Tej Mattoo, M.D., D.C.H., F.R.C.P., professor of Pediatrics for the Wayne State University School of Medicine, was invited to present recently at the 12th International Congress of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine.

The chief of Pediatric Nephrology and Hypertension for Children's Hospital of Michigan, Dr. Mattoo spoke on "Diagnosis of Congenital Renal Abnormalities in Children" at the congress, held May 13-15 in Berlin, Germany.

The meeting of the congress focused on the latest scientific and technological advances in pediatric clinical and diagnostic laboratory medicine.

Dr. Mattoo has secured to date more than $4.7 million in National Institutes of Health grant funding for his research on primary vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in children and a separate study on focal segmental glomerulosclerosis, a disease that attacks the kidneys' filtering system.

VUR is a common congenital abnormality that is associated with recurrent urinary tract infections in children. With normal urination, the bladder contracts and deposits the urine through the urethra. In children with VUR, there is an abnormal flow of urine that goes back up into the ureters and sometimes to the kidneys. This reflux exposes the kidneys to infection, which can cause serious damage. The injury to the kidneys may result in renal scarring, which may cause high blood pressure later in life, or even kidney failure.