Tokyo Women's Medical University

School of Medicine

Department of Pediatric Nephrology

Overview

The Department of Pediatric Nephrology was established in January 1978, when Professor Emeritus Katsumi Ito took up a position at the Artificial Kidney Center of Tokyo Women's Medical University (the predecessor of the Comprehensive Kidney Disease Center) and started treating pediatric kidney diseases. In April 1979, the Comprehensive Kidney Disease Medical Center was established as the third organ center of Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital, and at the same time, the Department of Pediatric Nephrology was started as an independent department. In May 1983, Dr. Katsumi Ito was appointed as the first professor of the Department of Pediatric Nephrology and retired in March 2004 after making great achievements in the treatment of pediatric kidney diseases. In April of the same year, Dr. Motoshi Hattori was appointed as Director of the Department of Pediatric Nephrology, and in November 2005, he became the second professor of the department. Currently, there are 1 professor, 1 associate professor, 7 part-time lecturers, 1 dispatched lecturer (seconded to Chiba Children's Hospital), 3 assistant professors, 4 late-stage residents, and 1 postdoctoral fellow.
The features of our department is; ① it is the only department in a university hospital in Japan that specializes in Pediatric Nephrology as an independent department. ② In addition, we have established a system to provide the best possible treatment for all pediatric renal diseases through close communication and collaboration with the various departments which consist of the Children's General Medical Center within the hospital (clinical engineering, pathology laboratory, clinical laboratory, nursing department, medical safety promotion department, etc.), and by mobilizing all of the resources of Tokyo Women's Medical University Hospital. ③ More than 60 physicians from university hospitals and core hospitals across the country have trained in our department in the form of study abroad programs in Japan, thus, establishing a nationwide network of medical collaboration that enables consultation on difficult-to-treat cases and smooth patient referrals.

Education Details

1) Student Education
As a component department of the Comprehensive Kidney Disease Center and the Pediatric Comprehensive Medical Center, our department is involved in the education of medical students, nursing students, and graduate students. In the elective training in the latter half of clinical practice, we aim to have students practice as student doctors under the clinical practice based on medical problem-solving.
2) Post-graduate education
We oversee pediatric training for initial clinical interns. In the latter stage of clinical training, under the pediatric specialist training program, we practice and conduct research and education in primary care, community medicine, emergency medicine, and advanced medicine in specialized fields as a pediatric comprehensive medical center. In addition, we accept a wide range of young physicians who aim to become Pediatric Nephrology specialists as trainees and provide specialist education based on a wide variety of case studies.

Research Details

Our department conducts a wide range of clinical and basic research on pediatric kidney disease in collaboration with other institutions.

1) Clinical Research
The treatment of pediatric nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and pediatric renal failure are the main areas of clinical research. Our main publications are as follows. Plasma exchange therapy for severe purpura nephritis in children (AJKD, 1999), national epidemiological survey and renal transplantation results of pediatric ANCA-related nephritis (JASN, 2001, Pediatr Transplant, 2020), LDL adsorption therapy for refractory pediatric nephrotic syndrome (AJKD, 2003), post renal transplantation plasma exchange therapy for FSGS (Am J Transplant, 2008), rituximab plus plasma exchange therapy to prevent recurrence of FSGS after renal transplantation (Pediatr Transplant, 2012), combined liver-kidney transplantation for primary hyperoxaluria (JJN, 2006), pre-emptive kidney transplantation in autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) (J Jpn Pediatr Soc., 2007), EB virus monitoring after kidney transplantation (Pediatr Transplant, 2011), Investigation of when to start renal replacement therapy in pediatric patients with end-stage renal failure (JSPN, 2012), Darbepoetin alfa for pediatric patients on peritoneal dialysis : a multicenter prospective study (CEN, 2013), Combined Liver-kidney Transplantation for ARPKD (J Jpn Pediatr Soc., 2017, Pediatr Transplant, 2020), pediatric ABO blood group incompatible renal transplantation in Japan (Transplantation, 2018), Characteristics of CMV infection after pediatric renal transplantation and its effect on transplant renal function (J Jpn Pediatr Soc., 2019) , Identification of a Novel Causal Gene for Congenital Anomalies of the Kidney and Urinary Tract (JASN, 2020), Membranous Nephropathy Lesions in Hypoplastic Kidneys (CEN, 2020), Degree of foot process effacement in patients with genetic FSGS (Sci Rep, 2021), Morphologic Analysis of Urinary Podocytes in FSGS ( Kidney360, 2021), Predictors of Response to Therapy in FSGS after Renal Transplantation (Pediatr Nephrol, 2021), malignancies after pediatric renal transplantation (Transplant Direct, 2021), valganciclovir prophylaxis for CMV infection after renal transplantation in children (CEN, 2021), and renal replacement therapy for Joubert syndrome (Sci Rep, 2021). Furthermore, we are also working to establish a system to understand the actual status of pediatric renal failure patients in Japan and to promote epidemiological survey research (CEN, 2015).

2) Basic Research
Research themes are directly related to clinical practice and major research themes include the elucidation of the etiology and pathogenesis of FSGS recurrence after renal transplantation and the development of innovative therapies (Department of Pediatrics, University of Tokyo), causative gene analysis of pediatric nephrotic syndrome (Internal Medicine, Kansai Medical University, Pediatrics, Yamagata University, etc.), ARPKD-iPS cell Research (iPS Cell Research Institute, Kyoto University), etc.

Faculty

Motoshi Hattori
Kenichiro Miura

Related links

Research Achievements Database

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