Complications that can arise around the time of birth may reduce oxygen and blood flow to a baby’s brain, causing hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a leading cause of death or neurological impairment among infants. In the past eight years, cooling therapy (hypothermia) has become the standard form of care for HIE, as it’s been found to […]
Paige Norris’s young life seemed to be sailing along with fair winds and sunny skies. At 10 years old she was an enthusiastic tennis player with lots of friends and a stellar academic life – two years ahead in every subject. But sometime in fourth grade her internal weather shifted, and she developed debilitating abdominal […]
The sun was bright when Lyla Conrad and her father arrived early for softball practice to catch a few pop flies. Lyla, 9 at the time, had caught hundreds before, but that day she lost one in the sun. It fell straight down into her eye. Almost immediately, her eye was swollen and she felt […]
At the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, Children’s Oncology Group (COG) researchers presented promising findings from an international study that has identified a new therapy for treating rhabdomyosarcoma, a common childhood cancer. The therapy has fewer harsh side effects, meaning it lessens the chance of infections, need for blood transfusions and infertility […]
Meet Molly On Feb. 17, 2008, Erin and Bill Hamilton welcomed their daughter Molly into the world. She appeared to be a perfectly healthy, 9-pound baby girl, but a newborn screening test revealed Molly had cystic fibrosis. “We were devastated,” Erin said. “We didn’t know anything about cystic fibrosis and had no idea how this […]
A patient arrived at Seattle Children’s Emergency Department by helicopter, alone and unconscious. As the Emergency Department team worked to resuscitate the boy who had nearly drowned, his parents drove several hours in stunned silence to the hospital, hoping their son would be alive when they got there. After receiving the good news that he […]
Each week, poets Ann Teplick and Sierra Nelson arm patients at Seattle Children’s Hospital with a notepad, pen and thought-provoking prompts to help them discover the power, and therapeutic nature, of the written word. Some patients use writing to share their story or process difficult emotions, while others use it to ignite their imagination and […]
While many people with epilepsy live a full life, some die abruptly without warning or other clear medical cause due to a devastating phenomenon called sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). SUDEP is the most common cause of death in those with severe forms of epilepsy where seizures cannot be controlled with treatment, but what […]
Meet Olivia Rickert and Michile Smith: Two generations apart, but linked forever by their special hands. When Olivia Rickert was still in utero, an ultrasound at 20 weeks revealed that she had inherited a genetic mutation passed down from her mother and maternal grandmother. In Olivia’s case, the mutation was expressed as a cleft (split) […]
Update: In January 2020, the New England Journal of Medicine published results from the completed PENUT (Preterm Epo Neuroprotection) Trial. The study found that erythropoietin (Epo) treatment administered to extremely preterm infants did not result in a lower risk of neurodevelopmental disabilities when tested at 2 years of age. Babies receiving Epo as part of […]