Patient Stories
Amazing Grace: Toddler receives life-changing care for cloacal anomaly
Grace Brown loves playing with her six brothers and sisters, watching educational TV shows, and just being an average toddler. But by some accounts, she shouldn’t be here at all. “We were told before she was even born that she wasn’t likely to survive,” says her mother, K’Shayla. After Grace — and her twin sister, ... Read More about Amazing Grace: Toddler receives life-changing care for cloacal anomaly
Clinical Care
SMART: A new approach to asthma management
Until recently, the typical approach to asthma involved two inhalers. In its first update since 2007, the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program now recommends the use of Single Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (SMART) for selected patients. Rather than an inhaled corticosteroid for daily maintenance and an inhaled bronchodilator for exacerbations, SMART uses the same ... Read More about SMART: A new approach to asthma management
Research
Taking treatment of long-gap esophageal atresia to the next level: Refining innovative techniques
The surgeons in the Esophageal and Airway Treatment Center at Boston Children’s Hospital are pioneers in developing and refining innovative surgical approaches to long-gap esophageal atresia, a condition in which a child’s esophagus develops in two separate segments that can’t be easily connected with surgery. Among these techniques are jejunal interposition and the Foker process. ... Read More about Taking treatment of long-gap esophageal atresia to the next level: Refining innovative techniques
Health and Parenting
Practice positivity: Navigating body image with your child
Children receive thousands of messages every day about ‘how the world works’ and the role of kids and adolescents in it. Sometimes they learn things explicitly, but they also receive cues from mass and social media, family and peers. Body image is no exception. In young people, negative messages about bodies and appearances can contribute ... Read More about Practice positivity: Navigating body image with your child
Patient Stories
Another shot for Conner: Getting back in the game after brain surgery
Watch Conner Hicks coach basketball at Midlakes Middle School in Clifton Springs, New York, and you’ll see a young man with a passion for the game. Talk to the players on his team and you’ll hear about a dedicated and enthusiastic role model. What you probably won’t notice is the 19-year-old’s fight with a brain ... Read More about Another shot for Conner: Getting back in the game after brain surgery
Health and Parenting
Finding a nutrition plan that works for your family
Every day, millions of people follow specialized diets for myriad reasons. These can include religious or ethical beliefs, allergies or sensitivities, or meeting individual health goals. Be it vegetarianism, veganism, gluten-free, paleo, or “clean eating,” nutritional lifestyles can be different everywhere. While diets like these and countless others do provide health and wellness benefits, most ... Read More about Finding a nutrition plan that works for your family
Patient Stories
Beating the odds with biliary atresia: Sarah’s story
Five-year-old Sarah Sirpenski loves watching TV shows about baking and is eager to try her hand at it herself. She likes to spend time in her family’s kitchen, measuring out imaginary cups of sugar and other ingredients, say her parents, Kate and Dan. One of her doctors even calls her “corn muffin” — although that ... Read More about Beating the odds with biliary atresia: Sarah’s story
Research
A coming wave of diabetes? The link with COVID-19
Researchers are observing a new long-term health concern in patients hospitalized with COVID-19 — an increase in new-onset hyperglycemia lasting months after infection. An Italian study found that about half of the patients admitted to the hospital for COVID-19 during the start of the pandemic had new cases of hyperglycemia, or high levels of blood ... Read More about A coming wave of diabetes? The link with COVID-19
Research
Groundbreaking research helps advance treatment of rare, fast growing brain tumor
Researchers from the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center recently found that levels of a specific protein detected through a patient’s urine can track a tumor’s size and responsiveness to treatment in children with diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPG). This discovery helps steer the course for more innovative and less invasive treatment options. Confronting ... Read More about Groundbreaking research helps advance treatment of rare, fast growing brain tumor
Clinical Care
Vacuum bell therapy: A nonsurgical option for chest wall depression (pectus excavatum)
Pectus excavatum is one of the most common chest wall abnormalities, affecting about 1 in 300 children. Physicians at Boston Children’s Hospital helped define early treatments for chest wall problems and continue to develop innovative approaches to pectus excavatum. These innovations include a nonsurgical procedure called vacuum bell therapy. While children with severe pectus excavatum ... Read More about Vacuum bell therapy: A nonsurgical option for chest wall depression (pectus excavatum)