Groundbreaking research identifies noninvasive biomarker for moyamoya in children
Moyamoya is a rare blood vessel condition that has an outsized impact on children, as it is responsible for about 6 percent of pediatric strokes in the United States. Surgical revascularization is the only treatment and is very effective. However, clinicians face challenges in identifying new or worsening disease before a disabling stroke occurs, predicting ... Read More
Predicting the best treatment for vesicoureteral reflux in kids: The power of machine learning
The result of abnormal formation of the normal valve between the kidney and bladder, vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) can lead to recurrent febrile urinary tract infections (UTIs) and kidney scarring in children. Previous research has shown that when taken continuously, prophylactic antibiotics can reduce the risk of recurrent UTI in about half of this population. However, ... Read More
Sex steroid treatment changes HDL cholesterol levels in transgender youth
In an important study in transgender youth, researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital and colleagues have discovered that HDL cholesterol levels change within six months after starting gender-affirming medical treatment. HDL levels dropped an average 7 points in transmasculine patients and they rose by about 11 points in transfeminine youth. The HDL shifts do not indicate ... Read More
Piecing together the preterm infant microbiome
The human microbiome — the collection of microbes living in the gut — is now recognized as an important contributor to health and disease. The environment, the host, and microbe-microbe interactions are all likely to shape the microbiome’s dynamics, but the unique roles of each are not well understood. Now, a Boston Children’s Hospital infectious ... Read More
Can we prevent leukemia in patients with Shwachman-Diamond syndrome?
Anna Nazarenko doesn’t see herself as sick. The strong-willed, spunky 6-year-old loves to dance and ski, and spent much of April Fool’s day pranking her parents. Aside from the enzymes she takes to help digest her food, you wouldn’t know that she has Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS). The rare, inherited type of bone marrow failure has ... Read More
Diversifying therapeutic antibodies: From one, come many with potential different uses
A new method for producing antibodies against disease could result in a wider variety of drugs for infectious diseases, immune disease, and even cancer. The immune system naturally produces enormous varieties of antibodies to fight diseases. Therapeutic antibodies — antibodies created against specific therapeutic targets — have been used for decades to either rev up ... Read More
Game-changing surgical procedure results in zero-percent TEF re-recurrence rate
A tracheaesophageal fistula (TEF) is a congenital defect in which an abnormal connection forms between a child’s esophagus and trachea. It often occurs with esophageal atresia. Even after surgical repair, TEFs recur in about 10 to 15 percent of infants and children. They rarely close spontaneously and typically require surgical or endoscopic intervention. Key takeaways: ... Read More
Sturdier spikes may explain SARS-CoV-2 variants’ faster spread
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
Looking for cancer’s Achilles heel: The Pediatric Cancer Dependency Map
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
Soft stents, hardened in place by UV light, allow a snug, custom fit
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