Childrens Mercy - Kansas City

Chronic abdominal pain is a common problem that affects up to 20 percent of all school-aged children and teens. Despite how many youth struggle with abdominal pain, there is no clear agreement among medical professionals about how best to manage it. What professionals do agree on is that abdominal pain is complex and can be difficult to treat effectively.Craig Friesen, MD, is here to explain how the Gastroenterology Division at Children’s Mercy uses a biopsychosocial approach to chronic pain and has delivered resolution or near resolution of symptoms in 70-80 percent of patients within six weeks.

The incidence of acute lymphoblastic leukemia is approximately 15 percent higher in Hispanics than Caucasians and the overall survival rate is lower in this population. But little is known about why. Are genetic variations the cause of the differences in survival rates? Are there variations even within the populations classified as Hispanic? Dr. Terrie Flatt is here today to discuss leading research in conjunction with a partner hospital in Mexico to better understand the role of ethnicity in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and how patients with certain cytogenetic arrangements in their cancer cells may respond to treatment.

Concussion is a growing and publicized concern in Sports Medicine. We know that children are much more vulnerable to concussion because their neurological system is still developing and their neck muscles are unable to absorb the blow. These important and unique services offered at a Children’s hospital used to treat concussions :• trained to care for adolescents• ability to identify risks for long-term return to play• baseline testing, ImPACT Test, VSR Sport test• vestibular therapy• physical therapyUnique approach to concussion treatment: a Comprehensive clinic. Our comprehensive clinic has experts in neurology, rehabilitation and sports med working together to treat concussions.Greg Canty, MD is here to discuss how Children's Mercy works to treat concussions.

Few studies have prospectively evaluated the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children and adolescents, as well as factors associated with progression. A multicenter observational study conducted as part of the NIH-funded Chronic Kidney Disease in Children study found characterization and modeling of risk factors for CKD progression can be used to predict the extent to which factors such as proteinuria, hypoabluminemia, blood pressure, dyslipidemia and anemia -- either alone or in combination -- would shorten the time to renal replacement therapy or 50% decline in GFR in children with chronic kidney disease.Bradley Warady, MD is here to discuss chronic kidney disease in children and adolescents.

As pediatric cancer survival rates continue to improve, we are now faced with a new challenge --transitioning care to adult providers and managing the long-term effects of cancer and cancer treatment, which often includes endocrine and cardiac related problems. There are currently very few adult-based follow-up or survivor clinics. Children’s Mercy, in partnership with the Midwest Cancer Alliance and the University of Kansas Cancer Center, has developed a Transition Clinic to evaluate the needs of this patient population, track patients and adherence to follow-up guidelines, and improve long-term outcomes.Joy Fulbright, MD is here to discuss the need for this type of program, and discuss the types of issues pediatric cancer survivors face as they transition to adult care and to talk about the work Children’s Mercy is doing in the areas of cardiotoxicity research; endocrine disorders in cancer survivors, study participation and interventional studies.

Designed with the patient in mind, the Great HeighTS Turner Syndrome Clinic at Children’s Mercy Kansas City is a one-day clinic where patients can see multiple specialists in one, convenient location. Not only does this minimize the number of medical visits for families, but it also gives the girls with this rare disease, and their parents, an opportunity to meet and interact with others who are going through the same situations they are.Joe Cernich, MD, a Pediatric Endocrinologist at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, is here to discuss Turner Syndrome.

With the opening of the Elizabeth J. Ferrell Fetal Health Center, Children’s Mercy Kansas City became one of only a few children’s hospitals in the country to offer comprehensive care, including on-site delivery, for babies with fetal anomalies. This allows mothers, families and newborns to remain in the same hospital regardless of the complexity of the newborn’s medical condition with access to the region’s only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit.Tim Bennett, MD, a Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Medicine, is here to discuss comprehensive care, including on-site delivery, for babies with fetal anomalies.

Both in our region and nationally, the occurrence of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) has grown steadily over the past few years. Combining the expertise of neonatologists, pediatric clinical pharmacologists and a multidisciplinary team of caregivers into a single NAS program has put Children’s Mercy Kansas City in a unique position to explore new methods for treating this growing problem.Children's Mercy has developed a family-integrated process for infants at risk for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome.The goal moving forward is to work with area community hospitals to prenatally identify infants at risk for NAS and provide education to the family before birth.Dr. Tamorah R. Lewis, a Neonatologist at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, is here to help families better understand NAS.

Gender dysphoria, if left untreated, has a 40 to 50 percent attempted suicide rate. Medical, social and psychological problems all need to be addressed and often dealt with simultaneously. Children’s Mercy has developed the new Gender Pathway Services (GPS) Clinic to help manage these issues. Based in the Division of Endocrinology, the team provides interdisciplinary family-centered services for transgender, gender-variant, and gender-questioning patients. This is the only center of its kind in the Midwest and one of only a handful in the country. Specialists that are part of the clinic include: endocrinology, psychology, adolescent medicine and social work. New patients receive a psychological evaluating to help ensure the mental health needs of the family and patient are continuously supported.Jill Jacobson, MD is here to discuss Gender dysphoria.

Children’s Mercy Kansas City is one of four sites participating in Newborn Sequencing In Genomic Medicine and Public HealTh (NSIGHT),  which is sponsored by the NIH along with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).  NSIGHT is designed to explore the implications, challenges and opportunities associated with the possible use of genomic sequence information in the newborn period.  The emphasis of the Children’s Mercy NSIGHT project is gaining rapid access to genetic diagnostic information so that clinical care can be managed effectively for acutely ill neonates.  Early evidence of the feasibility of this approach was recently published by Children’s Mercy investigators in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.Conclusions from this study suggest that STAT-Seq, a rapid whole-genome sequencing test developed at Children’s Mercy, has the potential to alter clinical management or genetic counseling and provides a