage kidney disease than in their white counterparts, according to results of a study by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. (The findings were reported at the 2006 annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrology Nov. 14-19 in San Diego, CA.)
 
In an analysis of 677 patient records from a national registry, the Hopkins team found 71 percent of the white males, but only 59 percent of black males, had healthy levels of hemoglobin, the iron-rich oxygen transporters in red blood cells. Seventy-four percent of white girls had healthy levels, compared to 51 percent of black girls.

“Racial disparities are well-established among adult patients with kidney disease, but our findings show the same worrisome picture for children,” says Meredith Atkinson, M.D., a third-year nephrology fellow at the Children’s Center. “The next step is to figure out what combination of factors, such as differences in biology or access to health care, are responsible for the disparities.”

Patients with uncontrolled anemia, a well-known complication of kidney disease, generally have worse outcomes and worse quality of life than patients whose anemia is under control.