Congenital disorders of the kidneys and urinary tract occur in 1 in 200 children. Yet in practice it is difficult to provide accurate support to children and their parents: for example, the cause of these congenital disorders remains unknown for the majority of children and predicting the consequences for the later health of these children proves to be unreliable.
Within the Amsterdam Pediatric Abdominal Center, the ArtDECO study is conducted for all children with congenital disorders of the kidneys and urinary tract. With the support of the Dutch Kidney Foundation (Nierstichting), five university children's hospitals (Amsterdam UMC, LUMC, Erasmus MC, UMC Utrecht, Radboudumc) in the Netherlands contain a joint data and biobank with DNA, questionnaires and clinical information from more than 3,000 children with congenital disorders of the kidneys and urinary tract and their parents, which is an extension of the AGORA biobank that was founded in 2004. This data can be used to find new causes and better understand the consequences of congenital kidney and urinary tract diseases. Ultimately, this will help in our goal to make care for children with these conditions more precise and targeted.
Research team Amsterdam UMC
- Dr. Rik Westland, pediatric nephrologist, project leader
- Dr. Ans van Wijk, pediatric nephrologist
- Prof. dr. Jaap Groothoff, pediatric nephrologist, principal investigator
- Prof. dr. Elena Levtchenko, pediatric nephrologist
- Mrs. Lisanne Vendrig, MSc, PhD student
- Mrs. Elske Mak-Nienhuis, Research nurse
- Dr. Rood Marsman, adult nephrologist
- Drs. Luitzen Groen, pediatric urologist
- Dr. Michael Tanck, Epidemiological geneticist