Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) is a degenerative nerve disease that frequently appears in adolescents and early adulthood but can also be seen with onset in early childhood.

Children’s National Hospital is proud to receive the designation as a CMTA Center of Excellence. One of the CMTA’s primary missions is improving the quality of life for those with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), a degenerative nerve disease that while frequently appears in adolescents and early adulthood, can also be seen with onset in early childhood. Through these 35 CMTA Centers of Excellence, children, adults and families affected by CMT can be assured of receiving comprehensive care by a team of CMT experts that will now be available at Children’s National.

“It’s an honor for Children’s National and our multidisciplinary team to be recognized as a CMTA Care Center,” says Diana Bharucha-Goebel, M.D., neuromuscular neurologist and neurophysiologist at Children’s National. “Our team has long strived to provide comprehensive and specialized care for children with CMT, ranging from expertise in genetic and electrophysiologic diagnostics to specialized family centered care in orthopedics, physical and occupational therapies, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, nutrition and bone health.”

This is the first time Children’s National has received the CMTA Center of Excellence designation. Doctors at Children’s National applied for this designation directly through the CMTA and were selected based on recognition of its program services, patient volume, expertise and experience.

Approximately 20 of the CMTA Centers of Excellence are INC-designated centers, a group of academic medical centers, patient support organizations and clinical research resources sponsored in part by the CMTA. The CMTA Centers of Excellence will become even more important as the CMTA begins clinical trials for candidate therapies.

The success of these trials will largely depend on how much information is available about the natural history of CMT. Specifically, how different types of CMT progress over time and whether novel medications are slowing the course of the disease. Much of that information will be provided by the Centers of Excellence.

“We are excited for the ongoing opportunities as a CMTA Care Center, especially at a time when novel therapeutic strategies are emerging in the field of neuromuscular medicine,” said Dr. Bharucha-Goebel.

To learn more information about the neuromuscular medicine program and the members of the team click here.