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Monthly Archives :

April 2019

Why Preteens in the ED Should be Screened for Suicide Risk
 Why Preteens in the ED Should be Screened for Suicide Risk 480 320 Kevin Mayhood
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Screening revealed that 7% of 10-to-12-year-olds who came to three children’s hospital emergency departments for medical complaints such as headache, back pain or seizures, were at risk for suicide, a recent study found. More than half of children in the same age group presenting to the emergency department with psychiatric complaints such as depression, violent…

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Development of Innovative Scoring Systems for Sickness and Tissue Damage From Clostridium difficile Colitis
 Development of Innovative Scoring Systems for Sickness and Tissue Damage From Clostridium difficile Colitis 1024 575 Lauren Dembeck
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In a new publication, the team reported the development of two novel scoring systems to consistently and efficiently assess sickness and tissue injury during antibiotic-associated C. difficile colitis in a murine model. “My laboratory at Nationwide Children’s Research Institute has collaborated for several years with two other laboratories, those of Dr. Steven Goodman and Dr. Michael Bailey.…

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Suicide Rates Spike Nationally Among Youth After “13 Reasons Why” Release
 Suicide Rates Spike Nationally Among Youth After “13 Reasons Why” Release 150 150 Gina Bericchia
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Media depictions of suicide should follow recommended guidelines to avoid harm. A recent study revealed approximately 195 more youth suicide deaths than expected were associated with the television series “13 Reasons Why” in the nine months immediately following the series release. The study, led by Nationwide Children’s Hospital with collaborators, demonstrated that following the series…

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An Infant. A Virus. An Emergency IND. A Life Saved.
 An Infant. A Virus. An Emergency IND. A Life Saved. 150 150 Abbie Miller
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Clinician scientists collaborate to use virus-specific T-cells from the mother to successfully treat a systemic adenovirus infection in a preterm infant. It’s not every day that researchers can say that they’ve written and submitted and emergency investigational new drug (EIND) application to the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) and saved a life. But that’s what…

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What’s Next for NEC?
 What’s Next for NEC? 898 504 Abbie Miller
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Red. White. Black. These are the colors of necrotizing enterocolitis, or NEC. When surgeons open the distended abdomens of the tiny infants affected by NEC, they see a mottled mixture of red (inflamed), white (ischemic) and black (dead) tissue. Their first task is to assess whether or not there is enough viable tissue to save.…

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Profile of a Cancer: Getting to Know Ewing Sarcoma
 Profile of a Cancer: Getting to Know Ewing Sarcoma 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
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Ewing sarcoma – a tumor type affecting the bone or soft tissue that primarily affects children and adolescents – has a 5-year survival rate of 70 percent among those with localized disease at diagnosis. Among children whose disease is metastatic, only 30 percent survive 5 years or longer. As a comparison, of all children diagnosed…

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Worth It: Why Wrestling Through the Logistical Challenges of a Multidisciplinary Colorectal Center Matters
 Worth It: Why Wrestling Through the Logistical Challenges of a Multidisciplinary Colorectal Center Matters 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Consider the complex case of a girl born with rectal, vaginal and urinary tracts fused into a common channel – a cloacal malformation. The child needs reconstructive procedures across three different organ systems and three different surgical specialties. It could take months or years to manage the surgeries needed for the colorectal portion, then the…

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Fetal Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty for Critical Aortic Stenosis
 Fetal Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty for Critical Aortic Stenosis 1024 575 Abbie Miller
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Fetus in utero receiving valvuloplasty

Some heart defects, such as aortic stenosis can be detected on fetal ultrasound. For some fetuses, an intervention can be beneficial before birth. Aimee Armstrong, MD, director of Cardiac Catheterization and Interventional Therapies at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, performs fetal balloon aortic valvuloplasty among other fetal heart catheterization procedures as part of the Congenital Heart Collaborative, a…

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How Research Reinforces the Collaborative Culture of a Children’s Hospital
 How Research Reinforces the Collaborative Culture of a Children’s Hospital 1024 575 Steve Allen, MD
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Steve Allen, MD

As he retires, the CEO of Nationwide Children’s Hospital reflects on the less-obvious effects of scientific discovery. Nationwide Children’s Hospital has undergone a dramatic transformation in the last two decades, from an important regional resource into a nationally preeminent medical system. One of the clearest signs of our growth, and one that we’re particularly proud…

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Targeting Therapies for Children With Multiple Organ Dysfunction
 Targeting Therapies for Children With Multiple Organ Dysfunction 1024 575 Kevin Mayhood
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Anakinra, an interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, may be effective for selective children with MODS who meet diagnostic criteria for hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). Multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) involves altered function of two or more organ systems and is among the most severe forms of critical illness, with mortality rates up to 50 percent in children. MODS…

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Long-Term Follow Up of Patients Receiving Novel Gene Therapy for SMA Type I
 Long-Term Follow Up of Patients Receiving Novel Gene Therapy for SMA Type I 150 150 Abbie Miller
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Spinal muscular atrophy type 1 (SMA1) is a rare neuromuscular disease in which 75 percent of affected children die or require permanent ventilation by 13.6 months. Researchers recently published the long-term outcomes of patients who received the investigational drug AVXS-101 – an adeno-associated virus serotype 9 mediated gene replacement therapy. Twelve children aged 1 to…

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Toward a Cell-based Therapy for Cystic Fibrosis Lung Disease
 Toward a Cell-based Therapy for Cystic Fibrosis Lung Disease 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Because cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease caused by mutations in the CFTR gene, the pulmonary disease could be reversed if CF airway epithelial cells were replaced with basal cells expressing CFTR without mutations. That is one of the ideas underpinning the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s Epithelial Stem Cell Consortium, but there are a number of…

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Pediatric Patients Receive Higher Radiation at Non-pediatric Trauma Centers
 Pediatric Patients Receive Higher Radiation at Non-pediatric Trauma Centers 150 150 Bailey Dye
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A novel software tool for calculating radiation burden has determined that pediatric trauma patients, evaluated using CT imaging primarily at adult trauma centers, demonstrate higher radiation exposure than those imaged primarily at a pediatric trauma center. Computed tomography (CT) is a mainstay of the diagnosis and treatment of trauma, the leading cause of death in…

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Can Brain Imaging Help Predict Bipolar Disorder in High Risk Children?
 Can Brain Imaging Help Predict Bipolar Disorder in High Risk Children? 150 150 Mary Bates, PhD
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Patterns in connectivity in a portion of the frontal lobe called the inferior frontal gyrus appears to be an early biomarker in children of parents with bipolar disorder. Researchers report a potential neural marker of individual risk in those with a family history of bipolar disorder. The study, published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, points to particular…

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Novel Metric Predicts Severity of Community-Acquired Pneumonia
 Novel Metric Predicts Severity of Community-Acquired Pneumonia 150 150 Rachael Hardison
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Researchers utilize a biomarker to predict disease severity during early stages of pneumonia. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a leading cause of hospitalization and mortality in children. Each year, 4 percent of children under 5 years of age will develop CAP in industrialized countries. Although pneumonia is common, diagnosing and treating it remains a challenge for…

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Hey Google, Siri and Alexa, How Do We Bring Voice Technology Into Health Care?
 Hey Google, Siri and Alexa, How Do We Bring Voice Technology Into Health Care? 1024 576 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
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As voice assistant technology plays an increasing role in everything from home security to baking, researchers at the vanguard of medical innovation must figure out how to appropriately adapt it for the future of health care. Voice assistant technology has advanced dramatically in the last couple of decades, moving from almost comical talk-to-text tools in…

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“Learn From Every Patient” to Improve Clinical Care
 “Learn From Every Patient” to Improve Clinical Care 150 150 Lauren Dembeck
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How can busy clinicians tending to clinical care simultaneously conduct translational research and improve treatments for patients? The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Cerebral Palsy team recently reported an evidence-based change in practice — eliminating annual screening X-rays in patients mildly affected by CP — facilitated by use of the Learn From Every Patient (LFEP) Program. LFEP…

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Collaboration Key in Recent Advances for Batten Disease
 Collaboration Key in Recent Advances for Batten Disease 1024 683 Abbie Miller
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Batten disease (neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis) is a collection of lysosomal storage disorders caused by a variety of genetic mutations. These disorders cause an accumulation of cellular “trash” to build up, ultimately causing the neurons to die. So far, scientists have identified 13 different versions of Batten disease, each with its own associated genetic mutation. Each version…

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What Pediatric Care Providers Need to Know About Kratom
 What Pediatric Care Providers Need to Know About Kratom 150 150 Laura Dattner
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The herbal supplement is increasingly the source of toxic exposures and health care facility admissions. In recent years, kratom has become popular as a treatment for chronic or acute pain as well as mood conditions such as depression and anxiety. It is also sometimes used to help with opioid withdrawal. While there is a perception…

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Acid Reflux Index Severity Alone Should Not Determine GERD Diagnosis
 Acid Reflux Index Severity Alone Should Not Determine GERD Diagnosis 150 150 Kevin Mayhood
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ARI severity plays little role in symptom generation, but symptoms alone are unreliable for diagnosing gastroesophageal reflux disease, researchers say. However, a new study from the Neonatal and Infant Feeding Disorders Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital shows that stomach acid alone doesn’t appear to have much to do with GERD at all, and responses to esophageal stimulation…

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Vaccine Enables Model to Clear Hepatitis C Virus and Prevent Persistence
 Vaccine Enables Model to Clear Hepatitis C Virus and Prevent Persistence 150 150 Kevin Mayhood
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Scientists are conceptualizing an effective HCV vaccine using a new animal model. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) subverts responses of immune cells, resulting in chronic infection in more than 71 million people worldwide. The virus causes 1.79 million new infections and 399,000 deaths worldwide annually. Antivrials can cure the disease but are unaffordable or not available…

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