Children’s Doctor News and Updates: Spring 2017

Review 2016’s highlights in CHOP’s annual reports

Compelling stories of the biggest breakthroughs of last year are at the heart of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s Annual Report, Breakthroughs. Every Day. and the CHOP Research Institute Annual Report, Accelerating Breakthroughs. Peruse the 2016 reports to learn about:

• Innovation in employee-inspired inventions, treating GI disorders and data-driven research
• The South Philadelphia Community Health and Literacy Center, which CHOP created in partnership with the City of Philadelphia
• A $25 million gift Children’s Hospital received from the Roberts family to create a new collaborative focused on individualized medicine and genetics
• The Research Institute’s new Strategic Plan and new Research Affinity Groups
• Staff who received prestigious awards and were recognized for their leadership in children’s health
• The 10th anniversary of the Center for Applied Genomics and other important milestones

Julian Allen, MD, receives lifetime achievement award

Julian Allen, MD, Chief, Division of Pulmonary Medicine, and Director, CHOP Asthma Program, was recognized for lifetime achievement in the field of pediatric pulmonology by the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Pediatric Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine. Allen, who has been chief since 1998, received the 2017 Edwin L. Kendig Jr. Award in February. He is also a professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

MAYO Clinic, CHOP to collaborate on HLHS

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Mayo Clinic’s Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) are collaborating to delay and prevent heart failure from HLHS. The collaboration is part of a consortium of regional centers across the nation and will allow for a decrease in the amount of time from research and discovery to the clinical application of innovative cell-based therapies.

“Cell-based therapy offers us another potential option — beyond conventional medical treatments, ventricular assist devices, or transplants — for a child or young adult with a failing heart,” says CHOP’s Robert Shaddy, MD, Chief, Division of Cardiology.

Treatment guidelines for growth failure highlight need for more research

CHOP led a study that created new clinical guidelines for managing children and adolescents with growth failure, but medical and ethical questions remain and require additional research.

“The nuances of this issue leave much room for open questions and differences of interpretation,” says study leader and CHOP endocrinologist Adda Grimberg, MD. “In developing these guidelines, we analyzed not only the results, but the strengths, limitations, and potential biases of studies in a large evidence base that continues to evolve.”

For children with certain clearly diagnosed medical conditions — growth hormone deficiency and primary IGF-I deficiency — the experts recommend hormonal treatments. When the cause of growth failure is unknown — idiopathic short stature — they advise against routine growth hormone use and recommend a shared decision-making approach, weighing physical and psychological burdens for the child, along with a discussion of risks and benefits.

“Administering growth hormone treatment may help very short children gain a few inches in height, but it also exposes them to a powerful hormone when we do not fully know the long-term implications,” says co-author Chris Feudtner, MD, PhD, a Pediatrician and Director of the Hospital’s Department of Medical Ethics.

The guidelines, written on behalf of the Pediatric Endocrine Society, appeared in Hormone Research in Paediatrics.

Affiliations with Einstein Healthcare, RWJBarnabas to broaden CHOP’s reach

The alliance between Children’s Hospital and Einstein Healthcare Network took a step forward on Jan. 1 when CHOP officially transitioned to lead professional services in the newborn nursery and NICU at Einstein Medical Center Montgomery in East Norriton, Pennsylvania.

Einstein’s exceptional women’s health and maternity care and now CHOP’s world-class neonatology services are available to Central Montgomery County families at one easily accessible location with access to the nationally acclaimed pediatric specialties at CHOP’s Main Campus in Philadelphia. Both organizations continue to explore several additional facets of this alliance, including pediatric emergency services and integration of electronic medical records.

Also in January, RWJBarnabas Health and CHOP signed a letter of intent, proposing a strategic alliance and outlining plans for a pediatric healthcare delivery system designed to improve access, delivery, quality, and efficiency of pediatric health in central and northern New Jersey.

The affiliation will create the most comprehensive pediatric health network in the region and enable greater opportunity to improve the health and promote wellness of children in our communities. It is intended to include care for all pediatric inpatients, outpatients, and ambulatory patients, as well as other services that are to be determined.