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Pediatric Nephrology

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Akron Children’s specialists in the Division of Nephrology provide the entire range of diagnostic and treatment services for infants, children and teens with congenital or acquired kidney or urinary tract disease.

Our team includes board-certified pediatric nephrologists, nurses, dietitians, social workers and psychologists who are dedicated to caring for children with kidney diseases. This includes the evaluation and treatment of growth, nutrition and developmental problems related to chronic kidney disease. We also work closely with pediatric specialists in urology, surgery and cardiology.

We offer a comprehensive program for children with chronic, end-stage kidney failure, including a 4-station dialysis unit for children from birth to 21 years of age who are on acute or chronic hemodialysis or home peritoneal dialysis. Dialysis is a medical treatment that takes over the job of filtering the blood until your child’s kidney function is replaced with a donated kidney through a kidney transplant. We provide all the care before and after the transplant. 

We also offer specialty clinics to provide comprehensive treatment and coordinated care to children and teens with certain medical conditions that affect the kidneys. This includes a Hypertension Clinic for diagnosing and managing high blood pressure in children and teens, and a Kidney Stone Clinic to treat and prevent stones in the kidney, ureter or bladder. For children and teens who have vasculitis, we offer a combined Vasculitis Clinic with our pediatric rheumatologists.

Locations

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Nephrology
Akron Children's Hospital Pediatric Nephrology, Akron
Main Hospital Building
214 West Bowery Street
7th floor - Orange Elevator
Akron, Ohio 44308
Fax: 330-543-3980
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Nephrology, Amherst
Akron Children's Hospital Pediatric Nephrology, Amherst
Akron Children's Health Center, Amherst
47185 Cooper Foster Park Road
Amherst, Ohio 44001
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Nephrology, Boardman
Akron Children's Hospital Pediatric Nephrology, Boardman
6505 Market St., Building A
Boardman, Ohio 44512
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Nephrology, Mansfield
Akron Children's Hospital Pediatric Nephrology, Mansfield
Akron Children's Health Center, Mansfield
1029 S. Trimble Road
Mansfield, Ohio 44906
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Nephrology, Marietta
Akron Children's Hospital Pediatric Nephrology, Marietta
Marietta Memorial Health System
Wayne Street Medical Campus
320 E. 8th St., Suite 140
Marietta, Ohio 45750
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Our Doctors/Providers

Department Heads:
Stephen Cha
Stephen Cha, MD

Director, Pediatric Hypertension Clinic; Interim Director, Division of Nephrology; Pediatric Nephrologist

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Physicians/Providers:

Kirsten Kusumi, MD

Pediatric Nephrologist

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Shefali Mahesh, MD

Medical Staff President; Dr. Noah Miller Endowed Chair in Pediatric Medicine; Pediatric Nephrologist

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Deepti Narla, MD

Pediatric Nephrologist

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Rupesh Raina, MD, FACP, FAAP

Pediatric Nephrologist

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Mallory Zehe, PsyD

Pediatric Psychologist

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Open Clinical Studies

Medical device study for patients with a rare kidney disease (Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis)

This study is evaluating a new treatment for children with a rare kidney disease resulting from scar tissue in the kidney’s filtering system (the glomerulus). This part of the kidneys helps get rid of harmful waste materials in blood. If this filtering system doesn’t work properly, it may lead to kidney disease or even failure. The therapy we’re testing, the Liposorber LA-15 System, is a blood processing device that removes certain lipoproteins (known as “bad” cholesterol) from the patient’s blood. The device was first used in the U.S. to treat people whose very high cholesterol put them at significant risk for heart disease. We expect it will likely benefit children with this kidney filtering defect.

Complete study details and description

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Currently recruiting


Some of the Conditions We Treat...

hypertension, high blood pressure, kidney disease, kidney stones, renal failure, fluid and electrolyte disorder, Glomerulonephritis, Henoch-Schonlein Purpura, Acute Renal Failure, Chronic Kidney Disease, Disorders of Mineral Metabolism, Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, Kidney Stones, Kidney Tumors, Liver Tumors, Lupus, Nephrotic Syndrome, Posterior Urethral Valves, Proteinuria, Urinary Tract Infection, Bartter syndrome



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