Author Archives: gutsandgrowth

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About gutsandgrowth

I am a pediatric gastroenterologist at GI Care for Kids (previously called CCDHC) in Atlanta, Georgia. The goal of my blog is to share some of my reading in my field more broadly. In addition, I wanted to provide my voice to a wide range of topics that often have inaccurate or incomplete information. Before starting this blog in 2011, I would tear out articles from journals and/or keep notes in a palm pilot. This blog helps provide an updated source of information that is easy to access and search, along with links to useful multimedia sources. I was born and raised in Chattanooga. After graduating from the University of Virginia, I attended Baylor College of Medicine. I completed residency and fellowship training at the University of Cincinnati at the Children’s Hospital Medical Center. I received funding from the National Institutes of Health for molecular biology research of the gastrointestinal tract. During my fellowship, I had the opportunity to work with some of the most amazing pediatric gastroenterologists and mentors. Some of these individuals included Mitchell Cohen, William Balistreri, James Heubi, Jorge Bezerra, Colin Rudolph, John Bucuvalas, and Michael Farrell. I am grateful for their teaching and their friendship. During my training with their help, I received a nationwide award for the best research by a GI fellow. I have authored numerous publications/presentations including original research, case reports, review articles, and textbook chapters on various pediatric gastrointestinal problems. In addition, I have been recognized by Atlanta Magazine as a "Top Doctor" in my field multiple times. Currently, I am the vice chair of the section of nutrition for the Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. In addition, I am an adjunct Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine. Other society memberships have included the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (NASPGHAN), American Academy of Pediatrics, the Food Allergy Network, the American Gastroenterology Association, the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. As part of a national pediatric GI organization called NASPGHAN (and its affiliated website GIKids), I have helped develop educational materials on a wide-range of gastrointestinal and liver diseases which are used across the country. Also, I have been an invited speaker for national campaigns to improve the evaluation and treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, celiac disease, eosinophilic esophagitis, hepatitis C, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Some information on these topics has been posted at my work website, www.gicareforkids.com, which has links to multiple other useful resources. I am fortunate to work at GI Care For Kids. Our group has 17 terrific physicians with a wide range of subspecialization, including liver diseases, feeding disorders, eosinophilic diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis, DiGeorge/22q, celiac disease, and motility disorders. Many of our physicians are recognized nationally for their achievements. Our group of physicians have worked closely together for many years. None of the physicians in our group have ever left to join other groups. I have also worked with the same nurse (Bernadette) since I moved to Atlanta in 1997. For many families, more practical matters about our office include the following: – 14 office/satellite locations – physicians who speak Spanish – cutting edge research – on-site nutritionists – on-site psychology support for abdominal pain and feeding disorders – participation in ImproveCareNow to better the outcomes for children with inflammatory bowel disease – office endoscopy suite (lower costs and easier scheduling) – office infusion center (lower costs and easier for families) – easy access to nursing advice (each physician has at least one nurse) I am married and have two sons (both adults). I like to read, walk/hike, bike, swim, and play tennis with my free time. I do not have any financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies or other financial relationships to disclose. I have helped enroll patients in industry-sponsored research studies.

Reopening Primary Schools -What’s At Stake

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R Levinson et al. NEJM 2020; DOI: 10.1056/NEJMms2024920. Full Link: Reopening Primary Schools during the Pandemic

An excerpt:

Children miss out on essential academic and social–emotional learning, formative relationships with peers and adults, opportunities for play, and other developmental necessities when they are kept at home. Children living in poverty, children of color, English language learners, children with diagnosed disabilities, and young children face especially severe losses.

School-provided social welfare services support the health of U.S. communities made  vulnerable by systemic racism, inadequate insurance, family instability, environmental toxicity, and poorly paid jobs.1 More than 50% of all U.S. school-age children rely on their schools for free or reduced-price daily meals. Despite efforts by school districts to maintain these services even when school was conducted remotely, a majority of children have been unable to access the full nutritional benefits to which they’re entitled.5 Schools also provide physical, mental health, and therapeutic services to millions of students per year. Many of these services have proved inaccessible to children — particularly low-income children of color and children with noncitizen family members — when schools are physically closed.1 Finally, safe and consistently open schools are essential for many parents and guardians (particularly women) to be able to reenter the workforce — including the health care sector…

Most locations (except Israel) whose schools are open had already achieved low community transmission rates (<1 new case per day per 100,000 people) and have remained focused on maintaining population-level infection control…

The safest way to open schools fully is to reduce or eliminate community transmission while ramping up testing and surveillance…These precautions are especially important insofar as 17.5% of teachers are 55 or older…

The fundamental argument that children, families, educators, and society deserve to have safe and reliable primary schools should not be controversial. If we all agree on that principle, then it is inexcusable to open nonessential services for adults this summer if it forces students to remain at home even part-time this fall.

My take: This commentary makes strong arguments for reopening schools; however, in countries where this is succeeding, community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is low and we are nowhere close to low.

Related blog posts:

Online Aspen Webinar (Part 7) -Liver Organ Allocation

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Below I’ve included a few slides and some notes from recent Aspen Webinars; my notes may have errors of omission or transcription.

Key Points:

  • The new allocation policy tries to make liver organ allocation more equitable in terms of disease acuity at time of transplantation and access to allografts
  • The changes, based on some preliminary data, appear to improve the likelihood of children receiving needed organs. Dr. Bondoc specifically cited the work of Dr. John Bucuvalas in pointing out some of the systemic ways that the previous system disadvantaged children.
    • Infants are at the greatest risk on the wait list.  Yet, successful transplantation in children could be beneficial for many decades
    • PELD underestimates mortality risk
    • 25% of pediatric donors have historically gone to adults

 

Related blog posts:

Online Aspen Webinar (Part 6) -NAFLD and NASH

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Aspen Online Webinar July  14-16, 2020

Below I’ve included some of my notes and slides.  There may be errors of omission or transcription.

What’s Hot? NAFLD and NASH Stavra Xanthakos

  • Fatty liver disease burden of NAFLD and NASH is increasing.  This increases the rate of cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver transplantation; the latter is being needed at younger ages
  • Explained that “Lean” (normal BMI) NAFLD is common
  • Diabetes is strongest risk factor for severe fatty liver disease (NASH or fibrosis). PNPLA3 is genetic risk factor for NAFLD risk.
  • Discussed treatment, particularly diet  and bariatric surgery.  Stated that some emerging treatments look promising.
  • In those with suspected NAFLD, Dr. Xanthokos recommends liver biopsy, if lifestyle therapy is ineffective, under specific circumstances: prior to bariatric surgery, in some cases to determine severity, and prior to instituting therapy (eg Vitamin E)

              

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Online Aspen Webinar (Part 5) -Biliary Atresia Diagnosis and Screening

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Online Webinar –Annual Aspen Conference  —July 14, 2000

Below I’ve included a few slides and some notes; my notes may have errors of omission or transcription.

Biliary Atresia -Prompt Diagnosis and Screening Ronald Sokol

Key Points:

  • We have NOT improved age of diagnosis in biliary atresia in the past 30 years
  • Uniform screening of fractionated bilirubin has been effective in Texas:  Diagnostic Yield of Newborn Screening for Biliary Atresia Using Direct or Conjugated Bilirubin Measurements S Harpavat et al. JAMA 2020; 323: 1141-50
  • Pale stools are usually NOT due to biliary atresia but should prompt investigation (eg. fractionated bilirubin)
  • MMP-7 may improve diagnostic approach; unclear if MMP-7 performs well in all populations (eg. prematurity)
  • Outcome key factors: age at diagnosis (goal less than 30-45 days) and surgeon/center

 

Related blog posts:

Online Aspen Webinar (Part 4) -How to Treat Hepatitis C in Children

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Below I’ve included a few slides and some notes; my notes may have errors of omission or transcription.

How I Treat Children with Hepatitis C  William Balistreri

Key points:

  • The recommendations for pediatric hepatitis C infection have been rapidly-changing due to a large number of recent studies/new direct-acting antivirals.  There are many new treatment options (see HCVguidelines.org); currently available treatment regimens noted below
  • All children >3 years of age with HCV should be treated –high cure rates (91-100% SVR) and this leads to long-term improvements in health outcomes
  • Test for Hepatitis B before instituting DAA therapy
  • Universal screening has been recommended for all adults >18 years.  This omits the pediatric age group; however, if all pregnant women are screened, the majority of pediatric HCV infections could be identified

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Online Aspen Webinar (Part 3) -Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis

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Below I’ve included a few slides and some notes; my notes may have errors of omission or transcription.

Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis: Beyond Anecdotal Medicine  Jim Squires

Key points:

  • MMP-7 is emerging as better biomarker than alk phos or GGT
  • Patients with PSC-IBD often have PUCAI scores which underestimates severity of IBD activity. Even PSC-IBD patients in “clinical remission” often have disease activity.
  • PSC-IBD phenotype includes pancolitis (often with rectal sparing and backwash ileitis
  • Long-term prognosis is associated with level of GGT values
  • Prognosis: ~70% have event-free survival at 5 years
  • Adult prognosis models are inadequate due to frequent differences between disease in children and disease in adults.  Adults also have more comorbidities: obestiy, smoking, alcohol and medications
  • SCOPE index is a useful prognostic model for children (scores of 3 or less indicate very low risk of disease progression over next 5 years)
  • Actigall is current first line treatment in children based on biochemical improvement (no long term proof of efficacy); vancomycin has only anecdotal evidence of effectiveness

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NY Times: Opening Schools Safely

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NY Times: Opening Schools Won’t Be Easy, but Here’s How to Do It Safely

An excerpt:

  • First, schools cannot reopen safely when community transmission is high and climbing. In our view, schools should open only in places that have fewer than 75 confirmed cases per 100,000 people cumulatively over the previous seven days, and that have a test positivity rate below 5 percent…
  • Second, schools should avoid high-risk activities. ..
  • Third, focus on the basics where risks are tolerable — that is at the medium level or lower on our chart. ..
  • [Fourth] Schools must adhere to public health measures and reduce density in classrooms and elsewhere on campus.

Related blog posts:

Online Aspen Webinar (Part 2) -Abnormal Liver Enzymes in a Tween

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What Do Abnormal Liver Enzymes Mean in a Tween William Balistreri

Below I’ve included a few slides and some notes; my notes may have errors of omission or transcription.

Key Points:

  • Provided updated normal reference data for ALT/AST along with patterns of abnormalities
  • Reviewed step-wise workup for teenagers with elevated ALT/AST, particularly fatty liver disease and drug-induced liver disease
  • Increasingly frequent cause of fatty liver disease: psychotropic medications
  • Discussed role/indications of liver biopsy. Liver biopsy is NOT practical option for all children with fatty liver disease and elevated liver enzymes
  • However, ALT values tend to underestimate severity of liver disease

 

 

Online Aspen Webinar (Part 1)

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Online Webinar –Annual Aspen Conference  —July 14, 2000

Below I’ve included a few slides and some notes; my notes may have errors of omission or transcription.

Can We Skip Liver Biopsies in Infants with Cholestasis? Jim Squires

Key points:

  • Data suggest that cholestasis in infants needs to be defined as direct bilirubin/conjugated bilirubin >0.3 (if TB <5) or 10% if TB >5.
  • Identifying cholestasis is challenging as cholestasis occurs in ~1 in 2500 whereas jaundice occurs in 15% of all infants
  • Genetic testing (eg. Cholestasis Panel, or exome) needs to be moved up earlier in diagnostic algorithm, after ultrasound completed and after A1AT & biliary atresia considered

Related blog posts:

Not part of webinar: