This involves exchanging the patient s blood plasma with new plasma. It is not clear why this process helps, but it may remove an abnormal protein which causes HUS in hereditary cases. HUS causes damage to the glomeruli, the tiny filtering units of the kidney. These units become clogged with damaged blood cells and other injured cells, leading to a decrease in the removal of waste products from the blood. This damage can lead to kidney failure, but not all children with HUS experience kidney failure.
Treatment depends on the severity of the failure.
The child may only require some changes in his or her diet and the amount of fluid permitted. However, in more severe cases, waste products have to be removed from the body by a technique called dialysis. Most children who have kidney failure due to HUS receive peritoneal dialysis. For more information on this process, see National Kidney Foundation brochures Dialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis. A small number of children with HUS develop chronic kidney failure, which requires continued dialysis and eventually a kidney transplant.