SHORT ANSWER
Advances and Answers in Pediatric Health
A Faster Sequence
ONCOLOGY
Given the rise of mutation-specific targeted cancer therapies , rapid gene sequencing is more important than ever for the evaluation , diagnosis and treatment of a growing segment of pediatric cancer patients . But that demand also means wait times for results can last more than a month , especially from an outside lab .
The Precision Diagnostics Laboratory , in partnership with the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children ’ s Hospital Colorado , recently launched an in-house next-generation sequencing , or NGS , platform with several pediatric-focused panels to detect mutations in tumor DNA and RNA .
The benefits of bringing the technology in-house are manifold : better integration of results with the electronic health record , increased collaboration between care providers and lab experts , and lower cost to patients , to name a few .
And of course , it ’ s much faster . In many cases , wait times are less than two weeks . •
Combined Expertise
PEDIATRIC SURGERY AND GASTROENTEROLOGY
Pancreatic disease is rare in kids , and it ’ s even rarer for it to require surgery . To improve care for kids who need it , Children ’ s Hospital Colorado ’ s Pancreatic Surgery Program wraps in pediatric specialists from gastroenterology and pediatric surgery to radiology , pain specialists , endocrinology , oncology and dietetics .
Led by pediatric gastroenterologist Jacob Mark , MD , and pediatric surgeon Jonathan Roach , MD , the program takes on rare and complicated pancreatic conditions in kids only a handful of centers in the country are capable of .
That ’ s possible through the program ’ s streamlined , multidisciplinary approach , as well as its partnership with Marco Del Chiaro , MD , Director of the adult Surgical Oncology Division and of the Pancreas Program at neighboring UCHealth , one of the highest-volume complex pancreas surgery programs in the country .
“ Both of us are there in the room doing the operation together ,” says Dr . Roach , “ so it ’ s a combination between a highly experienced pediatric and pancreatic surgery team .”
“ The collaboration is critical , because you have a complex medical picture in addition to a complex surgical picture ,” adds Dr . Mark . “ We take complete care of these patients .” •
To the Heart of It
FETAL CARE AND CARDIOLOGY
Many of the most important aspects of fetal cardiac rhythm have been invisible to ultrasound and fetal monitoring . For example , electrocardiograms , or ECGs , are traditionally used to evaluate
heart rhythms , but a protective layer called vernix caseosa forms on the fetal skin at around 25 weeks and impedes transmission of ECG currents to the surface .
That ’ s a problem , because detecting those finer nuances is often the difference between life and death . With a new optically pumped magnetometer , or OPM device , the Colorado Fetal Care Center at Children ’ s Hospital Colorado will soon be able to evaluate the cardiac status of a patient before birth with the clarity of traditional ECG .
The project is being led by fetal cardiologist Bettina Cuneo , MD , Director of Fetal Cardiology at the Colorado Fetal Care Center , and is in partnership with Vishal Shah , MD , Chief Scientist at QuSpin — the laboratory that makes the OPM . The device works by absorbing a fetal heart ’ s magnetic fields and converting them into electrical signals . The end result is called a fetal magnetocardiogram , or fMCG , which repolarizes abnormalities that can identify a fetus at risk for complications including stillbirth .
“ As of early 2021 , Colorado will be the only fetal care center in the world with an OPM and the ability to perform advanced and comprehensive assessment of fetal cardiac rhythms ,” says Dr . Cuneo . “ The way we ’ ll monitor a fetus will be similar to the heart rhythm monitoring of a neonate in the intensive care unit . By moving the fMCG out of the research laboratory and on to the labor and delivery unit , we have the potential to advance the field of fetal medicine and improve fetal outcomes in ways we cannot even begin to imagine .” •
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