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Monthly Archives :

April 2020

Systems Analyses Unravel Clinical Phenotypes in Infants with Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection
 Systems Analyses Unravel Clinical Phenotypes in Infants with Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection 1024 575 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD

RSV disease severity is influenced by innate immune responses, viral loads and patient age. Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of hospitalization in children, although most cases result in mild disease. To develop effective antivirals and vaccines, a better understanding of the different clinical, immunologic and virologic factors present in infants with mild…

Reproductive Health Attitudes and Behaviors in Transgender/Nonbinary Adolescents
 Reproductive Health Attitudes and Behaviors in Transgender/Nonbinary Adolescents 1024 683 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD

A survey suggests providers may need unique strategies for counseling sometimes disinterested youth on important reproductive health issues. Transgender and nonbinary adolescents have unique issues when it comes to reproductive health. They are at high risk for contracting sexually transmitted infections. Additionally, hormonal or surgical interventions begun in adolescence can risk impairing future fertility. Researchers…

Study Supports Expanded Use of Ventricular Assist Devices in Children With Complex Congenital Heart Disease
 Study Supports Expanded Use of Ventricular Assist Devices in Children With Complex Congenital Heart Disease 150 150 JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM
By: JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM

New multicenter study shows that the HeartMate3 ventricular assist device is associated with low morbidity and adverse events in pediatric patients with complex CHD. Ventricular assist devices (VADs), such as the HeartMate3 (HM3) continuous-flow VAD, provide critical heart function support in patients with advanced heart failure. Although design improvements in VADs have reduced complication rates…

American Academy of Pediatrics Releases First Policy Statement on Organ Transplants for Children with Intellectual, Developmental Disabilities
 American Academy of Pediatrics Releases First Policy Statement on Organ Transplants for Children with Intellectual, Developmental Disabilities 1024 575 Katelyn Scott
By: Katelyn Scott

Today, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released its first policy statement addressing children with intellectual and developmental disabilities as organ transplantation recipients. The policy statement, published online today in Pediatrics, recommends that transplant teams consider both the cognitive and adaptive skills of a patient when determining if a transplant could be of benefit, and recognize that…

Open Reduction May Improve Acetabular Remodeling in Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip
 Open Reduction May Improve Acetabular Remodeling in Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip 1024 575 Lauren Dembeck
By: Lauren Dembeck

Study of children who had reductions for developmental hip dysplasia at age 2 years or younger highlights differences in outcomes for open and closed reductions. In children under 2 years of age with developmental dysplasia of the hip, open reduction with capsulorrhaphy appears to improve acetabular remodeling more than closed reduction, according to a study…

Using Genomics to Unlock Secrets of Recurrent Ear Infections
 Using Genomics to Unlock Secrets of Recurrent Ear Infections 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
conceptual art of DNA

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) is responsible for many acute and recurrent infections in children, such as otitis media. Otitis media – middle ear infection – is a common type of recurrent infection in children, with as many as 700 million acute cases and 300 million recurrent cases each year. One type of bacteria responsible for…

Preventing and Addressing Child Abuse During COVID-19
 Preventing and Addressing Child Abuse During COVID-19 1024 575 Kristin Crichton, DO, MPH
By: Kristin Crichton, DO, MPH

With schools and daycares closed, stay-at-home orders in effect, and most non-emergency health care visits being conducted via telehealth, reporting and addressing child abuse is more difficult. Dr. Crichton from The Center for Family Safety and Healing shares advice for providers to identify child abuse during telehealth visits. As concerns about the coronavirus pandemic swept…

Searching for a Predictive Biomarker of Pulmonary Hypertension in Babies With Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
 Searching for a Predictive Biomarker of Pulmonary Hypertension in Babies With Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Pulmonary hypertension is high blood pressure in the lungs and is a comorbidity of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), which is the chronic lung disease of premature babies. When pulmonary hypertension is present in the context of BPD, the risk of death is significantly increased. As neonatologists continue to define the phenotype of severe BPD, Jennifer Trittmann, MD, MPH,…

THRIVING After Severe Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia
 THRIVING After Severe Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia 1024 731 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller

Meet Willow. She was born via emergency C-section at just 22 weeks. Doctors at the delivering hospital told Willow’s mom Cortney that her baby’s chances of survival were low. But after a long journey through the newborn intensive care unit (NICU) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Willow is a vivacious 4-year-old looking forward to starting kindergarten…

Transforming Medical Science Through Research Affinity Groups
 Transforming Medical Science Through Research Affinity Groups 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Purposeful synergy drives the most meaningful medical science. Nephrology physician-scientists require tissue samples, urologists desire tests to know which patients truly require surgery, and basic scientists must find ways to meaningfully assess new animal models to yield clinically valuable data. If each of these professionals had a defined network of colleagues from the other disciplines…

Epigenetics, Chromatin Architecture and a Judo Mechanism to Attack Cancer
 Epigenetics, Chromatin Architecture and a Judo Mechanism to Attack Cancer 1024 575 Abbie Miller
By: Abbie Miller
yellow squiggly lines representing chromatin strands in the nucleus

Researchers broaden the understanding chromatin architecture in human disease. Epigenetics is the study of how genetic information is context-dependent: it is organized so it can be repressed, but also read, repaired and replicated. For example, transcription factors can “communicate” with each other through the chromatin-DNA interface, and work in combinations to regulate which genes are…

Accountable Care and Quality Improvement: How an ACO Helps Community Practices Provide the “Right Care” Through QI
 Accountable Care and Quality Improvement: How an ACO Helps Community Practices Provide the “Right Care” Through QI 1024 575 Jeb Phillips
By: Jeb Phillips

An accountable care organization (ACO) should deliver “the right care at the right time,” according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Early, high-quality primary care helps people stay well, while coordinated specialty care can help people with chronic or complex conditions spend less time in a hospital. ACOs are usually considered the province…

Uncovering Why Synthetic Tracheal Replacements Fail, and Hints for Success
 Uncovering Why Synthetic Tracheal Replacements Fail, and Hints for Success 1024 575 Kevin Mayhood
By: Kevin Mayhood

“There is no ideal replacement for the trachea,” says Tendy Chiang, MD, a pediatric otolaryngologist and a principal investigator in the Center for Regenerative Medicine in the Abigail Wexner Research Institute (AWRI) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. “There are many surgical techniques that can manage tracheal defects and disorders, however, for longer-segment defects, they oftentimes require replacement tissue that…

Helping Children With Sickle Cell Disease Adhere to Their Medication
 Helping Children With Sickle Cell Disease Adhere to Their Medication 1024 575 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD

Mobile intervention increases medication adherence in the children who engage with it. A study published in JMIR mHealth uHealth shows that an electronically delivered intervention can improve medication adherence in children with sickle cell disease. Hydroxyurea is a life-changing medication for children with sickle cell disease (SCD). However, many patients may not consistently receive their hydroxyurea. To…

Keeping Kids in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
 Keeping Kids in Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder 1024 683 Mary Bates, PhD
By: Mary Bates, PhD

A multifaceted quality improvement program increases patient retention in addiction treatment. Adolescents and young adults with opioid use disorder often struggle to stay in treatment that’s not designed for people at their developmental stage. The Medication-Assisted Treatment of Addiction (MATA) Program at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is one of the only pediatric providers for adolescents with opioid use…

Study Sheds Light on Causes of Phenotype Variation in IQSEC2-Related Disease
 Study Sheds Light on Causes of Phenotype Variation in IQSEC2-Related Disease 1024 575 Lauren Dembeck
By: Lauren Dembeck

Variant type and inheritance pattern affect patient phenotypes in IQSEC2-related disease. Investigators from Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Ohio State University College of Medicine recently identified additional pathogenic variants within the IQSEC2 gene, which has previously been associated with X-linked intellectual disability, in five patients. They also demonstrated that different variant types correlate with the severity of…

Unlocking the Structure of Biofilms
 Unlocking the Structure of Biofilms 1024 575 Kevin Mayhood
By: Kevin Mayhood
Illustration showing the precise pattern of a biofilm - a perfect, 3D matrix

Researchers characterize a component that stabilizes biofilms, a step toward learning ways to disrupt protection of harmful bacteria. In the extracellular DNA lattice of bacterial biofilms, nature appears to reprise the functional equivalent of Holliday junction (HJ) intermediates — cross-shaped structures formed during the process of genetic recombination, researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital report in Proceedings…

Beyond A Bigger Workforce: Addressing the Shortage of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists
 Beyond A Bigger Workforce: Addressing the Shortage of Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists 1024 575 David Axelson, MD
By: David Axelson, MD

How can the psychiatrists we have make the greatest impact for the most children? The United States does not have enough child and adolescent psychiatrists. Nearly anyone who works in the field knows about the months-long wait times for new appointments that families can face, or the great distances that some must travel for those…

Better Bone Healing by Reversing Current Techniques?
 Better Bone Healing by Reversing Current Techniques? 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES
By: Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Bones may heal denser and stronger when given room for controlled micro-movement at first, followed by rigid stabilization — a complete flip-flop of the standard of care. A combination of biology and mechanical influence determines how well a bone heals, for better or worse. For half a century, physicians have believed that complete bone immobilization…

The Path to a Long Career in Medicine
 The Path to a Long Career in Medicine 150 150 William Long, MD
By: William Long, MD

I want to be a pediatrician forever. But the laws of nature won’t let me. In addition, many of us of all ages, are feeling increased pressure and demands that come with our profession.  From insurance issues, and just about everything with the EMR, to the rise in patient behavioral health complaints — it is…