ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Nephrology
Etiology and Longitudinal Kidney Outcomes in Children with Nephrocalcinosis: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Provisionally accepted
Mihriban İnözü1,2*
Sibel Çetince Şenses2
Özlem Yüksel Aksoy2
Burcu Yazıcıoğlu3
Sare Gülfem ÖZLÜ1,2Fatma Semsa Çaycı2Umut Selda Bayrakçı1,2- 1Ankara Yildirim Beyazit Universitesi, Ankara, Türkiye
- 2Ankara Sehir Hastanesi Cocuk Nefroloji Klinigi, Çankaya, Türkiye
- 3Gazi Universitesi Tip Fakultesi, Ankara, Türkiye
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Background: Nephrocalcinosis refers to the deposition of calcium salts within the kidney parenchyma and is a condition encountered in various metabolic, genetic, and systemic disorders in childhood. Nephrocalcinosis is increasingly recognized in children; however, data on long-term kidney outcomes and prognostic factors remain limited. Methods: This study was designed as a retrospective cohort study. We evaluated the clinical characteristics, etiological spectrum, and longitudinal kidney outcomes of children with nephrocalcinosis. Changes in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) over follow-up were assessed, and factors associated with kidney function decline were analyzed using multivariable regression. Results: Among 73 children with nephrocalcinosis, 43 were included in longitudinal analyses with a median follow-up of 52 months. Median eGFR declined significantly over time (p=0.006). Kidney outcomes varied according to underlying etiology, with lower final eGFR observed in children with hereditary or genetic causes. In multivariable analysis, systemic/syndromic etiology, history of urinary tract infection, and older age at diagnosis were independently associated with greater eGFR decline, whereas traditional metabolic risk factors were not independently associated with longitudinal changes in kidney function. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that pediatric nephrocalcinosis may be associated with a decline in kidney function over long-term follow-up and that kidney outcomes are influenced by underlying etiological and clinical factors. Given the paucity of studies addressing the long-term prognosis of nephrocalcinosis, these results highlight the need for early diagnosis, careful etiological evaluation, individualized risk stratification, and close follow-up, particularly in high-risk subgroups. Furthermore, our study underscores the need for prospective studies to better characterize prognostic factors and optimize long-term care in children with nephrocalcinosis.
Keywords: Children, etiology, Kidney function, Long-term outcome, Nephrocalcinosis
Received: 02 Jan 2026; Accepted: 16 Feb 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 İnözü, Şenses, Aksoy, Yazıcıoğlu, ÖZLÜ, Çaycı and Bayrakçı. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Mihriban İnözü
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