Monthly Archives :

July 2021

5 Things to Know About Vertebral Body Tethering for Scoliosis
5 Things to Know About Vertebral Body Tethering for Scoliosis 150 150 Allan C. Beebe, MD and Crystal D. Seilhamer, FNP

As the surgical approach to scoliosis grows in popularity, understanding the pros, cons and contraindications becomes increasingly important. At the Center for Comprehensive Spine Care in the Department of Orthopedics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, patients and providers are increasingly asking about vertebral body tethering for scoliosis. Traditionally, scoliosis is treated with a variety of modalities…

Improving Suicide Prevention by Examining Characteristics and Precipitating Circumstances Among Children Aged 5 to 11 Years
Improving Suicide Prevention by Examining Characteristics and Precipitating Circumstances Among Children Aged 5 to 11 Years 150 150 Natalie Wilson

Suicides among children aged 11 or younger are on the rise. In response to this trend and a call to action by the National Institute of Mental Health task force on child suicide research, researchers have identified common themes across coroner’s and police reports on suicide deaths in this age group to identify warning signs…

Diabetes Distress Associated With Poor Glycemic Control in Adolescents With Diabetes
Diabetes Distress Associated With Poor Glycemic Control in Adolescents With Diabetes 1024 683 Mary Bates, PhD

Screening for diabetes distress, in addition to depression, could benefit adolescents with diabetes. Adolescents with type 1 diabetes are more likely to experience depression than their peers without diabetes, and symptoms of depression can directly impact adherence to diabetes care. Thus, both the American Diabetes Association and International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes recommend…

Lawnmower Injuries in Children Are Limb-Threatening and Avoidable
Lawnmower Injuries in Children Are Limb-Threatening and Avoidable 1024 683 Ibrahim Khansa, MD

During the warm months, lawnmowers are a ubiquitous sight in American lawns. Unfortunately, more than 9,000 children are injured by lawnmowers every year in the United States. In a recent study, published in the Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery – Open, our group from the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Nationwide…

Occurrence and Cost of Infections After Heart Transplant
Occurrence and Cost of Infections After Heart Transplant 1024 683 Mary Bates, PhD
Dr. Emily Hayes

Researchers identify risk factors, long-term outcomes of vaccine-preventable infections following heart transplantation in pediatric patients. Recently, a study using the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database found that one in six pediatric solid organ transplant recipients were hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or vaccine-preventable illness in the first five years after transplant. Within this…

Providing Education and PrEP for Teens at Risk for HIV
Providing Education and PrEP for Teens at Risk for HIV 1024 683 Abbie Miller

In a recent PediaCast CME, Mike Patrick, MD, and Megan Brundrett, MD, share important information about offering PrEP and HIV-related education in your primary care practice. Listen to the Full Episode About 20% of new cases of HIV, the virus that causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), are occurring in youth aged 13 to 24. HIV/AIDS…

Unique Approach Helps Child Neurology Residents Improve Communication Skills
Unique Approach Helps Child Neurology Residents Improve Communication Skills 150 150 Natalie Wilson

More than 75% of residents said the opportunity to receive direct feedback from standardized patients, faculty and peers during simulated patient encounters was a valuable addition to their medical education. Teaching residents how to be sensitive, supportive, clear and thorough as they communicate complex information to patients and families is an essential part of medical…

Self-Administered Electronic Assessment Tool Helps Clinicians Screen for Pediatric Bleeding Disorders
Self-Administered Electronic Assessment Tool Helps Clinicians Screen for Pediatric Bleeding Disorders 1024 684 JoAnna Pendergrass, DVM
teen girl using cell phone

An electronic self-administered bleeding assessment tool is a time-saving measure to comprehensively evaluate a pediatric patient’s bleeding symptoms. Bleeding assessment tools (BATs), originally developed as research tools, are used clinically to comprehensively evaluate a patient’s bleeding symptoms. Along with clinical judgement, “BATs are used to discriminate between patients who do and do not have a…

Does Twinkle Artifact on Ultrasound Indicate a Kidney Stone in Pediatric Patients?
Does Twinkle Artifact on Ultrasound Indicate a Kidney Stone in Pediatric Patients? 150 150 Mary Bates, PhD

The presence of twinkle artifact on ultrasound is a useful, though imperfect, tool for diagnosing kidney stones in children. For pediatric patients, ultrasound is the recommended imaging modality used to diagnose kidney stones. Several findings are used to identify stones on ultrasound, including the presence of an echogenic focus, posterior acoustic shadowing, or twinkle artifact.…

Featured Researcher — Genevieve Kendall, PhD
Featured Researcher — Genevieve Kendall, PhD 150 150 Natalie Wilson

Genevieve Kendall, PhD, is a principal investigator in the Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Diseases and an assistant professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Kendall and her lab focus on developing basic and translational models of pediatric sarcomas—devastating and aggressive solid tumors with limited treatment options. Specifically, they…

Understanding the Social Neural Network
Understanding the Social Neural Network 1024 575 Natalie Wilson
Young boy turned sideways in front of a dark background, with dark lighting and an illustration of his brain appearing in front of the side of his head

Neuroimaging of participants with and without epilepsy allows researchers to explore the neural networks associated with social skills. Epilepsy is a chronic brain disease characterized by neural network dysfunction and seizures. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 470,000 children in the United States had active epilepsy in 2015. These children are more likely…

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: Characterizing the Chronic Lung Disease of Prematurity
Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: Characterizing the Chronic Lung Disease of Prematurity 1024 575 Lauren Dembeck
Nurse caring for infant in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

  Precise definitions and/or classifications of bronchopulmonary dysplasia are needed to optimize outcomes. Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital are continuing to help refine the definition of severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (sBPD). In a recent study, members of the BPD Collaborative demonstrated that preterm infants with sBPD who were on invasive mechanical ventilation at 36 weeks, a…

Diuretic Therapy in Preterm Infants With Acute Kidney Injury Is Common: Should It Be?
Diuretic Therapy in Preterm Infants With Acute Kidney Injury Is Common: Should It Be? 1024 575 Lauren Dembeck
small baby with nose canula

Lack of efficacy and safety data on diuretic therapy in the critically ill infants is cause for concern. Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital are beginning to fill in the gaps. Despite the common use of diuretic therapy in preterm infants with acute kidney injury, to date, no large studies have evaluated the patterns of prescription…

Chronic Pediatric Pancreatitis and (No) Persistent Belly Pain
Chronic Pediatric Pancreatitis and (No) Persistent Belly Pain 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Underlying — even silent — chronic pancreatitis can be at play in children without previous acute pancreatitis episodes, including among children with little or no reported pain. Pancreatitis in children is rare (about 3-13 per 100,000 people per year), but diagnosis is increasing, at least in part due to increased awareness among physicians. The path…