Tag Archive for: journal

Blood Clot or thrombus

Endovascular therapy for acute stroke in children

Blood Clot or thrombus

Endovascular therapies for acute childhood stroke remain controversial and little evidence exists to determine the minimum age and size cut-off for thrombectomy in children. In a recent study published in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery, Monica S. Pearl, M.D., director of Neurointerventional Radiology Program at Children’s National Hospital, and other experts found an increasing number of reports suggesting the feasibility of thrombectomy in at least some children by experienced operators.

When compared with adults, technical modifications may be necessary in children owing to differences in vessel sizes, tolerance of blood loss, safety of contrast and radiation exposure, and differing stroke etiologies. Dr. Pearl and experts reviewed critical considerations for neurologists and neurointerventionalists when treating pediatric stroke with endovascular therapies.

Additional study authors from Children’s National include: Dana Harrar, M.D., Ph.D., and Carlos Castillo Pinto, M.D., F.A.A.P.

Read the full study in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery.

Pediatric Transplantation Journal Cover

Special issue of Pediatric Transplantation features Children’s National experts

Pediatric Transplantation Journal Cover

While much has been written about advances in the field of pediatric transplantation, there have been relatively few publications that address the social, psychological and day‐to‐day struggles faced by pediatric transplant recipients and their families. A special February 2021 issue of the journal Pediatric Transplantation, guest edited by Children’s National Hospital nephrologist and medical director of transplant Asha Moudgil, M.D., features a compilation of articles from a diverse group of professionals who share their expertise on topics related to healthy living for pediatric solid organ transplant patients. Among these leaders in their fields are several clinicians from Children’s National, including Jonathan Albert, M.D. (Infectious Diseases fellow), Benjamin Hanisch, M.D. (Transplant Infectious Diseases), Kristen Sgambat, Ph.D., R.D. (Renal Dietician), Melissa R. Meyers, M.D. (Nephrologist) and Kaushalendra Amatya, Ph.D. (Psychologist).

In an editorial co-written with Priya Verghese, M.D., of Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Dr. Moudgil writes, “It is widely acknowledged by those practicing in the field of transplant medicine that taking care of pediatric transplant recipients is a complex endeavor for all parties involved, including patients, families, and providers. In this compendium, we bring you expertise from a diverse group of professionals — including physicians, psychologists, social workers, and nutritionists. These authors provide a concise summary of the literature and evidence when available, and offer personal insight where there is paucity of literature in topics related to healthy living in pediatric transplantation.”

Dr. Albert, Dr. Hanisch and Sgambat provide their expertise in an article titled “Approaches to safe living and diet after solid organ transplantation,” which reviews the risks that pediatric and adolescent solid organ transplant recipients encounter through exposures such as household contacts, outdoor activities, travel, animal exposures and dietary choices.

Like their peers, transplant recipients go through challenges of sexual development, but are at greater risk for sexually transmitted diseases due to their chronic immunosuppression. To address this need, Dr. Meyers and colleagues provide an introductory sexual preventive care resource for adolescent and young adult solid organ transplant recipients in their article “Promoting safe sexual practices and sexual health maintenance in pediatric and young adult solid organ transplant recipients.

And, in an article titled “Psychological functioning and psychosocial issues in pediatric kidney transplant recipients,” Dr. Amatya and colleagues analyze psychological and psychosocial factors related to medical outcomes and overall well‐being post‐transplant.

Pediatric Transplantation articles written by experts from Children’s National in the 2021 February issue:

illustration of human lungs

The need for more nuanced definitions of asthma

illustration of human lungs

Asthma, which is the most common chronic pediatric lung disease, has traditionally been defined as a syndrome of airway inflammation characterized by clinical symptoms of cough, wheezing, and shortness of breath. The complex and diverse nature of asthma has led to its classification as a syndrome or a constellation of symptoms and signs rather than a single diagnosis.

A review article published last month in Pediatric Research summarizes recent advances in defining asthma as a disease in children and demonstrates the need for even more nuanced definitions of an illness that affects an estimated 6 million youngsters in the United States.

More precise definitions of asthma will lead to more accurate diagnoses, better care for patients, and thereby fewer visits to the emergency department, says senior author Deepa Rastogi, M.D., M.S., co-director of Children’s National Hospital’s Severe Asthma Program and Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Genomics and Precision Medicine, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The review — “Defining pediatric asthma: phenotypes to endotypes and beyond” — details current knowledge of asthma phenotypes and endotypes and recommends an approach to endotyping asthma that may be useful for defining asthma for clinical care as well as for future research studies in the realm of personalized medicine for asthma.

Asthma, which is the most common chronic pediatric lung disease, has traditionally been defined as a syndrome of airway inflammation characterized by clinical symptoms of cough, wheezing, and shortness of breath. The complex and diverse nature of asthma has led to its classification as a syndrome or a constellation of symptoms and signs rather than a single diagnosis.

The review summarizes key biomarkers that distinguish childhood asthma subtypes. While atopy and its severity are important features of childhood asthma, there is evidence to support the existence of a childhood asthma endotype distinct from the atopic endotype.

The article also summarizes a clinical approach that includes existing measures of airway-specific and systemic measures of atopy, coexisting morbidities, and disease severity and control, in the definition of childhood asthma, to empower health care providers to better characterize the disease burden in children.

“For health care providers, asking the right set of questions and doing the right testing will define the disease severity and control, which may get 90% of the disease under control,” says Rastogi. “This approach will allow health care providers to identify those children with severe asthma who would benefit from specialty intervention by a pediatric allergist or pulmonologist.”

At the Children’s National IMPACT DC Asthma Clinic, a team of providers that includes Rastogi, is practicing cutting-edge medicine that incorporates several concepts summarized in the review. The award-winning pediatric program is improving care and outcomes for children with severe asthma who have recently been to the emergency room, have been hospitalized for asthma, or generally have trouble controlling the disease.

When a child and their parents visit the clinic, they meet with clinicians who conduct a detailed medical consultation and provide a unique care plan for the patient. The team then coordinates treatment with the child’s primary care provider, school nurse and others involved in their care.

“Identifying the labile child using the endotyping tools allows us to intervene in a timely manner,” says Rastogi. “The article highlights the need to define asthma at the clinical level utilizing tools that already exist while also detailing areas where more research is needed.”

In its examination of how the definition of asthma has evolved over time, the review notes that the 2007 National Heart Lung and Blood Institute Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma introduced severity and control classifications. But in 2010, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified the lack of standardized use of the classifications, noting that the terms were being used interchangeably.

The WHO also emphasized the need for a uniform definition for severe asthma that would differentiate treatment-resistant severe asthma from difficult-to-treat severe asthma, based on the high doses of inhaled corticosteroids and systemic corticosteroids required to achieve asthma control.

In 2019, the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) report included umbrella definitions of asthma — “a heterogeneous disease, usually characterized by chronic airway inflammation defined by the history of respiratory symptoms such as wheeze, shortness of breath, chest tightness, and cough that vary over time and in intensity, together with variable expiratory airflow limitations.”

While these definitions of asthma account for the varied disease presentation, they are again limited in defining early childhood asthma, since tests of airflow obstruction, such as spirometry (which measures lung function) cannot be reliably performed prior to the age of 5.

In the review, Rastogi and her co-authors encourage clinicians to uniquely define asthma for each child based on:

  • the age of onset (early vs. late)
  • the severity and control of disease (per the latest NHLBI guidelines as intermittent, mild, moderate or severe persistent)
  • the predominant form of immune response (allergic vs. nonallergic)
  • the inciting trigger (exercise vs. viral induced)
  • the pattern of pulmonary function deficits and
  • the presence of comorbidities

Better controlling childhood asthma could lead to reduced rates of adult asthma, says Rastogi.

“I’d love to be in a place where we can phenotype pediatric asthma with genetic, molecular, and biomarker details that directly guide targeted therapy,” says Rastogi. “That’s where oncology is now. That’s where I’d like to be with childhood asthma.”

Cover of the December issue of Seminars on Pediatric Surger

Reflections on Seminars in Pediatric Surgery December 2020

Cover of the December issue of Seminars on Pediatric Surger

Marc Levitt, M.D., served as guest editor of a special December Seminars in Pediatric Surgery dedicated to the care and treatment of anorectal malformations.

By Marc Levitt, M.D., chief of the Division of Colorectal and Pelvic Reconstruction at Children’s National Hospital

I was honored to serve as the Guest Editor on the topic of “Anorectal Malformations” in the prestigious Seminars in Pediatric Surgery Volume 29, Issue 6, December 2020.

We had 64 contributing authors from 12 countries; Australia, Austria, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Spain, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States, and 12 U.S. colorectal collaborating programs; Children’s National, Boston Children’s, Children’s Mercy, Children’s Wisconsin, C.S. Mott Children’s, Cincinnati Children’s, Nationwide Children’s, Nicklaus Children’s, Omaha Children’s, Primary Children’s, Seattle Children’s, and UC Davis Children’s.

There were eight authors from the Children’s National team; myself, Colorectal Director Andrea Badillo, M.D., Colorectal Program Manager Julie Choueiki, MSN, RN, Surgical Center Director Susan Callicott, Katie Worst, CPNP-AC, Grace Ma, M.D., Chief of Urology Hans Pohl, M.D., and Chief of Gynecology Veronica Gomez-Lobo, M.D.

The series of articles included in this collection illustrate new techniques and ideas that over time have made a dramatic and positive impact on the care and quality of life of children who suffer from colorectal problems. With an integrated approach to the care of this complex group of patients, great things can be achieved. As we endeavor to advance this field, we need to always remember that, as Alberto Pena, M.D., often said, “it is not the unanswered questions, but rather the unquestioned answers that one must pursue.”

In my own article on advances in the field, a 2021 update, I reproduce a piece by my daughter, Jess Levitt, who wrote something applicable to the care of children with colorectal problems, with the message that helping to create order is vital to improve a somewhat chaotic medical process traditionally available for the care of complex care. Her essay is reproduced here:

“A” must come before “B,” which must come before “C,” everybody knows that. But what if the Millercamp’s of this world did not have to sit next to the Millerchip’s when it comes to seating arrangements? Can Pat Zawatsky be called before Jack Aaronson when the teacher is taking attendance? Do those 26 letters that make up all the dialogue, signs, thoughts, books, and titles in the English-speaking departments of the world need their specific spots in line? Everyone can sing you the well-known jingle from A to Z, but not many people can tell you why the alphabet is the way it is. For almost as long as humans have had the English language, they have had the alphabet. The good ole ABCs.

However, the alphabet represents the human need for order and stability. I believe that the same thinking that went into the construct of time and even government went into the alphabet. Justifiably, lack of order leads to chaos. Knife-throwing, gun-shooting chaos, in the case of lack of governmental order. Listen to me when I tell you that there is absolutely no reason that the alphabet is arranged the way that it is. Moreover, the alphabet is simply a product of human nature and how it leads people to establish order for things that do not require it. 

Now I know this sounds crazy but bear with me. Only if you really peel away the layers of the alphabet will you find the true weight it carries. People organized the letters of our speech into a specific order simply because there wasn’t already one. Questioning this order will enlighten you on the true meaning of it. Really dig deep into the meaning behind the social construct that is the alphabet. Short and sweet as it may be, the order of the ABCs is much less than meets the eye. There is no reason that “J” should fall before “K!” Understand this. Very important as order is, it is only a result of human nature.  What’s next? X-rays become independent of Xylophones in children’s books of ABCs? 

You know what the best part is? Zero chance you even noticed that each sentence in this essay is in alphabetical order.

Her literary contribution inspired me to do something similar. Take a look at the list of articles in this Seminars edition:

  1. Creating a collaborative program for the care of children with colorectal and pelvic problems. Alejandra Vilanova-Sánchez, Julie Choueiki, Caitlin A. Smith, Susan Callicot, Jason S. Frischer and Marc A. Levitt
  2. Optimal management of the newborn with an anorectal malformation and evaluation of their continence potential. Sebastian K. King, Wilfried Krois, Martin Lacher, Payam Saadai, Yaron Armon and Paola Midrio
  3. Lasting impact on children with an anorectal malformations with proper surgical preparation, respect for anatomic principles, and precise surgical management. Rebecca M. Rentea, Andrea T. Badillo, Stuart Hosie, Jonathan R. Sutcliffe and Belinda Dickie
  4. Long-term urologic and gynecologic follow-up and the importance of collaboration for patients with anorectal malformations. Clare Skerritt, Daniel G. Dajusta, Molly E. Fuchs, Hans Pohl, Veronica Gomez-Lobo and Geri Hewitt
  5. Assessing the previously repaired patient with an anorectal malformation who is not doing well. Victoria A. Lane, Juan Calisto, Ivo Deblaauw, Casey M. Calkins, Inbal Samuk and Jeffrey R. Avansino
  6. Bowel management for the treatment of fecal incontinence and constipation in patients with anorectal malformations. Onnalisa Nash, Sarah Zobell, Katherine Worst and Michael D. Rollins
  7. Organizing the care of a patient with a cloacal malformation: Key steps and decision making for pre-, intra-, and post-operative repair. Richard J. Wood, Carlos A. Reck-Burneo, Alejandra Vilanova-Sanchez and Marc A. Levitt
  8. Radiology of anorectal malformations: What does the surgeon need to know? Matthew Ralls, Benjamin P. Thompson, Brent Adler, Grace Ma, D. Gregory Bates, Steve Kraus and Marcus Jarboe
  9. Adjuncts to bowel management for fecal incontinence and constipation, the role of surgery; appendicostomy, cecostomy, neoappendicostomy, and colonic resection. Devin R. Halleran, Cornelius E.J. Sloots, Megan K. Fuller and Karen Diefenbach
  10. Treating pediatric colorectal patients in low and middle income settings: Creative adaptation to the resources available. Giulia Brisighelli, Victor Etwire, Taiwo Lawal, Marion Arnold and Chris Westgarth-Taylor
  11. Importance of education and the role of the patient and family in the care of anorectal malformations. Greg Ryan, Stephanie Vyrostek, Dalia Aminoff, Kristina Booth, Sarah Driesbach, Meghan Fisher, Julie Gerberick, Michel Haanen, Chelsea Mullins, Lori Parker and Nicole Schwarzer
  12. Ongoing care for the patient with an anorectal malfromation; transitioning to adulthood. Alessandra Gasior, Paola Midrio, Dalia Aminoff and Michael Stanton
  13. New and exciting advances in pediatric colorectal and pelvic reconstructive surgery – 2021 update. Marc A. Levitt

The first letter of each article forms an acrostic of the word “COLLABORATION” which is the secret sauce behind any success in the field of pediatric colorectal care.

Catherine Bollard

Catherine Bollard, M.D., M.B.Ch.B., named next editor-in-chief of Blood Advances

Catherine Bollard

“As editor-in-chief, I will aim to capture new developments in the hematology field, including immunology, immunotherapy, cell therapy, gene and cell therapy and transplant,” said Dr. Bollard.

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has selected Catherine Bollard, M.D., M.B.Ch.B., director of the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research at the Children’s National Research Institute as the next editor-in-chief of its journal Blood Advances.

Blood Advances is a peer-reviewed online open access journal published by ASH that covers the latest developments in basic, translational and clinical hematology. Dr. Bollard’s term as editor-in-chief will begin in September 2021. She was selected by the ASH Executive Committee after a competitive international search.

Blood Advances has a broad presence, a large and growing number of manuscript submissions, and an engaged readership,” said Dr. Bollard. “I am so looking forward to continuing to build and strengthen the journal as its editor-in-chief.”

Since its launch in 2016, Blood Advances has taken advantage of its digital, open-access publication model to emphasize multimedia and a rapid, continuous publication format. Under the leadership of founding editor-in-chief Robert Negrin, M.D., of Stanford University, the peer-reviewed journal has pioneered new means of interactive, collaborative discussion and achieved an impact factor of 4.910.

“As editor-in-chief, I will aim to capture new developments in the hematology field, including immunology, immunotherapy, cell therapy, gene and cell therapy and transplant,” said Dr. Bollard. Her vision for the future of Blood Advances also includes further expansion of the journal’s global reach as well as continued efforts to recruit an editorial team representing geographic, ethnic and gender diversity.

“We have tremendous opportunities for growth, and I think in order to grow we must consider what readers want, how we can provide quality service for authors and reviewers, and how we can establish our own identity as a journal,” she said.

Dr. Bollard is a hematologist whose research interests include developing cell and gene therapies for patients with cancer and underlying immune deficiencies. Recognized as a national and international leader in the bone marrow transplant, immunology and immunotherapy space, Dr. Bollard has an expansive understanding of cancer, immune deficiencies and viral infections in pediatric and adult patients.

In her role as director of the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research at Children’s National Hospital, she works to establish clinical and research programs focused on developing and bringing novel cell therapies from bench to bedside.

Blood Advances is an important hub for hypothesis-generating papers, pilot studies and case reports, commentaries and other educational materials of interest to hematologists everywhere,” said ASH President Stephanie Lee, M.D., of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. “I am confident that Dr. Bollard will continue leveraging the journal’s unique digital platform to maintain its tradition of excellence as she executes her vision as editor-in-chief. I look forward to seeing how the journal evolves under her leadership.”

pastel colored DNA strands

Germline microsatellite genotypes differentiate children with medulloblastoma

pastel colored DNA strands

A new study suggests that medulloblastoma-specific germline microsatellite variations mark those at-risk for medulloblastoma development.

Brian Rood, M.D., oncologist and medical director at the Brain Tumor Institute, and Harold “Skip” Garner, Ph.D., associate vice provost for research development at Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, published a report in the Society for Neuro-Oncology’s Neuro-Oncology Journal about using a novel approach to identify specific markers in germline (non-tumor) DNA called microsatellites that can differentiate children who have the brain tumor medulloblastoma (MB) from those who don’t.

“Ultimately, the best way to save children from brain tumors and prevent them from bearing long-term side effects from treatment is to prevent those tumors from occurring in the first place,” says Dr. Rood. “New advancements hold the potential to finally realize the dream of cancer prevention, but we must first identify those children at-risk.”

While analyzing germline sequencing data from a training set of 120 MB subjects and 425 controls, the doctors identified 139 individual microsatellites whose genotypes differ significantly between the groups. Using a genetic algorithm, they were able to construct a subset of 43 microsatellites that distinguish MB subjects from controls with a sensitivity and specificity of 92% and 88% respectively.

“We made discoveries in an untapped part of the human genome, enabled by unique bioinformatics data mining approaches combined with clinical insight,” said Dr. Garner. “Our findings establish new genomic directions that can lead to high accuracy diagnostics for predicting susceptibility to medulloblastoma.”

What the doctors discovered and demonstrated in the study was that MB-specific germline microsatellite variations mark those at risk for MB development and suggest that other mechanisms of cancer predisposition beyond heritable mutations exist for MB.

“This work is the first to demonstrate the ability of specific DNA sequences to differentiate children with cancer from their healthy counterparts,” added Dr. Rood.

Contributing Authors to this research study included:  Brian R. Rood, M.D., Harold R. Garner, Ph.D., Samuel Rivero-Hinojosa, Ph.D., and Nicholas Kinney, Ph.D.

gut bacteria

Understanding gut bacteria: forces for good (and sometimes evil)

gut bacteria

In a paper published Sept. 11, 2019, in PLOS ONE, a multi-institutional research team led by George Washington University (GW) faculty found 157 different types of organisms (eight phyla, 18 classes, 23 orders, 38 families, 59 genera and 109 species) living inside the guts of healthy volunteers.

Back in 2015, an interdisciplinary group of research scientists made their case during a business pitch competition: They want to create a subscription-based service, much like 23andMe, through which people could send in samples for detailed analyses. The researchers would crunch that big data fast, using a speedy algorithm, and would send the consumer a detailed report.

But rather than ancestry testing via cheek swab, the team sought to determine the plethora of diverse bacterial species that reside inside an individual’s gut in their ultimate aim to improve public health.

Hiroki Morizono, Ph.D., a member of that team, contributed detailed knowledge of Bacteroides, a key organism amid the diverse array of bacterial species that co-exist with humans, living inside our guts. These symbiotic bacteria convert the food we eat into elements that ensure their well-being as well as ours.

“Trillions of bacteria live in the gut. Bacteroides is one of the major bacterial species,” says Morizono, a principal investigator in the Center for Genetic Medicine Research at Children’s National in Washington, D.C. “In our guts they are usually good citizens. But if they enter our bloodstream, they turn evil; they’re in the wrong place. If you have a bacteroides infection, the mortality rate is 19%, and they resist most antibiotic treatments.”

The starting point for their project – as well as step one for better characterizing the relationship between gut bacteria and human disease – is taking an accurate census count of bacteria residing there.

In a paper published Sept. 11, 2019, in PLOS ONE, a multi-institutional research team led by George Washington University (GW) faculty did just that, finding 157 different types of organisms (eight phyla, 18 classes, 23 orders, 38 families, 59 genera and 109 species) living inside the guts of healthy volunteers.

The study participants were recruited through flyers on the GW Foggy Bottom campus and via emails.  They jotted down what they ate and drank daily, including the brand, type and portion size. They complemented that food journal by providing fecal samples from which DNA was extracted. Fifty fecal metagenomics samples randomly selected from the Human Microbiome Project Phase I research were used for comparison purposes.

“The gut microbiome inherently is really, really cool. In the process of gathering this data, we are building a knowledge base. In this paper, we’re saying that by looking at healthy people, we should be able to establish a baseline about what a normal, healthy gut microbiome should look like and how things may change under different conditions,” Morizono adds.

And they picked a really, really cool name for their bacteria abundance profile: GutFeelingKB.

“KB is knowledge base. Our idea, it’s a gut feeling. It’s a bad joke,” he admits. “Drosophila researchers have the best names for their genes. No other biology group can compete. We, at least, tried.”

Next, the team will continue to collect samples to build out their bacteria baseline, associate it with clinical data, and then will start looking at the health implications for patients.

“One thing we could use this for is to understand how the bacterial population in the gut changes after antibiotic treatment. It’s like watching a forest regrow after a massive fire,” he says. “With probiotics, can we do things to encourage the right bacteria to grow?”

In addition to Morizono, study co-authors include Lead Author Charles H. King, and co-authors Hiral Desai, Allison C. Sylvetsky, Jonathan LoTempio, Shant Ayanyan, Jill Carrie, Keith A. Crandall, Brian C. Fochtman, Lusine Gasparyan, Naila Gulzar, Najy Issa, Lopa Mishra, Shuyun Rao, Yao Ren, Vahan Simonyan, Krista Smith and Senior Author, Raja Mazumder, all of George Washington University; Paul Howell and Sharanjit VedBrat, of KamTek Inc.; Konstantinos Krampis, of City University of New York; Joseph R. Pisegna, of VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System; and Michael D. Yao, of Washington DC VA Medical Center.

Financial support for research described in this post was provided by the National Science Foundation under award number 1546491 and the National Institutes of Health National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences under award number UL1TR000075.

ER Nurse

An unexpected discovery in a central line

ER Nurse

About a year and a half ago, a 6-year-old boy arrived at Children’s Emergency Department after accidently removing his own gastrointestinal feeding tube. He wasn’t a stranger to Children’s National Health System: This young patient had spent plenty of time at the hospital since birth. Diagnosed in infancy with an intestinal pseudo-obstruction, a rare condition in which his bowels acted as if there were a blockage even though one was not present, parts of his intestine died and had been removed through multiple surgeries.

Because of this issue and associated health problems, at 4 years old he had a central line placed in a large vein that leads to his heart. That replaced other central lines placed in his neck earlier after those repeatedly broke. This latest central line in his chest als0 had frequent breaks. It also had become infected with multidrug-resistant Klebsiella bacteria two years before he was treated at Children’s National for inadvertently removing his feeding tube.

On that day, he seemed otherwise well. His exam was relatively unremarkable, except for a small leak in his central line and a slight fever. Those findings triggered cultures taken both from blood flowing through his central line and the surrounding skin.

“No one expected him to grow anything from these cultures, especially from a child who looked so healthy,” explains Madan Kumar, a fellow in Children’s division of Pediatric Infectious Disease and a member of the child’s care team. But a mold grew prolifically. Further investigation from a sample sent to the National Institutes of Health showed that it was a relatively new species known as Mucor velutinosus.

Because such an infection had never been reported in a child whose immune system wasn’t extremely compromised from cancer, Kumar and team decided to publish a case report. The study appeared online Jan. 24, 2018, in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society.

Kumar notes that this patient faced myriad challenges. Not only did he have a central line, but the line also had numerous problems, necessitating fixes that could increase the chance of infection. Additionally, because of his intestinal issues, he had a chronic problem with malabsorption of nutrients. Patients with this issue often are treated liberally with antibiotics. Although this intervention can kill “bad” bacteria that can cause an infection, they also knock out “good” bacteria that keep other microorganisms – like fungi – in check. On top of all of this, the patient was receiving a nutrient-rich formula in his central line to boost his caloric intake, yet another factor associated with infections.

Patients who develop this specific fungal infection are overwhelmingly adults who are immunocompromised, Kumar explains, including those with diabetes, transplant recipients, patients with cancer and those who have abnormally low concentrations of immune cells called neutrophils in their blood. The only children who tend to get this infection are preterm infants of very low birth weight who haven’t yet developed a robust immune response.

Because there was only one other published case report about a child with M. velutinosus – a 1-year-old with brain cancer who had undergone a bone marrow transplant – Kumar notes that he and colleagues were at a loss as to how best to treat their patient. “There’s a paucity of literature on what to do in a case like this,” he says.

Fortunately, the treatment they selected was successful. As soon as the cultures came back positive for this mold, the patient went on a three-week course of an antifungal drug known as amphotericin B. Surgeons also removed his infected central line and placed a new one. These efforts cured the patient’s infection and prevented it from spreading and potentially causing the multi-organ failure associated with these types of infections.

This case taught Kumar and colleagues quite a bit – knowledge that they wanted to share by publishing the case report. For example, it reinforces the importance of central line care. It also highlights the value of thoroughly investigating potential problems in a patient with risk factors, even one who appears otherwise healthy.

Finally, Kumar adds, the case emphasizes the importance of good antibiotic stewardship, which can help prevent patients from developing sometimes deadly secondary infections like this one. “This is not an organism that you see growing in a 6-year-old very often,” he says. “The fact that we saw it here speaks to the need to be judicious with broad-spectrum antibiotics so that we have a number of therapeutic options should we see unusual cases like this one.”