USC professor at CHLA awarded $9.5 million by NIH for sickle cell disease research

By Ellin Kavanagh

Thomas Coates, MD, professor of pediatrics and pathology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and section head of hematology in the division of hematology oncology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, along with four other co-principal investigators, recently received a five-year, $9.5 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The award will fund research into the underlying physiology of sickle cell disease (SCD) and identification of biomarkers that will aid in the development of new treatment options. … Read More »

November 20th, 2013|Announcements|

Rare fetal cardiac procedure performed for the first time in Southern California by USC physicians at CHLA

By Lorenzo Benet

A mother and her 25-week-old fetus are doing well after a USC surgeon and pediatrician performed a successful in utero cardiac interventional procedure on the fetus at CHA Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center late last month.

The minimally invasive procedure, known as a fetal aortic valvuloplasty, was a first for a Southern California hospital. Designed to treat a congenital heart defect known as critical aortic stenosis and evolving hypoplastic left heart syndrome, doctors succeeded in using a tiny balloon to open the fetus’s narrow aortic valve to increase blood flow to the body, improve left heart function and promote normal left heart growth during the critical third trimester growing stage. … Read More »

November 20th, 2013|Announcements|

Cardiovascular symposium takes the pulse of current research

By Jennifer Jing and Cristy Lytal

Researchers addressed the leading cause of death in the United States at the Los Angeles Area Cardiovascular Research Symposium and Research Award Reception, which brought together the region’s cardiovascular specialists to examine the developmental origins of heart health and disease.

Held at The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the event was the first meeting of its kind since 1997, when the American Heart Association (AHA) disbanded local chapters in favor of regional affiliates. … Read More »

November 20th, 2013|Announcements|

Magnetic treatment for high-risk neuroblastoma proves less than attractive

By Ellin Kavanagh and Cristy Lytal

Removing tumor cells with a magnet? It may sound strange, but researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) and their colleagues recently explored whether this technique can create better outcomes for patients with high-risk neuroblastoma, which carries a less than 50 percent chance of survival for children who are diagnosed. … Read More »

October 2nd, 2013|Announcements|

CHLA doctors make 7,500-mile house call to treat children with deformities

By Josh Grossberg

There were too many young patients, too far away. So instead of bringing them to the doctors who could help them, the doctors decided to make a house call.

That house call meant a team of plastic surgeons from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) traveled 7,500 miles to Jordan, where they operated on dozens of children with physical deformities too complicated to be treated by doctors at the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman. And the team paid for all of it out of their own pockets.

More than 80 complex cases were reviewed the first clinic day. In all, the team of surgeons operated on 44 kids in four days, including a 10-hour facial bipartition procedure. … Read More »

September 27th, 2013|Announcements|