April 19, 2016

42016surgerygroupinside640Texas Children’s Department of Surgery is excited to announce three new positions at Texas Children’s: Associate Surgeon-in-Chief for Academic Affairs, Associate Surgeon-in-Chief for Clinical Affairs and Surgical Director of Basic Science Research.

Dr. David Wesson will serve as Associate Surgeon-in-Chief for Academic Affairs. In his new role, he will focus on growing and improving the department’s academic programs, including the processes for faculty development and promotion, as well as our educational programs. In addition to his new role, Wesson will continue to serve as Head of the Texas Children’s Hospital Department of Surgery.

Dr. Larry Hollier is the new Associate Surgeon-in-Chief for Clinical Affairs. In this new role, Hollier will help lead in the development of all aspects of clinical care delivery, both inside, and out of the operating rooms. He will focus on coordinating and improving all aspects of care in our increasingly complex system, including patient experience, staffing, efficiency, and value. Additionally, he will be the Medical Director of Advanced Practice Providers and will continue to be Surgical Director of Operating Rooms and Surgical Director of Patient Experience.

Dr. Sundeep Keswani will assume the role of Surgical Director of Basic Science Research. In this new role, Keswani will guide efforts beyond his own research on regenerative wound healing and matrix biology, and share his expertise to the greater surgical enterprise.

April 12, 2016

41316MEGScanner640Texas Children’s is the fourth pediatric hospital in Texas to offer magnetoencephalography (MEG), a non-invasive brain imaging technology that assists neurosurgeons in developing more precise surgical plans for patients with epilepsy and other seizure disorders, ultimately enhancing their long-term outcomes.

The MEG scanner records very tiny magnetic fields produced by electrical activity in the brain to identify the sources of normal and abnormal brain function with millimeter precision. Unlike X-ray and CT scans, MEG does not emit radiation. Instead, it works like a very sensitive microphone that records magnetic fields emitted by brain cells instead of sound.

“MEG is an invaluable tool in evaluating epilepsy patients for potentially curative brain surgery,” said Texas Children’s neurologist Dr. Michael Quach. “Prior to MEG, the only technology capable of localizing brain activity with such high temporal and spatial resolution was intracranial EEG monitoring, which requires exposing the surface of the brain with surgery in order to implant EEG electrodes. With MEG technology, we can achieve similar localization without the need for open brain surgery.”

When patients come in for a MEG scan, the MEG technician places electrodes onto the patient’s scalp before positioning the patient’s head into the scanner where the machine collects information from 306 sensors simultaneously every millisecond. The MEG images are superimposed on the MRI to correlate where the magnetic activities of brain function occur in relation to the patient’s brain structures.

When MEG and MRI are analyzed together, physicians can identify the sensory regions of the brain – like speech, touch, vision and motor function – and can localize the sources of seizures and other abnormal brain activity. With this combined information, surgical procedures can be planned more precisely to remove abnormal brain tissue while minimizing damage to parts of the brain that function normally.

“One of the great things about MEG is it gives pediatric patients a chance to qualify for epileptic surgery,” said MEG technician Michael LaRose. “With this increased data, our neurologists and neurosurgeons have a better chance of coming up with a surgical plan that may help these children with seizures.”

The MEG procedure usually lasts about an hour and a half but the amount of time it takes to complete the scan varies for each patient. Since the MEG lab opened last November, Texas Children’s has performed 25 MEG procedures.

Since very few hospitals in Houston are equipped with this advanced imaging technology, Texas Children’s also offers this service to Baylor College of Medicine physicians who treat adult patients.

41316drshilt175Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands is pleased to announce the addition of Dr. Jeffrey Shilt as chief surgical officer. Shilt is also a member of the Division of Orthopedics.

“Dr. Shilt brings an exciting combination of academic, surgical and community practice experience which will be a tremendous asset to us as we open our hospital in The Woodlands,” said Texas Children’s Hospital Surgeon-In-Chief Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr. “I am excited to welcome him to the team and I look forward to the outstanding pediatric surgical leadership he will bring to The Woodlands community.”

Shilt comes to Texas Children’s from St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital in Boise, Idaho, where he was an active pediatric orthopedic surgeon and director of the hospital’s Spasticity Clinic and motion analysis lab for children and adults. Prior to his time in Idaho, Shilt held positions as associate professor and residency program director at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. When Wake Forest established Brenner Children’s Hospital, Shilt served as the director of pediatric orthopedics where he assisted in the further development of pediatric specialty care. His research interests include management of spasticity in cerebral palsy, sports performance and the treatment of endurance sports injuries.

As a recognized leader in both academics and clinical practices, Shilt brings a breadth of experience to the Texas Children’s team. While he served as the program director of the Wake Forest University orthopedic surgery residency he participated in pioneering work in the treatment of children with spastic cerebral palsy, as well as sports medicine applications of tissue engineering. He has presented numerous lectures, both nationally and internationally, and serves on various committees and advisory boards. Additionally, he has served as the team physician for the USA triathlon team at the two world championships, two years as a team physician for a professional cycling team, and as a medical consultant for multiple World Champion athletes, Olympians & gold medalists, and multiple professional ironman and other endurance athletes.

A Missouri native, Shilt obtained his medical and undergraduate degrees at the University of Missouri – Kansas City six-year combined BA-Medical Degree program directly out of high school. He then completed his general surgery internship and orthopedic surgery residency at the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans, as well as a year of basic science research at the Pediatric Research Institute at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. This was followed by a pediatric orthopedic fellowship at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. After completing his clinical training, Shilt took part in the personalized leadership development program at Wake Forest University Babcock Graduate School of Management’s Institute for Executive Education in Winston-Salem.

Slated to open in 2017 under the leadership of President Michelle Riley-Brown, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Charles Hankins and Shilt, the 560,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility is being designed specifically to serve children and families. Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands will offer inpatient and outpatient specialty pediatric care in areas including: cancer, cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, diabetes and endocrinology, urology, sports medicine, gastroenterology and nutrition, pediatric surgery, plastic surgery, otolaryngology, allergy and immunology, dermatology, adolescent medicine and physical rehabilitation.

The facility will open with 25 emergency center rooms, 72 outpatient rooms, 12 radiology rooms, four operating rooms, 28 critical care beds and 32 acute care beds with plans to add up to 200 additional beds in the future to meet community needs. In addition to serving families throughout The Woodlands, Texas Children’s anticipates serving families in counties throughout Greater North Houston including Montgomery, Walker, Grimes, Liberty, Harris, Polk, San Jacinto and Hardin counties and beyond.

March 22, 2016

32316transplantinside640Friday, March 11, was a record-setting day for the renal transplant service at Texas Children’s Hospital with the team completing four kidney transplants in 18 hours.

Wednesday evening, Claudia Kim, renal transplant coordinator, received a call that two kidneys were available and were a match for two of our patients. Kim and Dr. Eileen Brewer, medical director of renal transplantation at Texas Children’s, went into action contacting families and making arrangements within the hospital to admit the patients the next day.

Early Thursday morning, Kim received a call that a third kidney was available, and at 4 p.m. she was notified that we had a fourth. Both of those organs were a match for another two of our patients. With the help of renal transplant coordinators, Kirti Bhakta and Dana Harney, those families were notified. The medical and surgical renal transplant teams then shifted into high gear preparing for Friday, the day all four kidneys were transplanted.

The organ recipients and their families began arriving at the hospital at 6 p.m. Thursday to be admitted and prepped for surgery. Brewer and Dr. Christine O’Mahony, surgical director of renal transplantation, coordinated with our inpatient floors, the dialysis team, the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), the operating rooms and pharmacy to make the transplants possible for all four patients.

Everyone involved was determined to make it happen for the patients who ranged from 4 to 28 years old. There were three female patients and one male patient. The 28-year-old had been on dialysis for 13 years waiting for a kidney.

O’Mahony and renal transplant surgeon Dr. Ron Cotton began the first transplant at 6 a.m. Friday. The second transplant started at 8 a.m., and the third and fourth began at 3:30 p.m. After surgery, all of the patients were admitted to the PICU. Two patients have since been discharged from the hospital. The remaining two patients are still here and are doing well.

It took an astounding team effort to complete the admission of four transplant patients and complete four surgeries in less than 24 hours. Renal surgeons and pediatric nephrologists, anesthesia, pharmacy, the PACU and PICU, perioperative nurses and technicians, renal transplant coordinators, the blood bank, 12 West Tower inpatient nurses and staff, the dialysis unit, social workers, child life specialists and dietitians all were involved in making this possible.

“We could never have done this without everyone’s input,” Brewer said. “I personally cannot thank the team enough.”

“Our biggest reward that day was the thanks and appreciation from the patients and their families for getting a new kidney,” Brewer added. “These patients can look forward to a great future.”

The last transplant on Friday was the 400th kidney transplant completed at Texas Children’s since the program began in 1988.

Renal Transplant Team Members and Operating Room Staff on March 11

Anesthesia
Dr. Steven Stayer
Dr. Paul Hopkins
Dr. Titilopemi Aina
Dr. Thomas Shaw

Medical Team
Dr. Eileen Brewer
Dr. Poyyapakkam Srivaths
Dr. Sarah Swartz
Dr. Rossana Malatesta
Dr. Neziha Celebi
Dr. Peace Imani
Dr. Leyat Tal

Operating Room staff on March 11
Theresa Bagley
Jana Brunet
Danielle Govea
Doreen Hodgson
Hubert Laws
Lindsay Meade
Xianghua Xu

Pharmacy
Ji Lee

Renal Transplant coordinators
Claudia Kim
Kirti Bhakta
Dana Harney

Surgical Team
Dr. Christine O’Mahony
Dr. Ron Cotton
Dr. Thao Galvan (Recovery)

32316laserablation640Texas Children’s neurology and neurosurgery teams recently surpassed 100 laser ablation procedures. This minimally invasive surgical brain procedure has significantly improved the quality of life for many children with debilitating seizure disorders.

Ranked no. 2 in neurology and neurosurgery by U.S. News & World Report, Texas Children’s is the first hospital in the world to use real-time MRI-guided thermal imaging and laser technology to destroy brain lesions that cause epilepsy and uncontrollable seizures. Unlike a craniotomy – which removes a larger area of skull bone – the MRI-guided laser probe uses a much smaller pathway through the brain to reach a lesion, resulting in a safer, significantly less invasive alternative to craniotomy.

Stereotactic laser ablation surgery is used to treat epilepsy related to hypothalamic hamartoma (laughing seizures) and other seizure-inducing conditions such as tuberous sclerosis complex, cortical dysplasia and mesial temporal sclerosis. Laser ablation also treats certain types of brain tumors and radiation-induced necrosis that sometimes accompanies the treatment of these brain tumors.

This innovative procedure pioneered by Dr. Daniel Curry, Texas Children’s director of pediatric surgical epilepsy and functional neurosurgery, and Dr. Angus Wilfong, medical director of Texas Children’s Comprehensive Epilepsy Program, has resulted in improved patient outcomes with up to 78 percent of children reaching seizure free status at their one year follow up appointment.

Drs. Curry and Wilfong say improving patient outcomes using this minimally invasive approach to treating seizure disorders would not have been possible without the collaboration from the entire team at Texas Children’s including every pediatric epilepsy specialist in the department of neurology, neurosurgeons, the neurophysiology technicians who help with intraoperative monitoring during surgery, radiologists, radiology technicians who run the MRI machine, and the anesthesiologists and nursing staff who provide incredible support in and out of the operating room.

“We are honored and gratified that this procedure we pioneered here at Texas Children’s has changed the lives of our patients and the landscape of pediatric epilepsy surgery,” Curry said. “We are encouraged by our success to date and we look forward to further advancing this new field in minimally invasive pediatric epilepsy surgery.”

Click here to learn more about this breakthrough epilepsy procedure. For more information about Texas Children’s Epilepsy Center including powerful video documentaries from Texas Children’s patients who benefited from laser ablation surgery, click here and to read their blogs here.

March 15, 2016

31616trauma640

Ryley Hoffman is considered somewhat of a miracle. The 17-year-old found herself in the fight for her life back in October 2015 after being run over by a pickup truck as she watched planes near George Bush Intercontinental Airport.

“At first, I just felt something go over me but I wasn’t sure what was happening and then I realized it,” said Ryley Hoffman during an interview with ABC-13. “I don’t remember too much after that except for being scared.”

After being rushed to a nearby emergency room, Ryley was transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital because of the severity of her injuries, which included a lacerated liver and kidney, broken ribs, and a collapsed lung.

Ryley spent 74 straight days at Texas Children’s enduring 10 surgeries, several stays in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and intense rehabilitation sessions. A total of 24 different services were involved in her care.

Now, Ryley is doing outpatient rehabilitation and continues to meet with the hospital’s trauma team for follow-up visits. She is expected to make a full recovery.

“Every single service here has touched Ryley in some way because of her injuries,” said Cassandra Mueller, one of several physician assistants who cared for the teenager. “Everyone – including Ryley – worked hard to make her recovery a success.”

Mueller’s colleague, physician assistant Brian Whitaker, agreed and called Ryley a fighter and an absolute joy to work with.

“Seeing how far Ryley has come justifies everything we do,” Whitaker said. “She could hardly walk when she came in here and now she’s moving around easily.”

Ryley’s mother, Robin Hoffman, said everyone involved in her daughter’s care was amazingly dedicated, attentive and professional.

“You can’t find the level of care she received anywhere except for Texas Children’s Hospital,” Hoffman said. “We became so accustomed to the hospital we feel it’s our home away from home.”

Surgeon-in-Chief Charles D. Fraser Jr. said Ryley’s situation is a perfect example of the multidisciplinary approach we take at Texas Children’s each and every day.

“Our team is committed to working together to treat the whole child, not just an injury or condition,” he said.

Watch the full ABC-13 interview with Ryley here.

Read a blog written by Ryley here.

March 1, 2016

3216FraserReunioninside640On a recent Monday afternoon, identical 21-year-old twins Karly and Kestly Tinklepaugh met the man they consider their hero – Texas Children’s Surgeon-in-Chief Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr.

“We want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for giving us a life that is as normal and healthy as possible,” Karly and Kestly said in an emotional reunion. “You are one wonderful individual.”

Two decades ago, when Karly and Kestly were just 2-years-old, Fraser performed corrective surgery on the girls, who were born with Tetralogy of Fallot, a rare and complex heart defect that is treated most successfully with open-heart surgery soon after birth.

Since their surgery, Karly and Kestly have grown up to be normal, healthy young adults. Both of them attend Lone Star College with Kestly studying to become a geologist and Karly planning on being part of the Texas Children’s team one day as an echocardiogram technician.

Over the years, the twins, who are patients with our Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program, have often thought of their hearts and Fraser, the man they believe saved their lives. The desire to meet the pediatric heart surgeon grew and led to a late-night email penned by the twins asking Fraser if he would be interested in meeting them.

To Karly and Kestly’s surprise, Fraser responded to their note saying he remembered them quite well and would be more than happy to arrange a meeting. Before the twins knew it, they were standing nervously on the 20th floor of West Tower waiting to shake the hand of the man who last saw them on an operating table. When Fraser arrived, hugs were exchanged and conversation about everything from heart surgery to college and grandchildren ensued.

“We are elated that we got to meet Dr. Fraser,” Karly and Kestly said. “We will forever be grateful to him and Texas Children’s.”

Fraser said he too enjoyed the visit and is grateful the Tinklepaugh’s reached out to him.

“Periodically, I’ve pondered where they were and what life had brought them,” he said. “Now, I know.”

To learn more about the Tinklepaugh’s reunion with Fraser and the twins’ heart condition, click here to watch ABC-13’s coverage of the event. To read a blog post written by the Tinklepaugh’s themselves, click here.