Published 18 December 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2991
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2991

Research

Renal screening in children after exposure to low dose melamine in Hong Kong: cross sectional study

Hugh S Lam, assistant professor1, Pak C Ng, chairman and professor of paediatrics1, Winnie C W Chu, professor2, William Wong, consultant1, Dorothy F Y Chan, specialist1, Stella S Ho, senior radiographer2, Ka T Wong, consultant2, Anil T Ahuja, chief of service2, Chi K Li, chief of service1

1 Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2 Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Organ Imaging, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Correspondence to: H S Lam, 6/F Clinical Sciences Building, Department of Paediatrics, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong hshslam{at}cuhk.edu.hk

Objective To investigate the renal outcomes of children after exposure to low dose melamine in Hong Kong.

Design Cross sectional study.

Setting Special assessment centres, Hong Kong.

Participants 3170 children (1422 girls and 1748 boys) aged 12 years or less referred from territory-wide primary care clinics after daily consumption for one month or more of milk products tainted with melamine.

Main outcome measures Presence of renal stones and haematuria.

Results One child had a confirmed renal stone, seven were suspected of having melamine related renal deposits, and 208 (6.6%) were positive for blood in urine by reagent strip. A proportion of these children were followed up at the special assessment centre, but only 7.4% of those positive for blood on reagent strip were confirmed by microscopy, suggesting an overall estimated prevalence of less than 1% for microscopic haematuria.

Conclusions No severe adverse renal outcomes, such as acute renal failure or urinary tract obstruction, were detected in children after exposure to low dose melamine. Our results were similar to territory-wide findings in Hong Kong. Even including the seven children with suspected renal deposits, the prevalence of suspected melamine related abnormalities on ultrasonography was only 0.2%. None of these children required specific treatment. The prevalence of microscopic haematuria was probably overestimated by the reagent strip. These data suggest that large scale and urgent screening programmes may not be informative or cost effective for populations who have been exposed to low dose melamine.


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This article has been cited by other articles:

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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Who should receive renal screening?
I-Jen Wang, et al.
bmj.com, 23 Dec 2008 [Full text]
Authors' reply
Hugh S. Lam, et al.
bmj.com, 30 Dec 2008 [Full text]
Melamine tainted formula in Hong Kong
Sam P Lau, et al.
bmj.com, 8 Apr 2009 [Full text]
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