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Children’s Hospital Los Angeles cardiologist Jondavid Menteer, MD, was honored with the World Children’s Transplant Fund “WCTF for the Children Award.” The prestigious award recognized Dr. Menteer for 20 years of dedication and leadership in pediatric heart transplant at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, which is home to the largest heart center for children in the Western U.S.

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After previously approving its use for a limited population, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has now approved Elevidys, a gene therapy designed to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), for a broader range of child patients.

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Dr. Burgener, a pediatric pulmonologist who joined CHLA last summer from Stanford University, studies cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disorder that affects the lungs, pancreas and other organs.

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This spring, Rachel Chapman, MD, traveled to two cities in China to share expertise on one of the most complex lifesaving interventions for critically ill newborns: extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).Dr. Chapman, Associate Division Chief of Neonatology and Medical Director of the Newborn and Infant Critical Care Unit (NICCU) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, was invited to speak at two meetings: the National Conference of the Chinese Neonatologist Association, held March 24-26 in Beijing, and the Guangzhou Newborn and Infant ECMO International Forum, held March 31-April 2 in Guangzhou.

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The coronavirus pandemic is no longer a national emergency, but the virus that causes COVID-19 isn’t gone—and neither is the risk of getting the disease. For parents, navigating when to get their child vaccinated and knowing how to best protect their child from COVID-19 can be complicated. We spoke to Michael Smit, MD, MSPH, Hospital Epidemiologist and Medical Director of Infection Prevention and Control at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, to get an update on the latest COVID-19 vaccine information and precautions.

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New technology is allowing Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to provide continuous renal replacement therapy to babies as small as 5 pounds. Providing kidney dialysis to small and fragile babies has long been challenging—with most dialysis machines designed for adults. But now, a new system made especially for babies is allowing Children’s Hospital Los Angeles to provide this lifesaving therapy to infants.

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In a rare and high-risk procedure, a 1-month-old baby became the first patient with single-ventricle heart disease to receive a ventricular assist device (VAD) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

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Living donation and significantly lower wait times helped the program to perform 35 liver transplants in 2022. Children’s Hospital Los Angeles leads the nation in liver transplants performed at a pediatric center, according to new data released from the Organ Procurement & Transplantation Network (OPTN), which oversees organ transplants in the U.

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The Brain Tumor Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles takes a team approach—and offers one of the largest clinical trial programs of its kind. The Brain Tumor Center at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is one of the largest and most comprehensive pediatric brain tumor programs in the country, integrating experts from multiple specialty areas into a coordinated treatment team.

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Find out what special pathogens expert Erika Cheung, MSN, RN, CPN, has to say about the disease, which the WHO has declared a public health emergency of international concern. Since May 18, 2022, cases of mpox have been spreading in the United States, including California. On July 23, 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the current outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

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The Infant Chronic Lung Disease Program takes a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to support each baby’s overall development. For Manvi Bansal, MD, one of the biggest challenges of caring for babies with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is dealing with “the elephant in the room.”

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Shafali Spurling Jeste, MD, shares early findings—and a critical challenge—from the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials. How do you know if a treatment for autism is effective? That’s a question that has no easy answer—due in large part to the heterogeneous nature of autism spectrum disorder.

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Keeping your child safe and healthy is a multifaceted priority for families, starting with the ride home from the hospital in a properly installed car seat.

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A team at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles recently became the first in the world to use a novel, basket-shaped retrieval device to successfully remove a large right atrial thrombus (blood clot).

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With the vaccine for children ages 6 months and older approved, the experts at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles provide guidance for families. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone approved to receive a COVID-19 vaccine get one—including children ages 6 months and older.

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Intravenous Immunoglobin Therapy Shows Promise Treating Children with Down Syndrome Regression Disorder. The experimental treatment, used in combination with psychotropic medication, is helping 80 percent of the more than 120 patients in the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Program.

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Preoperative planning—and a multidisciplinary approach—foster success in complex repairs of congenital mitral stenosis. For babies and children with congenital mitral stenosis, it’s well-established that repairing the mitral valve leads to better outcomes than replacing it. But repairing the valve is not always possible—and success requires a highly integrated team approach.

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Many neonatal intensive care units offer mental health services that are focused on parents and caregivers. But at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the innovative Stein Tikun Olam Infant-Family Mental Health Initiative supports mental health for both caregivers and babies—while focusing on enhancing the all-important bond between them.

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CHLA Heart Institute Co-Director Vaughn Starnes, MD, shares his thoughts on the Neonatal Ross Heart Procedure—and the team’s newest data on patient outcomes. This is important news to share for February's American Heart Month.

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As part of the BPD Collaborative, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is teaming up to optimize care for babies with chronic lung disease, providing hope for babies with bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), including those with severe disease. “Twenty years ago, many of these babies weren’t even surviving, but we’ve seen so much advancement since then,” she says.