Featured Programs
Pediatric Nephrology
May 17, 2007

Faculty:           Dilys Whyte, M.D. – Division Chief

                      Ivy Boydstun, M.D.

                      Claire Cascio, RN – Dialysis Coordinator

Contact Numbers

Appointments:                (631) 444- KIDS (5437)

Clinic Schedule:              Monday 8am – 12noon, Tuesday 1pm – 5pm

Pediatric Nephrology, in general is the “oldest” of the pediatric subspecialties, and at Stony Brook University Medical Center, it has been a recognized pediatric subspecialty with sub-board certification for over 20 years.   Pediatric Nephrology has been an active component of the Department of Pediatrics at Stony Brook almost since the inception of the department, and we are proud to offer a wide range of associated patient care services including:   clinical nephrology consultation, management of chronic kidney disease and hypertension, kidney biopsies, dialysis, and the only renal transplantation service for pediatrics in Suffolk County, Long Island.

The members of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology include:   Dr. Dilys Whyte, who trained at Yale – New Haven Children’s Hospital in Pediatric Nephrology and has been at Stony Brook University Medical Center for 8 years;   Dr. Ivy Boydstun, who trained at Yale – New Haven Children’s Hospital in Pediatric Nephrology, who was an attending at Baylor Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas, prior to coming to Stony Brook University Medical Center in 2001.   Dr. Richard Fine, the Dean of the Medical School, is also a Pediatric Nephrologist, who was, and still is, very active in developing clinical care guidelines in pediatric renal transplantation.   Additionally, the division has an accredited fellowship in Pediatric Nephrology and generally has 1 -2 pediatric nephrology fellows training at Stony brook.

Our Pediatric Nephrology Division saw over 1600 outpatient visits in the academic year of 2005-2006, and that number is growing for the 2006-2007 year.   We are consulted on a wide variety of renal diseased including:   hematuria, protenuria, hydronephrosis (both pre and post natal), nephritic and nephritic syndromes, lupus nephritis, renal cystic diseases, urinary tract infections, and congenital abnormalities, to name a few of the more common diseases.   Drs. Whyte and Boydstun perform about 5-8 renal biopsies per month on children in order to confirm a clinical diagnosis or monitor the pace of documented disease.   Theses biopsies are performed under ultrasound or CT – guidance as dictated by the clinical presentation.   We have biopsied children as young as 2 months to as old as 18 years of age.   For the safety and comfort of our patients, essentially all of our kidney biopsies are now performed under deep sedation administered by faculty of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit as “same day” ambulatory procedures.

The Pediatric Nephrology service provides the only pediatric dialysis service in Suffolk County and the only one east of the Nassau/Queens border.   Our Pediatric Patients are dialyzed via one of three methods.   If they are in the hospital, we offer continuous veno-venous hemofiltration/hemodialysis in collaboration with the intensive care physicians.   Acute peritoneal and hemodialysis is also offered for the hospitalized patient.   On an outpatient basis, our children undergo either peritoneal dialysis (most common) or hemodialysis at DCI, the outpatient dialysis unit located in Technology Park, on Research Way.   All pediatric dialysis patients are closely monitored by one of the faculty of the division on an on – going basis.

Our renal transplant service is an outstanding team that includes Stony Brook transplant physicians Dr. Wayne Waltzer and Dr. Frank Darras, who perform both adult and pediatric renal transplantation.   At Stony Brook University Medical Center, several forms of renal transplantation are routinely performed, including: living related, living unrelated and deceased donor transplants.   The living adult donors undergo a thorough medical work up prior to kidney donation under the care of our adult nephrologists, Drs. Heesuk Suh and Edward Nord.   Last year, the transplantation team performed 7 pediatric renal transplantations, which is average for a program the size of ours.   The youngest patient to undergo transplantation last year was a boy 15 months of age and is currently under our continued care.   The use of new immunosuppressive medications allows us the option of both steroid and steroid-free graft-protection protocols for our young patients.   The transplantation team works closely with us and, immediately after the transplantation is done, both services coordinate the care of the patient until the surgical follow-up is no longer required.   At that time, the majority of care is then assumed by the Pediatric Nephrology Service.

Our division is also involved in multicenter clinical trials.   Currently we are a part of the Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) Clinical Trial, which is a two arm study that looks at two treatment options for children and young adults diagnosed with biopsy-proven FSGS.   Dr. Fine is one of the five NIH appointed steering committee chairpersons.   We are also involved in the North American Pediatrics Renal Trials Cooperative Studies (NAPRTCS), which collects information on children with chronic kidney disease, on dialysis, and those undergoing renal transplant.   The division actively seeks participation in other cooperative clinical trials as a means of improving the care of children with acute and chronic kidney disease both locally and nationally.   The pediatric nephrology community is small, but as a group we are formidable.   All of our physicians attend national meetings to keep our clinical knowledge current and up-to-date.   Our division has plans to get involved in more clinical renal research and as these plans become a reality, we will be looking for your support in patient recruitment.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns that we can help you with.   We look forward to seeing your patients!