Simulating Surgery With High-Performance Computing
Simulating Surgery With High-Performance Computing 1024 575 Abbie Miller

By applying high-performance computing to the field of otolaryngology, a team of researchers is developing a simulation environment for teaching surgical techniques related to the temporal bone. The purpose of training — whether a fire drill or practicing a surgical technique — is to…

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Neurologists Urged to Consider MCA When Evaluations Don’t Support Claims
Neurologists Urged to Consider MCA When Evaluations Don’t Support Claims 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Up to half of medical child abuse cases include neurological symptoms Medical child abuse (MCA) is highly variable, but neurologists are in a position to help detect up to half of these cases, researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital report. Consistent with the authors’ clinical…

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Black and white photo of infant crying in hospital
The Smallest Victims of the Opioid Crisis
The Smallest Victims of the Opioid Crisis 1024 575 Abbie Miller

Research, protocols and community connections lead to help infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome and their mothers. It’s a sound you’d never forget. The panicked, high-pitched cry of a newborn withdrawing from the drugs his mother took. All the sensations that drive an addict to…

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Signaling Pathway Changes May Flag CAVD, Offer Target for Therapies
Signaling Pathway Changes May Flag CAVD, Offer Target for Therapies 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Loss of TgfB1 from the endothelium leads to a reduction in Sox9 expression and valve calcification. A team of researchers has identified a molecular signaling pathway that, when altered, can contribute to calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD). The finding may provide a method for early diagnosis — many…

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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

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…

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Predicting Risk for Chronic Renal Disease in Children
Predicting Risk for Chronic Renal Disease in Children 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Studies using a new contrast agent have the potential to determine if infants born premature develop a full complement of nephrons. A new magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent enables researchers to see the number and volume of blood-filtering nephrons in rodent kidneys and donated human adult kidneys,…

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The Journey to a Program Project Grant
The Journey to a Program Project Grant 1024 575 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

Recommendations from a multi-institutional research team who persevered to obtain a P01 to develop a vaccine for RSV. In 2015, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded a $6.75 million program project grant to Mark Peeples, PhD, Octavio Ramilo, MD, and M. Asuncion Mejias, MD, PhD, all principal investigators in the…

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Vaccine Fails to Reactivate Immunity to Hepatitis C Virus
Vaccine Fails to Reactivate Immunity to Hepatitis C Virus 150 150 Abbie Miller

T cells remain inactivated even after immunization in subjects with persistent, controlled infections. Two papers recently published in Hepatology uncovered evidence of permanent immune system damage after hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The studies used a vaccine currently in clinical trials to attempt to restore immunity against HCV in…

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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

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…

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On the Front Lines
On the Front Lines 150 150 Anne FitzSimons

Pediatricians can reverse health disparities among the LGBT population. A recent position paper from the American College of Physicians (ACP) examines health disparities experienced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) population in the United States and includes recommendations for improving access to care. The ACP found…

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

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…

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Taking Aim at the Opioid Problem
Taking Aim at the Opioid Problem 1024 683 Abbie Miller

Pediatric specialists offer practical advice for protecting vulnerable patients from a growing epidemic. The opioid epidemic in the United States is so widespread that even parents and teachers are now being issued opioid overdose kits complete with naloxone. It’s in rural communities, suburban neighborhoods and inner cities. It’s…

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Remote Control Treatment
Remote Control Treatment 1024 575 Jeb Phillips

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…

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Hearing Without Cochlear Nerves
Hearing Without Cochlear Nerves 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

Auditory brainstem implant devices may help young children with sensorineural hearing loss. Sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) is the most common type of hearing loss, accounting for about 90 percent of all hearing loss worldwide. SNHL involves damage to the inner ear (cochlea) or to the nerve pathways from…

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Identifying Characteristics Associated With Timely Follow-Up Psychiatric Care
Identifying Characteristics Associated With Timely Follow-Up Psychiatric Care 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Nearly one in three youths with mood disorders receive no outpatient care within 30 days of psychiatric hospital discharge. More than diagnoses and demographics influence whether youths receive critical outpatient care following psychiatric hospitalization. Individual attributes and aspects of the hospital where they receive treatment as well as…

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Weaning Babies with NAS Better and Faster
Weaning Babies with NAS Better and Faster 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Protocol enables babies born addicted to opioids to be weaned off the drugs faster. Adoption of a strict protocol has enabled six regional perinatal centers across Ohio to wean babies exposed to opioids in utero off drugs faster, send them home sooner and lower the use…

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How to Increase Adherence to Screening Guidelines for Children With Down Syndrome
How to Increase Adherence to Screening Guidelines for Children With Down Syndrome 150 150 Abbie Miller

Recent study shows that while most families and physicians support the guidelines, patients are not receiving the recommended screenings. Children with Down syndrome have multiple medical conditions and cognitive impairments related to the additional genetic material from chromosome 21. Because of common comorbid conditions…

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Researchers Find Signatures of Rhinovirus Infection and Incidental Presence
Researchers Find Signatures of Rhinovirus Infection and Incidental Presence 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Transcriptional profiling may speed discrimination between the two, aiding in clinical decisions. Transcriptional profiling, measuring the activity of thousands of genes at once to create a snapshot of cellular function, may make quick work of discriminating between active rhinovirus infection and incidental virus detection…

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New Approach to Gathering Protein Signatures
New Approach to Gathering Protein Signatures 150 150 Abbie Miller

In the first comprehensive study of its kind, researchers simultaneously analyzed both host and bacteria protein signatures from a single, tiny tissue sample. A novel study from researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital has shown that it is possible to obtain both host and bacteria…

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Loss of MHCI in Motor Neurons Leads to ALS Astrocyte Toxicity
Loss of MHCI in Motor Neurons Leads to ALS Astrocyte Toxicity 150 150 Abbie Miller

New research shines a light on the role of MHCI in astrocyte-induced death of motor neurons in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and pointing to a potential therapeutic target. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a devastating progressive neurodegenerative disease that…

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Eating Better, Not Less, May Be Key to Weight Management for Teens on DMPA
Eating Better, Not Less, May Be Key to Weight Management for Teens on DMPA 150 150 Anne FitzSimons

Research suggests teens weight gain on popular injectable contraceptive associated with micronutrient intake. Each year, thousands of teenage girls decide to use the injectable contraceptive depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA). They are drawn to DMPA’s long-acting convenience (it’s injected just four times a year) and…

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Pay-for-Performance Incentives Impact Patient Care
Pay-for-Performance Incentives Impact Patient Care 150 150 Naomi Makni, MHA

First evaluation of pay-for-performance conducted by researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. The first pay-for-performance (P4P) evaluation of pediatricians under a full-risk Medicaid accountable care organization (ACO) for children shows P4P incentives were partially responsible for higher performance on quality measures across Partners For Kids’ primary care…

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Involving Stakeholders Boosts Clinical Trial Participation
Involving Stakeholders Boosts Clinical Trial Participation 150 150 Alayna DiMartini

Stakeholder involvement in clinical trial design leads to greater recruitment and retention rates. By seeking the advice of patients, families and other stakeholders in designing a clinical trial investigating pediatric appendicitis, researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital found a way to significantly increase the number…

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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

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…

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Adenovirus or Kawasaki Disease?
Adenovirus or Kawasaki Disease? 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

Researchers investigate clinical and laboratory testing methods to accurately distinguish adenovirus from Kawasaki disease in children Kawasaki disease is a rare but serious condition in children that involves inflammation of the blood vessels, specifically the coronary arteries. It is the most common cause of pediatric…

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Appalachian and Urban Children Face Similar Health Care Challenges
Appalachian and Urban Children Face Similar Health Care Challenges 150 150 Katelyn Hanzel

Research shows children in Ohio’s Appalachian counties face similar health care challenges to those in metropolitan areas Despite the fact that previous research shows the Appalachian region of the United States as limited in access to health care services, researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital…

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Extremely Premature Infants Benefit from Early Extubation Attempts
Extremely Premature Infants Benefit from Early Extubation Attempts 150 150 Jeb Phillips

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…

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Omega-3 Supplements Tied to Notable, Sustained Mental Health Improvements
Omega-3 Supplements Tied to Notable, Sustained Mental Health Improvements 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Case study shows reduction in bipolar youth’s psychotic mania, depression and anxiety Medications unchanged, a severely bipolar girl’s depressive, manic and psychotic symptoms improved significantly during the two years her mother added omega-3 supplements to her daily diet. The case, reported by researchers at…

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Mouse Model Reflects Small Population but Could Provide Big Payoff
Mouse Model Reflects Small Population but Could Provide Big Payoff 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

First model of exon duplication causing DMD enables testing for potential therapies Duplication of exons, the parts of a gene that code for amino acids, cause six to 10 percent of cases of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which is due to mutations in theDMD gene.  New research suggests…

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Putting the Brakes on Myopia Progression
Putting the Brakes on Myopia Progression 150 150 Abbie Miller

Researchers are studying how well commercially available bifocal contact lenses limit the progression of myopia. Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a growing problem in the United States and around the world. Research suggests 30 to 40 percent of adults in Europe and the United States…

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Using Antibiotics Alone for Children with Uncomplicated Appendicitis
Using Antibiotics Alone for Children with Uncomplicated Appendicitis 150 150 Gina Bericchia

One year follow-up of patients treated only with antibiotics found that 76 percent avoided surgery. Using antibiotics alone to treat children with uncomplicated acute appendicitis is a reasonable alternative to surgery when chosen by the family, finds a recent study led by researchers at…

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Boosting Research With a Down Syndrome Biobank
Boosting Research With a Down Syndrome Biobank 150 150 Abbie Miller

A new biobank for Down syndrome blood samples will enable clinical and translational researchers everywhere to shed light on conditions related to Down syndrome, including Alzheimer’s disease. Certain conditions such as congenital heart disease, childhood leukemia and epilepsy are more common in patients with…

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Childhood Kidney Stones Associated With Atherosclerosis
Childhood Kidney Stones Associated With Atherosclerosis 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Research could lead to early interventions to improve cardiovascular health. Kidney stones in children are increasingly common, and until recently were believed to be an isolated medical problem. But a study conducted by clinician-scientists at Nationwide Children’s Hospital has identified for the first time…

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HIV in the Millennial World
HIV in the Millennial World 150 150 Abbie Miller

Adolescents and young adults ages 13 to 24 comprise an increasingly large proportion of new HIV infections in the United States. A new generation of youth is experiencing increasing rates of HIV transmission, and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)…

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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

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…

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Can You Ration Health Care in a Just Society?
Can You Ration Health Care in a Just Society? 150 150 Pedro Weisleder, MD, PhD

How the Clinical Effectiveness Model enables the provision of uncompromised, yet fiscally responsible, medical care Health care costs in the United States are an unsustainable expense. In 2014, the United States’ gross domestic product (GDP) was about $17 trillion, and of that, close to…

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Zoledronic Acid Safe and Effective for Use in Children and Young Adults, Study Shows
Zoledronic Acid Safe and Effective for Use in Children and Young Adults, Study Shows 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

The medication improves bone density and reduces fractures in patients with neuromuscular disorders that lead to paralysis. Children with neuromuscular disorders that lead to quadriplegia (paralysis of all four limbs) or paraplegia (paralysis of the legs and lower body) are at risk for low…

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Common Infections Associated With Childhood Stroke
Common Infections Associated With Childhood Stroke 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Routine vaccinations appear to be protective. Minor infections, including the common cold, appear to trigger arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) in children, an international study shows. At the same time, a full or nearly full regimen of childhood immunizations appears to be protective in children.…

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Genetic Testing for Pediatric Epilepsy Can Be Complicated but Beneficial
Genetic Testing for Pediatric Epilepsy Can Be Complicated but Beneficial 150 150 Gina Bericchia

Application of genetic testing in pediatric epilepsy requires understanding of the advantages and limitations of testing modalities The use of genetic testing in pediatric epilepsy is complicated and the list of known epilepsy genes changes almost daily. The steps from a doctor initially evaluating a patient…

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Better Care and Better Business
Better Care and Better Business 150 150 Dave Ghose

The changing economics of health care are forcing hospitals to find solutions that are good for patients and for the bottom line. A puzzled neonatologist approached Richard McClead, MD, after he spoke at a conference in Boston. It was 2010, and Dr. McClead just finished…

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InSight: Restoring Normal Habits
InSight: Restoring Normal Habits 471 285 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

SACRAL NERVE STIMULATION (SNS) is a new treatment that helps control urinary incontinence and fecal soiling. For some children, the nerves that control urination and bowel movements do not work correctly. The SNS unit consists of a small, safe battery and wire under the skin…

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The Transfusion Evolution
The Transfusion Evolution 576 367 Abbie Miller

The first successful open heart surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass was performed in 1953, but it wasn’t until the 1970s that these surgeries began to have high success rates — due in large part to the availability of fresh whole blood transfusions. However, fresh whole…

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Acetabular “Fleck” Sign Predictive of Labral Avulsion
Acetabular “Fleck” Sign Predictive of Labral Avulsion 150 150 Abbie Miller

A “fleck” sign on the postreduction CT scan calls for high suspicion of labral pathology, even in cases of congruent closed reductions. Traumatic posterior hip dislocations and subluxations are typically treated with a closed reduction in pediatric patients. For patients who have a congruent hip…

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A Practical Guide to Beginning Clinical Research
A Practical Guide to Beginning Clinical Research 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

You wouldn’t travel to unknown destinations without a map or GPS, so why do clinical research without a plan? Here’s what you need to know to get started. Although the process for clinical research varies from institution to institution, the initial hurdles are often…

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Illustration of NK Cells, T Cells, other immune cells floating across white background
Revealing the Secrets of Sepsis
Revealing the Secrets of Sepsis 969 533 Abbie Miller

Charting new territory in the understanding of how the immune system responds to sepsis. Two children are admitted to the hospital with sepsis. Both receive antibiotics and fluid resuscitation within the critical first hour. Why does one get better after the initial crisis while…

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New Drug Advances Cystic Fibrosis Care
New Drug Advances Cystic Fibrosis Care 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Orkambi helps reduce infections and slows loss of lung function in some patients. Matt Hennessey knew he was on the experimental medicine and not a placebo just days after he began participating in a drug trial. He felt better. The addition of Orkambi pills…

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Sickle Cell Disease: Global Disparities in Prevalance and Outcomes
Sickle Cell Disease: Global Disparities in Prevalance and Outcomes 150 150 Abbie Miller

Unique challenges exist for people with sickle cell disease depending on where they live. An estimated 300,000 to 500,000 babies worldwide are born with sickle cell disease (SCD) each year. In Africa and India, where SCD is most prevalent, newborn testing is not performed,…

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Marijuana Exposure in Young Children
Marijuana Exposure in Young Children 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Researchers call for states to enact controls protecting all minors. When states legalize marijuana for medical or recreational use, the number of children younger than 6 exposed to the drug spikes that year and continues to rise annually, researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital report.…

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Suicides Rising Among Young Black Children, Rural Adolescents
Suicides Rising Among Young Black Children, Rural Adolescents 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Researchers are parsing data for trends and intervention targets. Researchers in central Ohio are gaining surprising insights they hope will lead to fewer children and adolescents committing suicide. While the suicide rate among white children 5 to 11 years old has declined since 1993,…

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Hidden Victims
Hidden Victims 150 150 Dave Ghose

Pediatricians acknowledge the emerging public health challenge of child commercial sexual exploitation. Public health officials no longer think that human trafficking is just a problem in the developing world. Increasing awareness has focused attention on the exploitation of children in the United States, showing…

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Severely Obese by Kindergarten: What’s a Doctor to Do?
Severely Obese by Kindergarten: What’s a Doctor to Do? 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

The numbers of children and adolescents with severe obesity have continued to rise in the past 30 years, but only a few centers provide evidence-based care for severe childhood obesity. Childhood obesity affects 17 percent of children in the United States, and nearly one-third…

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Methadone Weaning: The Role of the Pharmacist
Methadone Weaning: The Role of the Pharmacist 150 150 Abbie Miller

Pharmacist-led methadone tapers are improving outcomes and reducing practice variation in pediatric intensive care units. In neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, opioid use is necessary for controlling pain and as an adjunct to sedation during mechanical ventilation. However, after as few as five…

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An Ethical Discussion of Parental Care Preference
An Ethical Discussion of Parental Care Preference 150 150 Jan Arthur

Two infants with the same prognosis have parents with different preferences in terms of care. What should the medical team do? The article, “Two Infants, Same Prognosis, Different Parental Preferences,” published in the May 2015 issue of Pediatrics, presents a challenging ethical dilemma that brings…

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Visualizing Gene Therapy for SMA
Visualizing Gene Therapy for SMA 150 150 Abbie Miller

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a degenerative neuromuscular disease, is the most common genetic cause of death for infants. Virtually all children affected with SMA type 1 die by 2 years of age. In 2014, Jerry Mendell, MD, director of the Center for Gene Therapy in the Research Institute…

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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

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…

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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

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…

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Taking a Closer Look at the Relationship Between Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease
Taking a Closer Look at the Relationship Between Type 2 Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease 1024 575 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

A new study reveals surprising results regarding vascular stiffness of coronary microvessels in the presence of type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic condition that affects the glucose metabolism as a result of insulin resistance. Patients with T2DM are two to four…

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Become a Myth Buster: Use Evidence-Based Medicine to Change Clinical Care
Become a Myth Buster: Use Evidence-Based Medicine to Change Clinical Care 150 150 David Stukus, MD

Medical myths abound, even among good doctors. How are medical myths perpetuated and how can they be stopped? When was the last time you took a step back and questioned your medical decision making? Why did you decide to prescribe that treatment at that…

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Helping the Child by Helping the Mom
Helping the Child by Helping the Mom 150 150 Dave Ghose

Pediatricians can help babies by doing a better job screening new mothers for postpartum depression. Up to 20 percent of new mothers experience postpartum depression, but studies show that nearly half go undiagnosed. If pediatricians were to play a greater role in identifying mothers…

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Planning, Teamwork and Technology Essential to Conjoined Twins’ Separation
Planning, Teamwork and Technology Essential to Conjoined Twins’ Separation 150 150 Abbie Miller

In a meticulously planned 16-hour operation, a 30-person team from four specialties successfully separated 11-month-old twins conjoined at the buttocks and lower spine. Specialists from General Pediatric Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Neurosurgery and Colorectal Surgery worked together to plan and execute a successful separation of…

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Stress Dose Hydrocortisone Effects on Neurodevelopment for Extremely Low Birthweight Infants
Stress Dose Hydrocortisone Effects on Neurodevelopment for Extremely Low Birthweight Infants 150 150 Abbie Miller

First placebo-controlled study on stress dose hydrocortisone and neurodevelopment shows that higher doses of hydrocortisone are not associated with brain injury or neurodevelopmental impairments, but may not be effective in reducing risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Hydrocortisone is one of the 15 most frequently prescribed…

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Treating Sickle Cell Disease in the United States
Treating Sickle Cell Disease in the United States 1024 575 Abbie Miller

While people with sickle cell disease have better outcomes in the United States and other Western countries, progress in treating the disease has been slow moving. Sickle cell disease is marked by painful sickle cell crises, in which sickle-shaped cells get distorted in the…

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Challenges of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer
Challenges of Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer 150 150 Anthony Audino, MD

Among the unique challenges of AYA cancer, anxiety often increases after treatments are completed as the patient reintegrates back into “normal life.” The definition of the adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patient has evolved over time, but it is now formally defined as…

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Understanding Genetic Predisposition to Cancer
Understanding Genetic Predisposition to Cancer 1024 683 Susan Colasce, MD and Elizabeth Varga

When should families who have children with cancer be concerned about inherited cancer predisposition? One of the most common questions parents ask when their child is diagnosed with cancer is, “Does this put my other children at higher risk for developing cancer as well?”…

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Psychological Strategies for Pediatric Weight Management
Psychological Strategies for Pediatric Weight Management 150 150 Tyanna Snider, Psy.D

Motivational interviewing, having developmentally appropriate expectations, and behavioral strategies are among the tools needed to support pediatric weight management. Almost everyone has tried to stop a bad habit or change a negative behavior – it’s hard! Think about all the New Year’s resolutions you’ve…

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Making Progress: Advances in Life-Long Care for ACHD
Making Progress: Advances in Life-Long Care for ACHD 150 150 Abbie Miller

With adults comprising two-thirds of the CHD population, the AHA has released a scientific statement outlining the needs of this growing demographic. The need for a life-long approach to cardiac care for patients with congenital heart disease is a crusade that has been long…

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Enteral Therapy Thursday: Professionals Sharing the Patient Experience
Enteral Therapy Thursday: Professionals Sharing the Patient Experience 150 150 Jennifer Smith, MS, RD, CSP, LD, LMT

A multidisciplinary team puts themselves on enteral nutrition for a day to gain insights into the patient experience. Enteral nutrition for Crohn’s disease is a well-established practice using liquid formulas to treat Crohn’s disease.  Patients who choose this form of treatment either drink the…

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Using Informatics to Help Identify Patients for Research
Using Informatics to Help Identify Patients for Research 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

Researchers use Informatics for Integrating Biology and the Bedside (i2b2), a system that can rapidly convert a large amount of clinical data into searchable information, to dramatically reduce the time needed for patient cohort identification. Patient cohort identification, or the process of finding patients…

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Researchers Describe Molecular Switch Controlling “Chameleon” Bacteria
Researchers Describe Molecular Switch Controlling “Chameleon” Bacteria 150 150 Abbie Miller

Closing the gap on developing a vaccine for middle ear infections. Researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and Griffith University’s Institute for Glycomics in Australia have discovered groundbreaking evidence that will help vaccine developers in their search for a vaccine against multiple infections of the…

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Racism in Our Hospitals and Communities: Everyone Matters
Racism in Our Hospitals and Communities: Everyone Matters 150 150 Kelly Kelleher, MD, MPH

Let’s touch all families by erasing racism from children’s hospitals. Here at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, we are engaged in an important new initiative: Everyone Matters. The idea is simple — we each have effects that ripple far beyond us through our everyday actions and attitudes toward…

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Toddler playing with toys
The Childhood Roots of Illness
The Childhood Roots of Illness 1024 575 Dave Ghose

A growing body of scientific evidence reveals the dramatic impact of early-life adversity on lifelong health. Kelly Kelleher, MD, compares childhood health to a boulder sitting on the peak of a mountain. A slight push could send the boulder in many directions. And once…

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Do Overly Restrictive Feeding Practices Contribute to Obesity?
Do Overly Restrictive Feeding Practices Contribute to Obesity? 150 150 Anne Unger

Researchers are discovering that the way caregivers feed their kids may be just as important as what they give them to eat. It is estimated that by 2020, 16 million kids under the age of 5 will be obese. Currently, most public health initiatives…

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Designing a Center for Collaborative Care
Designing a Center for Collaborative Care 150 150 Marc Levitt, MD
Reducing Practice Variation in Pediatrics
Reducing Practice Variation in Pediatrics 150 150 Jonathan Slaughter, MD, MPH

With variations in practice existing even between practitioners at the same institution, research can provide the keys to standardizing care and improving outcomes. Practice variation occurs when care providers diagnose or treat patients differently, even in the setting of similar disease presentation and risk…

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Data-Driven Health Care Delivery
Data-Driven Health Care Delivery 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

Health care enterprise data warehouse (EDW) technology, analytics and cross-functional teams are leading to improved quality and efficiency of patient care. Big data has big potential, but despite the value of electronic health record (EHR) systems in digitizing care at hospitals, data-driven improvements are…

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What Do DALYs Mean for Pediatrics?
What Do DALYs Mean for Pediatrics? 150 150 Dave Ghose

An emerging, innovative metric could radically change childhood health policy. A new way of looking at illness is beginning to change how public health officials view life and death. The concept — called DALYs — offers a fuller view of disease that could have…

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Adolescents, Young Adults and Cancer: What Are the Issues?
Adolescents, Young Adults and Cancer: What Are the Issues? 150 150 Abbie Miller

Adolescents and young adults with cancer have unique needs that may explain their plateau in survival rates, despite improved survival rates in other age groups. At an age when achieving independence and experiencing life milestones are most important, adolescents and young adults facing a…

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Talking to Adolescent Patients About Marijuana
Talking to Adolescent Patients About Marijuana 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

With legalization spreading across the United States, it’s hard to know what to say to teens curious about marijuana. Legal in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Renowned in pop culture. Affectionately called everything from “wacky tobaccy” to “hippie lettuce.” Marijuana isn’t going…

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Do You Believe in Integrated Health Care?
Do You Believe in Integrated Health Care? 150 150 Miguel Saps, MD

Patients are more than a segregated set of organ systems. Treating them as whole beings requires the practice of integrated medicine. I believe in an integrated approach to health care. The care of patients is often envisioned as fractionated, with different specialists taking care…

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A Watershed Moment for Cancer Virotherapy
A Watershed Moment for Cancer Virotherapy 150 150 Timothy Cripe, MD, PhD

A recent decision may define the future of virotherapy’s role in the clinical treatment of cancer. At 4:50 pm on Wednesday, April 29 2015, the votes were cast: 22 in favor, 1 against. With this overwhelming majority, an advisory committee sent a clear message to the…

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Crohn’s Disease Not Exempt From Racial Disparities
Crohn’s Disease Not Exempt From Racial Disparities 150 150 Gina Bericchia

Disparities exist among pediatric Crohn’s patients of different races for a number of health care metrics. A study published in the journal Inflammatory Bowel Diseases found significant differences in hospital readmissions, medication usage and both medical and surgical complications of children with Crohn’s disease related to race.…

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Technology Expands Access to Translational Medicine
Technology Expands Access to Translational Medicine 150 150 Abbie Miller

When primary care physicians, specialists and all the lab work in their arsenal fail to provide a diagnosis for debilitating symptoms, patients earn the label of “undiagnosed.” These undiagnosed patients wait with unresolved symptoms for medical research to catch up with them. The Undiagnosed Diseases…

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Prodigy and Autism Share a Common Genetic Link, Study Finds
Prodigy and Autism Share a Common Genetic Link, Study Finds 150 150 Tiasha Letostak, PhD

Researchers have discovered the first molecular genetic evidence for a shared etiology between prodigy and autism. A new study published in the journal of Human Heredity last month found that child prodigies share some of the same genetic variations with people who have autism. These findings could help…

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Color photo, family portrait of Reagan, a young girl with an orphan disease, her parents, and their dog
Orphan Disease Seeks Parents, Funding
Orphan Disease Seeks Parents, Funding 1024 575 Kevin Mayhood

Research on rare pediatric diseases often remains underfunded and obscure until motivated families give scientists — and their own children — a much-needed shot at potential therapies worthy of federal funding. Reagan McGee’s pediatrician couldn’t figure out why she had cold after cold. Her parents,…

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Colorful illustration showing how fibrosis, or a spiky lumpy mass of scar tissue, forms over healthy liver tissue when the liver attempts to repair and replace damaged cells
Fighting Fibrosis
Fighting Fibrosis 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Fibrosis is an unmet medical challenge with no satisfactory test and insufficient therapy. Now, one naturally occurring cellular component could simultaneously diagnose and heal patients. It’s much more than a million-dollar idea. The person who invents a simple blood or urine test that can…

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Preserving Biopreservation
Preserving Biopreservation 1024 575 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Funding challenges, operational complexity and poor visibility threaten the field of human tissue biobanking. How sustainable are biorepositories? The Children’s Oncology Group (COG) boasts the collaboration of more than 9,000 pediatric cancer experts. They treat patients and research disease at more than 200 hospitals around the…

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InSight: A Window to the Heart
InSight: A Window to the Heart 720 530 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Cardiac MRI for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a potentially fatal congenital heart defect affecting blood flow. It requires multiple palliative surgeries, starting within the first week of life. Nationwide Children’s employs a hybrid surgical approach. Hybrid Stage I (not…

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Patients Without Borders
Patients Without Borders 150 150 Dave Ghose

Immigrant children represent the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population. What can pediatricians do to help these vulnerable patients? James Duffee, MD, MPH, watched the immigrant population change dramatically during his 15 years as a community health pediatrician and child psychiatrist in Springfield,…

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To Rest or Not To Rest?
To Rest or Not To Rest? 150 150 Kevin Mayhood
Ebola in Children Creates Ethical Quandary
Ebola in Children Creates Ethical Quandary 150 150 Kevin Mayhood

Do you keep a parent in the room while the virus rages inside a child? The Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone has challenged emergency preparedness at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota like nothing before — even more than the early days of…

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A Shift in the Antibiotic Prophylaxis Debate?
A Shift in the Antibiotic Prophylaxis Debate? 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

The RIVUR trial laid to rest certain questions surrounding antimicrobial prophylaxis in children with vesicoureteral reflux. But it also launched a new debate. The Randomized Intervention for Children with Vesicoureteral Reflux (RIVUR) trialwas supposed to provide clear direction for pediatric urologists. To date, it…

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Conflicting Directions for BPD Treatment
Conflicting Directions for BPD Treatment 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Treatment of bronchopulmonary dysplasia differs dramatically among institutions. But why does variation matter? Recent studies report extreme variation among hospitals ordering three common medications for chronic lung disease, or bronchopulmonary dysplasia, calling into question the appropriateness of their use and the reason for their…

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Placental Transfusion Confusion
Placental Transfusion Confusion 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Medical professional organizations cannot reach consensus regarding delayed cord clamping and umbilical cord “milking.” Nearly every relevant professional organization has its own recommendations for placental transfusion techniques known as delayed umbilical cord clamping and milking. But it’s unclear whether additional research will lead to…

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Beyond the Basics: Enrolling Children in Research
Beyond the Basics: Enrolling Children in Research 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

The ethics of pediatric research include far more than the concepts of autonomy and assent. Consent and assent. Competence and autonomy. Physicians are familiar with the catchphrases of ethical research, but the deeper researchers dig, the more they find that the field’s current understanding…

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Study Finds Cow’s Milk is Added to Breast Milk and Sold to Parents Online
Study Finds Cow’s Milk is Added to Breast Milk and Sold to Parents Online 150 150 Katie Brind'Amour, PhD, MS, CHES

Deceptive Internet advertisements for human breast milk may put infants at risk. What do parents (and doctors) need to know about milk sharing? A study published yesterday on the safety of human breast milk bought over the Internet found that 10 percent of samples contained added…

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The Continence Predictor Index
The Continence Predictor Index 150 150 Marc Levitt, MD