|
Topic Name: Hopkins research shows survival of newborns with abdominal holes differs according to hospital
Category: Biomedical
Research persons: Meghan Arnold, M.D.,Fizan Abdullah, M.D. Ph. D.,Paul Colombani, M.D.,David C. Chang, Ph.D.
Location: Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, United States
Details
A newborn’s chance for surviving a low-risk version of a condition called gastroschisis
varies greatly by hospital, according to a study by Johns Hopkins surgeons.
Babies with the condition have a hole in their abdomen near the umbilical
cord. The uncomplicated variant of the condition, where the hole is the only
abdominal anomaly, is fairly easy to repair, and 97 percent of babies survive
it. However the Hopkins findings suggest that in some hospitals, far fewer
babies who should survive the condition after treatment actually do. Some
hospitals had death rates three to five times the national average.
The findings of the study are being presented at the American
Academy of Pediatrics Conference Oct. 26 through Oct. 30 in San Francisco.
Researchers compared mortality rates among 1,775 infants born with
uncomplicated gastroschisis in 40 U.S hospitals. Only hospitals that had treated
at least 25 newborns with gastroschisis were included. Of the 40 hospitals,
one-fourth (10) had death rates higher than 2.9 percent, which is the national
average for the low-risk variant of the condition. Of the 10, two hospitals had
very poor death rates—8.6 percent and 14.3 percent.
“We went into this prepared to see some differences, but we didn’t expect
to see these striking variations from hospital to hospital in these fairly
uncomplicated cases,” says investigator Meghan Arnold, M.D., a surgical
resident at the Johns Hopkins
Children’s Center.
Because surgical techniques to repair gastroschisis are uniform across
hospitals, researchers say the next step should be finding whether the
difference in survival could be due to factors such as different
nurse-to-patient ratios, variations in medication and nursing protocols and the
availability of pediatric subspecialists.
Other researchers in the study: Fizan Abdullah, M.D. Ph. D., Hopkins
Children’s; Paul Colombani, M.D., Hopkins Children’s; and David C. Chang,
Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Embargoed for release
until Saturday, Oct. 27, 1 p.m., PST
About Johns Hopkins Children’s Center
Much of what we take for granted in medicine today—from the rigorous training of physicians and nurses to the emphasis on research and the rapid application of that research to patient care—emerged from innovations made more than a century ago at a brand new medical center in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins. Indeed, today the very name Johns Hopkins means medicine to a majority of Americans, according to a recent Gallup poll.
Hopkins now uses one overarching name—Johns Hopkins Medicine—to identify its whole medical enterprise. This $4 billion virtual organization unites the physicians and scientists of The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine with the health professionals and facilities that make up the broad Johns Hopkins Health System.
History
Johns Hopkins, a Baltimore merchant and banker, left an estate of $7 million when he died on Christmas Eve 1873, at the age of seventy-eight. In his will, he asked that his fortune be used to found two institutions that would bear his name: "The Johns Hopkins University" and "The Johns Hopkins Hospital." At the time that it was made, Hopkins' gift was the largest philanthropic bequest in the history of the United States. Toward the end of his life, Hopkins selected twelve prominent Baltimoreans to be the trustees for the project and a year before his death, sent a letter telling them that he was giving "thirteen acres of land, situated in the city of Baltimore, and bounded by Wolfe, Monument, Broadway and Jefferson streets upon which I desire you to erect a hospital." He wished for a hospital "which shall, in construction and arrangement, compare favorably with any other institution of like character in this country or in Europe" and directed his trustees to "secure for the service of the Hospital, physicians and surgeons of the highest character and greatest skill."
About American Academy of Pediatrics
The American Academy of Pediatrics ("AAP") is an organization of pediatricians, physicians trained to deal with the medical care of infants, children, and adolescents. Its motto is: "Dedicated to the Health of All Children." Most American and Canadian pediatricians are members of this physician-focused organization.
History
In 1930, 60 physicians who specialized in child health founded the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). The name of the non-profit organization reflected the physician's commitment to children and the specialty of pediatrics. It also formally acknowledged the difference between adult and child health care. In 1948, the first issue of their journal Pediatrics was published.
In the last 75 years, the AAP has grown to a membership of 60,000 board-certified primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists, and pediatric surgical specialists. Through advocacy efforts, physician education, research, and the continual creation of pediatric care and practice policies, AAP members and staff work tirelessly to affect broad social and medical changes benefiting all children and the future of pediatrics.
A Board of Directors, consisting of district chairs elected by AAP members in 10 geographic districts, oversees the governance of the AAP. AAP chapters are organized groups of pediatricians and other health care professionals working to achieve AAP goals in their communities. There are 59 chapters in the US and 7 chapters in Canada.
About Researcher:
Fizan Abdullah, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Dr. Abdullah received his M.D. & Ph.D. degrees from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia by 1998. He completed his General Surgery residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital after which he proceeded to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles for his Pediatric Surgery Fellowship. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor of Surgery. Dr. Abdullah’s expertise is in surgery for infants and children with congenital anomalies as well as advanced laparoscopy. His research interest relates to lung development, tissue engineering, and extracorporeal life support.
Research Interests:
Lung Development & Treatment of Pulmonary Hypoplasia
Tissue Engineering
Extracorporeal Life Support
Developmental Biology of Stem Cell Differentiation
| Related research: |
BEST WAY TO DETECT AIRBORNE PATHOGENS, Bone graft alternative, Predict cells' response to drugs, Radiation Therapy for Cancer Patients Controlled & Could Speed Up by Machine Learning, 21st-century pack mule: MIT's 'exoskeleton' lightens the load, 3D Ultrasound brain scanner : successfully image the brain, 450 new terms for describing gene products involved in microbe-host interactions., A new model of lie detector, A signaling pathway crucially involved in Crohn's disease and Ulcerative Colitis, Bath Pain Management Unit has developed an observational tool, Biomarker, or biological indicator, for early diagnosis of neurological disorders, Biomolecular World : connections among biology and physics, and molecules and computers, Brain scanning experiment shows how much we take others' earnings as a measure of our success, Cloning from Adult DNA, Compute-intensive applications : The new Cell Accelerator Board, Cornell University's researchers discover hormone that may lead to safe treatment for hypertension, Detect cancer and neurological diseases by identifying certain molecules present in human blood or urine, Developed simple bladder cancer test, Different biomolecules (DNA, proteins, etc.) in a single sample, Duke scientists map imprinted genes in human genome, say a modern-day Rosetta stone, Emotions play a part in moral judgments, Factors of Prostate Cancer Risk, FINDING SURVIVORS, PROTECTING DRIVERS, Firsts with Bursts of Light ,Team generates most energetic terahertz pulses yet, observes useful optical phenomena, Fluorescence microscopy : medical, commercial applications
|
|
