Pediatric cardiology clinicians and researchers from all over the world gathered in February for the 18th Annual Update on Pediatric and Congenital Cardiovascular Disease, the 2015 Cardiology conference supported by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Phoenix Children’s Hospital.
From the numerous projects presented during the conference, the organizers chose eight finalist research teams for the Outstanding Investigator Award due to their outstanding contributions to congenital heart disease (CHD). According to a recent news release, the finalists included:
– Jennifer M. Lynch, Ph.D., and colleagues from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania, whose study found increased risk of white-matter injury before cardiac surgery in neonates is associated with brain oxygen Flow.
– Nichole Gubbins, M.D., and colleagues at the Children’s Mercy Hospital, University of Missouri-Kansas City, who assessed practice changes in a pediatric cardiac catheterization laboratory and found that radiation exposure to physicians decreased by 46 percent from 2011 to 2012.
– Maryam Y. Naim, M.D., and colleagues from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who observed that in animal models, hemodynamic goal-directed cardiopulmonary resuscitation was able to Improve 24-hour survival outcomes from ventricular fibrillation cardiac arrest.
– Carly J. Scahill, D.O., and colleagues from the Medical University of South Carolina who performed a retrospective study finding no relationship between pre-operative feeding and necrotizing enterocolitis in newborns that undergo cardiac surgery.
– Constantine D. Mavroudis, M.D., M.Sc., and colleagues from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who found that a specific genetic variant of the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGFA) is related to preserved ventricular function and also associated with better outcomes in heart transplantation after surgery in a cohort of non-syndromic CHD patients.
– Kyle G. Miletic, B.S., and colleagues from the Wayne State University School of Medicine who in a prospective study were able to validate a Vasoactive-Ventilation-Renal Score that can predict outcomes after pediatric cardiac surgery in children with CHD.
– Mats Mellander, and colleagues from the Queen Silvia Children’s Hospital, University of Gothenburg in Sweden that conducted an epidemiological study over 20 years observing infants with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and concluding that Norwood surgery improved rates of postoperative survival in patients suffering from this condition.
– Aida R. Turquetto, R.T. and colleagues from the Heart Institute of Sao Paulo University, Medical School that found CHD patients who survived the Fontan/Kreutzer procedure had a lower exercise capacity compared to healthy controls.
The research being conducted by these groups of Pediatric cardiologists are integral to advancing the understanding of congenital heart disease in children, as well as developing best practices for treatment in order to achieve the most optimal patient outcomes.
