Blog | Page 81 of 159 | Boston Children's Answers

Sturdier spikes may explain SARS-CoV-2 variants’ faster spread

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: cellular and molecular medicine, coronavirus, imaging, infectious diseases

The fast-spreading U.K., South Africa, and Brazil variants are raising concerns and questions about whether current COVID-19 vaccines will protect against them. A structural biology study led by Bing Chen, PhD, at Boston Children’s Hospital now reveals how the D614G mutation — carried by all three variants — makes SARS-CoV-2 spread faster. Key takeaways: The main ... Read More

Tagged: cellular and molecular medicine, coronavirus, imaging, infectious diseases

Looking for cancer’s Achilles heel: The Pediatric Cancer Dependency Map

Posted on March 22, 2021 by Nancy Fliesler | Basic/Translational, Research

Tags: cancer, drug development, ewing sarcoma, gene editing, genetics and genomics, glioma, medulloblastoma, neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma, personalized medicine

Thanks to developments in precision medicine, some adult cancers are now treated with designer drugs that target the genetic mutations that caused them. But most children with cancer have not reaped the same benefits. Unlike adult cancers, childhood cancers carry few genetic mutations. And the mutations these tumors do have are typically harder to make ... Read More

Tagged: cancer, drug development, ewing sarcoma, gene editing, genetics and genomics, glioma, medulloblastoma, neuroblastoma, osteosarcoma, personalized medicine

Soft stents, hardened in place by UV light, allow a snug, custom fit

Posted on March 19, 2021 by Nancy Fliesler | Research, Therapeutics/Diagnostics/Devices

Tags: bioengineering, cardiac research, congenital heart defect, medical devices, tracheomalacia

Airway stents are often used when the trachea and bronchi need to be buttressed, as in children and adults with tracheobronchomalacia whose airways become “floppy” and collapse during normal breathing. This condition can occur in conjunction with congenital cardiac anomalies in which the major heart vessels compress the trachea, and with severe, recurrent bronchitis. But ... Read More

Tagged: bioengineering, cardiac research, congenital heart defect, medical devices, tracheomalacia

Laparoscopic approach to cloacal malformation repair found safe in eligible patients

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Jessica Cerretani | Research

Tags: colorectal and pelvic malformations, surgery

A minimally invasive surgical approach called laparoscopic rectal mobilization and urogenital separation appears to be a safe alternative to open surgery in eligible patients with cloacal malformations. That’s the conclusion of a recent study by the team in the Colorectal and Pelvic Malformation Center at Boston Children’s Hospital. A minimally invasive approach to urogenital separation ... Read More

Tagged: colorectal and pelvic malformations, surgery

Minimally invasive surgery safe and effective for craniosynostosis

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Alice McCarthy | Clinical Care, Specialty Care

Tags: apert syndrome, craniofacial, neurosurgery, research, surgery

Traditional treatment for children with craniosynostosis — a condition in which the bones of the skull grow together too early in the child’s development — usually involves an extensive open craniectomy surgery with a incision to release the fused bones. But a study from physicians in the Cleft and Craniofacial Center at Boston Children’s Hospital ... Read More

Tagged: apert syndrome, craniofacial, neurosurgery, research, surgery

COVID-19: What we know and how to cope with an uncertain future

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Ellen Greenlaw | Health and Parenting

Tags: coronavirus, mental health

Last March, when the world as we knew it shut down because of the coronavirus, we imagined we’d be home for a few weeks at most. But here we are, a year later, still unsure when our lives might get back to “normal.” And it’s still unclear what a new normal might even look like. ... Read More

Tagged: coronavirus, mental health

Neurological involvement common in kids and teens with acute COVID-19 and MIS-C

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Alice McCarthy | Clinical, Research

Tags: adolescent medicine, coronavirus, mis-c, neurology

In the largest study of its kind, researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital found neurological involvement in 22 percent of children and adolescents hospitalized with acute COVID-19 or multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). These symptoms included fatigue, headache, confusion, difficulty walking or crawling, or loss of taste and smell. However, 1 in 8 children with ... Read More

Tagged: adolescent medicine, coronavirus, mis-c, neurology

Reaching his goals: Surgery helps CP soccer star shine

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Jessica Cerretani | Patient Stories

Tags: cerebral palsy, orthopedics, surgery

Cooper Veloudis loves soccer. At 12, he’s an avid player on CP Soccer’s New York team. This U.S. Soccer member organization provides opportunities for players with cerebral palsy (CP), stroke, or traumatic brain injuries and feeds into the U.S. Paralympics. He’s even kept up with daily practices during the pandemic via Zoom, rarely missing a ... Read More

Tagged: cerebral palsy, orthopedics, surgery

A repair for Charleston’s complex heart

Posted on March 9, 2021 by Ellen Greenlaw | Patient Stories

Tags: atrial septal defect, biventricular repair, cardiac surgery, heart, heart center, heart patient, ventricular septal defect

Trey and Jandie Steele both work in medical device sales. They have spent lots of time in hospital operating rooms and are comfortable discussing complex medical procedures with doctors and surgeons. And yet, when their second child, Charleston, was diagnosed with a number of congenital heart defects one week after her birth, they felt blindsided ... Read More

Tagged: atrial septal defect, biventricular repair, cardiac surgery, heart, heart center, heart patient, ventricular septal defect

Avoiding a lifetime of injections: Can gene editing cure severe congenital neutropenia?

Posted on March 8, 2021 by Nancy Fliesler | Patient Stories

Tags: blood disorder, gene editing, research, stem cells

Fionn Mulrooney, a cheerful 11-month-old, in Plymouth, Massachusetts, has no idea he has a life-threatening genetic disease. Nor does he seem fazed by the daily subcutaneous injections his parents have learned how to give him. And little does he know that cells from his bone marrow are helping scientists develop an innovative gene-editing approach that ... Read More

Tagged: blood disorder, gene editing, research, stem cells