[Pediatric renal transplantation in France. Introduction]

Pediatric nephrology is a relatively recent medical speciality. The first French center opened in January 1969 at the Hospital des Enfants-Malades. In 2008, according to the Réseau Épidémiologie et Information en Néphrologie (REIN), the annual incidence of end stage renal disease (ESRD) was of 7,8 children/million children below the age of 20, which equals a prevalence of 49 pediatric ESRD patients/million inhabitants. The frequency of causative factors of ESRD varies according to the geographic and ethnic origin of the patients. Many challenges still lay ahead of ESRD management. The children's physical, psychological and social development has to be well taken care of until adulthood and the transition from pediatric to adult unit has to be handled with special care. The set up of pediatric nephrology departments helped to the access of patients to renal replacement therapy, in particular the pediatric priority for kidney donors below 30 years of age. In the 2000s period, the annual rate of pediatric renal transplantation was 70 to 75 grafts per year in France, half of which performed in the Paris area. This article presents the historical background of pediatric nephrology and pediatric renal transplantation in France.