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Jeb Phillips

How to Reduce Necrotizing Enterocolitis in the NICU
 How to Reduce Necrotizing Enterocolitis in the NICU 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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A QI project with simple, inexpensive interventions significantly lowered the NEC rate in one of the country’s largest neonatal units. In 2011, a quality improvement team at Nationwide Children’s Hospital developed a short list of simple, economical strategies to limit necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in its associated…

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New Study Points to a Possible Cause of Many Preterm Births
 New Study Points to a Possible Cause of Many Preterm Births 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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The discovery that small calcium deposits in fetal membranes may lead to a mother’s water breaking prematurely suggests that dietary or other interventions could prevent those preterm births. Most spontaneous preterm births do not have causes that are easy to identify. Physicians frequently have not known why uterine contractions begin weeks earlier than they should,…

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Should Hormone Therapy be Considered for Inappropriate Sexual Behavior in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder?
 Should Hormone Therapy be Considered for Inappropriate Sexual Behavior in Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder? 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Families worry when children with autism spectrum disorder display inappropriate sexual behaviors, but specialists say hormonal suppression should not be the first-line approach. Leena Nahata, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, has seen this kind of case in her own practice, so she suspects that other specialists have as well: An adolescent boy with autism…

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Diagnosing GERD in Neonates? Be Cautious
 Diagnosing GERD in Neonates? Be Cautious 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Gastroesophageal reflux disease is likely over-diagnosed in neonates, leading to unnecessary and harmful treatment. Approximately 10 percent of infants born preterm in the United States are diagnosed with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). But it’s almost certain that not all of those babies actually have GERD, say neonatologists at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The probable over diagnosis leads to…

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New Guidelines Better Diagnose Common GI Disorders
 New Guidelines Better Diagnose Common GI Disorders 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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The new Rome IV criteria offer guidance to common but often misunderstood conditions. Because there are no clear causes of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), diagnosis and treatment can be difficult. Some physicians and parents may doubt the disorders exist at all, although pediatric gastroenterologists estimate they affect 30 to 40 percent of children. However, recently…

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A Better Approach to Prescribing Medication
 A Better Approach to Prescribing Medication 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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A small change in the way a doctor prescribes a medication can make a big difference. Officials from the accountable care organization Partners For Kids use this example all the time: Abilify, a behavioral health drug, is usually priced per pill, not by strength of dose. Two 5 mg pills cost nearly twice the amount of…

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Childhood Kidney Stones: Their Surprising Connection to Future Disease
 Childhood Kidney Stones: Their Surprising Connection to Future Disease 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Once thought to be an adult condition, urinary stone disease is increasingly found in children – and may be related to the development of cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease and low bone density. By one well-regarded estimate, the risk of developing urinary stone disease in childhood doubled between 1997 and 2012. That’s worrying enough on…

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Oligodendrocytes Induce Motor Neuron Death in ALS
 Oligodendrocytes Induce Motor Neuron Death in ALS 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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A first-of-its-kind oligodendrocyte in vitro model shows that human cells normally supportive of motor neuron function play an active role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis pathogenesis – and this discovery may point the way toward therapeutic timing and targets. A number of studies over the last decade have shown that cells which normally support motor neurons,…

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Nine Factors for Predicting the Duration of Post-Concussion Symptoms
 Nine Factors for Predicting the Duration of Post-Concussion Symptoms 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Concussion recovery is poorly understood, but new research suggests that some factors are predictive of recovery time. Several factors, including continued physical activity following a concussion, worsening symptoms from the time of injury to the time a patient seeks care, and a previous history of headaches, help predict which children are likely to have a…

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When Should Kids With Severe Functional Constipation Have Surgery?
 When Should Kids With Severe Functional Constipation Have Surgery? 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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A protocol developed by pediatric surgeons and gastroenterologists allows patients to receive specific surgical interventions that will be most beneficial – and allows many patients originally referred for surgery to avoid it altogether. Children with severe functional constipation are most often referred for surgery after failure of medical management. But there’s a problem with this…

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Often-Unreported MRI Finding May Indicate Neurodevelopmental Impairment in Premature Infants
 Often-Unreported MRI Finding May Indicate Neurodevelopmental Impairment in Premature Infants 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Moderate-to-severe gyral maturation delay emerged as a significant predictor of overall neurodevelopmental delay in premature infants with extremely low birth weights Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain is increasingly used to predict neurodevelopmental outcomes in premature infants, but the existing systems of scoring those MRIs rely heavily on expert opinion. A recent study led by…

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For Infants Born Very Preterm, Transcatheter Device Closure of Patent Ductus Arteriosus is Feasible
 For Infants Born Very Preterm, Transcatheter Device Closure of Patent Ductus Arteriosus is Feasible 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Optimal timing of procedures and reduction of adverse events are avenues for future study. Approximately half of babies born at less than 32 weeks of gestational age have persistent patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), a condition associated with higher odds of death and respiratory morbidity. When doctors choose to close the ductus, a percutaneous approach is…

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Despite Safety Concerns, Nearly 1 in 4 Babies in the NICU Receive Acid Suppressing Medications
 Despite Safety Concerns, Nearly 1 in 4 Babies in the NICU Receive Acid Suppressing Medications 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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While use is dropping overall as doctors heed warnings, acid suppressing medication originally formulated for older children and adults is still being given to nearly 25 percent of babies in the NICU. Since 2006, several published studies have associated the use of some acid suppression medications in hospitalized high-risk babies with infections, necrotizing enterocolitis and…

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Helping the Sickest Children Navigate the Health Care System
 Helping the Sickest Children Navigate the Health Care System 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Care coordination focuses on better outcomes for children with medical complexity. Consider a child with cerebral palsy who needs a feeding tube to eat. She has special equipment for a basic life function. She requires regular visits with a primary care physician and specialists in neurology, orthopedics and gastroenterology. She has frequent acute infections that lead to emergency department visits.…

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A Novel Approach to Pediatric Fecal and Urinary Incontinence
 A Novel Approach to Pediatric Fecal and Urinary Incontinence 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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A 9-year-old girl with caudal regression syndrome is the first child in the United States to be treated with pudendal nerve stimulation. Neuromodulation of the sacral nerve, or sacral nerve stimulation, is rarely but increasingly used in children to help control fecal and urinary incontinence when standard medical management has failed. The treatment involves the implantation of a device…

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The Collapse of Biofilms?
 The Collapse of Biofilms? 1024 575 Jeb Phillips
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Illustration showing the precise pattern of a biofilm - a perfect, 3D matrix

Scientists are working to eliminate the causes of countless chronic and recurrent human infections. Before the discoveries that could lead to biofilm eradication, before the idea that he was even working on treatments for the bacterial communities that are crucial to most human infections, Steven Goodman, PhD, had a mystery on his hands. For nearly 15 years. Dr. Goodman, then a biochemist…

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Remote Control Treatment
 Remote Control Treatment 1024 575 Jeb Phillips
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Magnetic growing rods help patients who have early-onset scoliosis avoid repeated surgeries. A common surgical treatment for young children with severe early-onset scoliosis is the implantation of growing rods or expandable titanium ribs. The devices are lengthened as the child grows, helping to straighten the spine. Lengthening involves surgery under general anesthesia every six months. Magnetic Expansion Control (MAGEC)…

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Predicting the Efficacy of Immune-Based Therapies for Pediatric Solid Tumors
 Predicting the Efficacy of Immune-Based Therapies for Pediatric Solid Tumors 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Expression of HLA class I and β-2-microglobulin may show how susceptible some cancers are to T-cell based immunotherapies. A number of possible immunotherapies for cancer are based on T-cells that can target and kill tumors. These cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) can only recognize tumor cells, though, if an antigen is expressed in the context of…

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Extremely Premature Infants Benefit from Early Extubation Attempts
 Extremely Premature Infants Benefit from Early Extubation Attempts 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Early attempts associated with shorter hospital stays and lower incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, even if reintubation is necessary Neonatologists often struggle with the timing of extubation. Although prolonged mechanical ventilation in premature infants is linked to the development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), there has been considerable debate as to whether extubating too early may also…

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Infantile Spasms Respond Poorly to Common First-Line Treatment
 Infantile Spasms Respond Poorly to Common First-Line Treatment 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Researchers recommend other initial treatments after finding that topiramate has a low rate of infantile spasms remission. The early and effective treatment of infantile spasms has been associated with better developmental outcomes for patients, while delayed remission of the infantile spasms may contribute to poorer outcomes. In fact, a U.S. Consensus Report on infantile spasms…

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Study Links Acute Infections With Later Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
 Study Links Acute Infections With Later Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Link between acute infection in preschoolers and development of FGIDs in school-aged children could point toward interventions. Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are among the most common pediatric health conditions and often first appear in school-aged children. Acute diarrhea, also very common, often first manifests in preschoolers. A recently published prospective study shows that there may…

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Delayed Umbilical Cord Clamping May Benefit Some High-Risk Newborns
 Delayed Umbilical Cord Clamping May Benefit Some High-Risk Newborns 150 150 Jeb Phillips
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Recent studies show the practice can offer circulatory advantages for infants born extremely preterm or with critical congenital heart disease. The practice of immediate or early umbilical cord clamping after birth has been the norm since research in the 1950s and 1960s showed that most blood volume for full term babies was achieved “within the…

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