The application of hemodialysis for the treatment of renal failure in the older child is fairly extensive 1-6 and has been recently reviewed by Clapp et al.7 The literature contains reports of infants aged 4 months, 11½ months,9 and 7 months10 who have been treated successfully by hemodialysis. To date only peritoneal dialysis to remove bilirubin 8 has been reported in infants under three months of age. The development of a control system for the oxygenation of infants by extracorporeal perfusion 11 has been modified for the hemodialysis of such small infants. This report briefly describes the successful hemodialysis of a six-week-old infant with congenital nephrosis together with data from preparatory animal experiments.
Report of Case
A six-week-old female infant was admitted with a three-week history of swelling around the eyes and pitting edema in the legs.After a third-trimester toxemia the infant, weighing 3,100 gm (6⅞