News by Subject Medicine & Health

The largest-ever clinical trial of a medication for pediatric cardiology patients found that an oral drug significantly improved exercise capacity in adolescent patients with severe, congenital single-ventricle heart defects. A study leader says the physiologic benefits represent a milestone in the care of those who have undergone the Fontan procedure, a palliative operation for single-ventricle disease.

Using a relevant animal model (pigs), University of Saskatchewan researchers have shown that mild Zika virus infection in fetuses can cause abnormal brain development in apparently healthy young animals. The study, published Nov. 14, 2019 in PLOS Pathogens, provides new insights into the potential outcomes of Zika virus infection and could point to new prevention and treatment strategies to alleviate the long-term effects of Zika virus infection.

Health provider follow-ups delivered via computer or smartphone is a feasible alternative to in-person patient follow-ups for some pediatric cardiac conditions, according to the findings of a pilot study presented at the AHA Scientific Sessions this week.

Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) are developing a sensor the size of a Band-Aid that will measure a baby's blood oxygen levels, a vital indication of the lungs' effectiveness and whether the baby's tissue is receiving adequate oxygen supply. Unlike current systems used in hospitals, this miniaturized wearable device will be flexible and stretchable, wireless, inexpensive, and mobile--possibly allowing the child to leave the hospital and be monitored remotely.

Researchers have discovered that the Zika virus protein NS4A disrupts brain growth by hijacking a pathway that regulates the generation of new neurons.

Some chemical alternatives to plastic bisphenol-a (BPA), which is still commonly used in medical settings such as operating rooms and intensive care units, may be less disruptive to heart electrical function than BPA, according to a pre-clinical study that explored how the structural analogues bisphenol-s (BPS) and bisphenol-f (BPF) interact with the chemical and electrical functions of heart cells.

Binge drinking among U.S. adolescents precipitously declined from 1991 to 2018, according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Depressive symptoms among U.S. adolescents have sharply increased since 2012. And for the first time in the past 40 years, binge drinking and depressive symptoms among adolescents are no longer associated.

An upcoming clinical trial at Children's National Hospital will harness cardiopulmonary bypass as a delivery mechanism for a novel intervention designed to stimulate brain growth and repair in children who undergo cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease.

A multicenter group of 41 hospitals led by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) has confirmed that an improved method for predicting retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a leading cause of blindness in children, was able to reduce the number of babies having invasive diagnostic examinations by nearly a third, while raising disease detection up to 100 percent.

Researchers found that that defects in a conserved stress pathway known as the 'integrated stress response,' or ISR, could explain the cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Down syndrome.