KIDNEY DISEASES 109 Special Report Iranian Journal of Kidney Diseases | Volume 11 | Number 2 | March 2017 Kidney Disease Profile of Syrian Refugee Children Mehtap Akbalık Kara, 1 Beltinge Demircioğlu Kılıç, 1 Nilgün Çöl, 2 Ayşe Aysima Özçelik, 3 Mithat Büyükçelik, 1 Ayşe Balat 1 Introduction. Although preventative nephrology is the effective management of childhood kidney diseases, it is hard to provide it in this undesirable conditions. In this study, we aimed to document the kidney disease profile of Syrian refugee children admitted to our hospital. Materials and Methods. One hundred and thirty Syrian refugee children were admitted to the Pediatric Nephrology Department of the University of Gaziantep from September 2012 to January 2015. Demographic data, history, symptoms, physical examination findings, laboratory investigations, diagnosis, disease outcome, and therapeutic procedures such as peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis were obtained from patient files. Results. Of the 130 admitted children, 74 were girls (59.6%). The average age was 6.97 ± 4.2 years (range, 1 month to 17 years). Congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract were found in 34 children (26.2%). Other morbidities were chronic kidney disease in 30 (23.1%), nephrotic syndrome in 24 (18.5%), urolithiasis in 9 (6.9%), acute kidney injury in 4 (3.1%), glomerulonephritis in 5 (3.8%), enuresis in 12 (9.2%), and others in 12 (9.2%). Conclusions. Congenital abnormalities of the kidney and urinary tract and chronic kidney disease were highly prevalent in Syrian refugee children. Although free health care have been provided to all of these children, the continuation of political crisis and instability would increase the number of admissions and affect the quality of life of those children in a different environment from the home country. IJKD 2017;11:109-14 www.ijkd.org 1 Department of Pediatric Nephrology, School of Medicine, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey 2 Department of Social Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey 3 Department of Pediatric Neurology, School of Medicine, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey Keywords. children, kidney disease, Syrian refugees INTRODUCTION Almost 4 years have passed since the political crisis and instability began in Syria. It has cost thousands of lives, while injured and displaced many of them. According to the Disaster Emergency and Management Agency of the Goverment of Turkey, roughly 500 000 Syrians live in and outside the camps and in provinces in Turkey. 1 Basic needs such as shelter, food, and health care, and also education, social activities, and employment opportunities are provided by the Turkish government. Doctors are now trying to provide health care services to this large population having no previous medical records, socially and psychologically affected, with language barrier. Thus, an audit of kidney diseases in refugee children may provide data for taking attention to affected children both in our environment and other places. Although preventative nephrology is the effective management of childhood kidney diseases, it is really hard to provide it in this undesirable