Animal Allergies

Food Allergies

Allergy, Immunology, and ENT

Cardiovascular Diseases

Cardiology

Acne

Atopic Dermatitis

Dermatology

Emergency Medicine

Diabetes

Endocrinology

Formula

Nutrition

Obesity

Gastroenterology

Antibiotic Resistance

Bacterial Conjunctivitis

COVID-19

Influenza

Pneumonia

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Vaccination and Immunization

Vaccines

Infectious Diseases

ADHD

Addiction

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Anxiety

Autism

Depression

Developmental/Behavioral Disorders

Psychiatry

Mental, Behavioral and Development Health

Concussion

Epilepsy

Headache

Neurology

Neonatal/Perinatology

OB/GYN

Pain

Drug Pipeline News

Pharmacology

Telemedicine

Practice Improvement

Asthma

Cystic Fibrosis

Respiratory

Rheumatology

News 

All News

PNP Corner

AAP News

Media

Around the Practice

Cure Connections

Expert Interviews

Insights

Medical World News

Peer Exchange

Peers & Perspectives

Podcasts

Webinars

Puzzler

Publications

Contemporary Pediatrics Journal

Supplements And Featured Publications

CME/CE

Resources

Handouts

Job Board

Conferences

Conference Coverage

Conference Listing

Partnerships

Subscribe

Editorial

Editorial Advisory Board

Writer’s Guidelines

Reference Guidelines

Meet the Editors

Articles

Get caught up with Contemporary Pediatrics! This list helps you navigate our top stories from the week, all in one place.

Weekly review: MenABCWY vaccine commentary, clinician quiz and more

. He joined the brand in March of 2023 as an editor before being promoted to senior editor in January 2024. Fitch graduated from Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio in 2020 with a degree in telecommunications and journalism. He started his career as a news and sports videographer before becoming an on-air sports anchor at the NBC-affiliated news station in Youngstown. Fitch briefly worked as a national content writer for a Chicago-based national television station before joining the 

team. He can be reached at: jfitch@mjhlifesciences.com.

“In some cases, that meant that we could actually go after the primary pathology or the primary cause of the condition in a way that we never would have thought of before."

Benefits of genetic sequencing for cerebral palsy patients

Amin Barakat, MD, FAAP, details meningococcal disease vaccines and highlights the recently FDA-approved MenABCWY vaccine from GSK.

Breaking down invasive meningococcal disease vaccines, including MenABCWY

Study findings underscore the effectiveness of a dual approach to RSV prevention. 

RSV prevention strategies show high uptake, positive outcomes

About Us

Advertise

Contact Us

Terms and Conditions

Privacy

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

Contemporary Pediatrics

Facebook

LinkedIn

Instagram

Clinical

Gynecology

Infectious disease

Mental Health

Oncology

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Sexual Health

View More

1rem

Clinical Focus

In this quiz, we test your knowledge of the AAP's new algorithm and updated recommendations for newborn screening for critical congenital heart disease. 

Quiz: Recommendations for critical congenital heart disease newborn screenings

A review of current guidelines in treatment and thromboprophylaxis.

Direct oral anticoagulants for venous thromboembolism in pediatrics

FDA accepts BLA for lerodalcibep for lowering LDL-cholesterol in patients with ASCVD

"The greatest risk reductions were demonstrated in those who experienced obesity remission during childhood," stated study authors.

Pediatric obesity treatment yields lower morbidity, mortality risk in young adults

The use of pulse oximetry screening for asymptomatic newborns at or around 24 hours of life helps identify at-risk infants. 

Updated pediatric screening recommendations for critical congenital heart disease

Principal investigator Lewis Romer, MD, of Johns Hopkins Medicine joined us to discuss the actively-recruiting MoD PAH trial, and explains the role the pediatrician can play in care and recruitment. 

Pediatric pulmonary arterial hypertension and the pediatrician

Lewis Romer, MD, professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medicine and principal investigator of the Mono vs. Dual Therapy for Pediatric Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (MoD PAH) trial, recently discussed the vital role of pediatricians in identifying and managing pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in children. This progressive and rare disease can present with nonspecific symptoms, making early recognition critical. 

“When one is a general pediatrician, one is never sure who's going to walk into one's office,” Romer said. “Some disease processes kind of sneak up on people slowly over time, and they don’t even realize... this is a child who can’t climb up into a chair in the doctor’s office.” These subtle signs, such as fatigue or not keeping up with peers on the playground, Romer used as an example, can be early indicators of PAH, emphasizing the need for vigilance among primary care providers. 

The MoD PAH trial, a Phase 3 study, is evaluating the safety and efficacy of sildenafil monotherapy versus combination therapy with sildenafil and bosentan in children newly diagnosed with PAH. Currently recruiting participants, the trial includes 15 centers across the United States to ensure accessibility. The goal is to determine the best first-line treatment for children with World Health Organization functional class II or III symptoms.

Click here for more information on the MoD PAH trial, as explained by Romer in a previous 

Romer highlighted the importance of referral to specialized centers for accurate diagnosis and care. “If [pediatricians] are suspicious of pulmonary hypertension, referral to a pulmonary hypertension center, if feasible, is the very best thing to do as quickly as possible,” he explained. These centers are equipped to make precise diagnoses efficiently and safely, providing the foundation for effective treatment planning, stated Romer.

Despite a child’s participation in a specialized trial, the pediatrician remains a cornerstone of their care team. Romer emphasized the significance of ongoing collaboration: “The pediatrician continues to be the first contact for things that are not right, for things that are unusual.” 

The MoD PAH trial also integrates routine follow-up, including monthly calls and quarterly visits, to foster a supportive relationship with families. However, Romer reiterated that pediatricians are the consistent presence in a child’s life, offering continuity of care and a trusted partnership in navigating this challenging disease.

For more information on the MoD PAH trial, visit https://kidspahtrial.org/

Fitch, J. Investigating mono vs dual therapy for pediatric pulmonary arterial hypertension. 

. January 13, 2024. Accessed January 20, 2025. https://mjh.sanity.studio/contpeds/structure/article;edb2ab89-ff82-480b-84eb-0646387bb76c

Videos

News

Principal investigator Lewis Romer, MD, of Johns Hopkins Medicine joined us to discuss the actively-recruiting MOD PAH trial assessing mono vs dual therapy for pediatric PAH. 

Investigating mono vs dual therapy for pediatric pulmonary arterial hypertension

Lewis Romer, MD, professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, is the principal investigator of the Mono vs. Dual Therapy for Pediatric Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (MoD PAH) trial. This Phase 3 study aims to determine the optimal first-line treatment for children newly diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

The trial is currently in the recruiting stage and seeks to enroll pediatric patients to examine the comparative safety and efficacy of sildenafil monotherapy versus  sildenafil and bosentan combination therapy. 

"Our study is focused on what is the best initial therapy for children with a new diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension," said Romer. "We are trying to address what would seem to be a very fundamental question but one that really is very pressing."

Romer acknowledged the challenges of conducting pediatric clinical trials, particularly in rare diseases like PAH. 

"One of the biggest challenges to doing clinical trials for drug therapy in children is the pace of enrollment," he explained. "This is a rare disease. People are very protective of their kids, [questioning] 'What's this business of doing research on my child?' So the pace of enrollment is challenging."

Participants must meet specific inclusion criteria, including a confirmed PAH diagnosis via cardiac catheterization (for children over 1 year old) or 2 echocardiograms (for those under 1 year). Additionally, eligible children must have World Health Organization functional class II or III PAH symptoms.

"We are very interested in quality of life," Romer stated. "We focused on the primary outcome being something called the World Health Organization functional class, which means, do we have symptoms?"

While combination therapy is supported in adult populations, evidence for its use in children remains limited. "There are data to support the use of multiple drugs for initial therapy in adults, but this is a question that has never been asked in children," Romer noted.

Furthermore, the trial includes children with group 1 and group 3 PAH, the latter of which has not been studied in terms of optimal treatment at any age. "We feel that our study represents a great setting to decide that question," said Romer.

The MoD PAH trial represents a critical step toward improving outcomes for children with PAH. Recruitment efforts aim to provide essential evidence for guiding future treatment protocols. 

Mono vs. Dual Therapy for Pediatric Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (MoD). ClinicalTrials.gov. Updated October 15, 2024. Accessed Jan. 13, 2025. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04039464#contacts-and-locations 

Principal investigator Lewis Romer, MD, of Johns Hopkins Medicine joined us to discuss the actively-recruiting MoD PAH trial assessing mono vs dual therapy for pediatric PAH. 

A discussion of genetic red flags associated with congenital heart disease with Jennifer Joiner, MSN, CPNP-AC/PC

Congenital heart disease and associated genetic red flags

At the 2024 National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) National Conference on Pediatric Health Care, held in Denver, Colorado, Jennifer Joiner, MSN, CPNP-AC/PC, along with colleague Alexandra Grace, MSN, CPNP-PC, presented their session titled "Genetic Red Flags Associated with Congenital Heart Disease."

 to discuss the session, and what primary care providers can learn and apply. 

Hi, my name is Jennifer Joiner, I'm a pediatric nurse practitioner, I provide critical critical care to cardiac intensive care unit babies and I work at Methodist children's hospital in San Antonio, Texas.

What made you want to present your session, “Genetic Red Flags Associated with Congenital Heart Disease,” at NAPNAP 2024?

Last year, Alexandra Grace, MSN, CPNP-PC, my genetic nurse practitioner, and I really were struck by some of the commonalities that cardiac babies present with that also have genetic disorders. There were several things that would seem to come up and we called them red flags. We just thought that was so important to present to other providers to kind of help them along because some of these children have delayed diagnoses, that prevents them from reaching their maximum potential.

What were the session's biggest takeaways?

Just remember the prevalence of congenital heart disease, everyone that takes care of children, they are going to run into children with congenital heart disease. It accounts for about 40% of the pediatric death at any one time 20% to 30% of the babies that are in neonatal ICU have congenital heart defects. Finding if they have a genetic component, or if it's other etiologies, causing some of their challenges, it's really up to us to put the pieces together. Those things are difficult to place together. We have, at our resource, an online access, that can help other providers, pediatricians, nurse practitioners, if they're suspecting that a child in their practice has this combination. They can upload some of those data characteristics that they're doing in their physical exam findings that the child is not a thriving, they may have failure to thrive, developmental delays, neurological compromise. They can input those data points in and with putting all the data together, can come up with a diagnosis. The web website is OMIM.org, and that's the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, and it's incredibly helpful for anyone and available to everyone. We want to share that and empower others to kind of look for those things and then they know that at that point, they need to reach out to the genetic colleagues and reach for help.

How does your session relate to the primary care provider, and what should they know?

That's a great question. So for general pediatricians, pediatric nurse practitioners that practice primary care, those great physical exam skills, things you may find that just aren't fitting together. They may have a congenital heart defect, it may be a patent ductus arteriosus, the ventricle septal defect, and then they also are having development displays, they may have speech delays, they may not be growing appropriately, and putting all that together for those primary care providers is really important. Those little triggers to doing those great exams and getting a history from the parents. There could have been something that happened during the pregnancy, after delivery, things that kind of trigger you to come up with that diagnosis. Children that have genetic problems, it really becomes a family escapade. So, if the families are all going to get together, you're going to pull in maybe aunts, uncles, cousins, depending on the genetic abnormality. It may be just something that's popped up, it's not going to be spread and so that can really actually calm families that this is the next child doesn't have a chance to get out a very high chance of getting it and that genetic counseling is so important for those families.

What genetic red flags are associated with congenital heart disease? Jennifer Joiner, MSN, CPNP-AC/PC, joined Contemporary Pediatrics at the 45th NAPNAP National Conference to discuss the answer.

In this interview, Anne Dubin, MD, division chief of pediatric cardiology at Stanford Medicine Children's Health, outlines the current state of pediatric cardiovascular care by discussing improvements made in recent decades and innovations which must be made to further improve care.

Going back as far as 1938, children with congenital heart disease (CHD) struggled to receive a diagnosis. Now, babies as small as 2 pounds can be treated without going to an operating room. 

Complicated malformations in the blood vessels also present in many children, which would have once caused extremely limited exercise ability and limited lifespan. Methods of improving these children's health have been developed in recent decades, allowing for successful repair. Heart transplants are also now an option, with mechanical heart pumps used to treat children waiting for an available heart.

Stanford Medicine Children's Health hopes to see CHD eliminated in the future and is working toward this goal through their basic science and engineering (BASE) program. According to Dubin, the BASE program brings world-class scientists together with the aim of curing CHD. The scientists plan to develop a 3D-printed biological heart and have already successfully made some of the tissue.

The BASE program is also working to control certain genetic heart diseases. While some heart diseases are influenced by genes, others are influenced by the genetic material surrounding the gene. Environmental factors may also have further effects. Scientists in the BASE program are working to better understand how these factors interact.

Dubin discussed the nationwide nursing shortages and the current difficulties with getting skilled workers into the force seen during the COVID-19 pandemic. This can lead to difficulties in having enough skilled workers to meet the needs of patients requiring pediatric cardiovascular care.

The expansion of telehealth was a positive outcome of the pandemic which Dubin discussed. Prior to the pandemic, telehealth was not widely used. However, it was required to continue care during the pandemic, and in cardiology, it has allowed multiple tests to be conducted remotely. 

"It's a really exciting time to be in pediatric cardiology and pediatric cardiac care," Dubin said. Instead of looking for methods to palliate, Dubin said scientists are looking for ways to cure heart disease in general. She is excited to see where the field is heading.

Anne Dubin, MD, division chief of pediatric cardiology at Stanford Medicine Children's Health, discusses developments made in pediatric cardiovascular care in recent decades, along with developments she hopes to see in the future.

Cardiovascular Diseases

Latest News