We're all about children!

October 2005 This edition: Letter From Our Chair Feature Story Message From Our Medical Director Update From Our Administrator Children's Research Institute News Mental Health News Brief Letter From Our Chair L. Lyndon Key, MD Professor and Chairman Department of Pediatrics Dear Faculty and Friends: This month we will host our annual summit meeting (Oct. 28-29). During this meeting we will be searching for a common goal between our 13 divisions. A goal that will help guide us to achieving an even higher level of success at our children's hospital. Looking for that common goal will explore our passions and discuss what makes us tick. I encourage each of our faculty members to explore your imagination and collectively, we can uncover creative and innovative ways to reach our goal. Think outside of the box. During our process of discovery, my office will be open to discuss issues. I will be coming to many of you to discover how to refine the process and to define what you want to do. I will be working with our division directors, our vice chairs, and our administrators to find a way to achieve our goal. Each year are recognized as one of the nation's best pediatric hospitals but let us not forget that we can always improve and we can always strive harder. Let's plan for greater things for 2006 and with a well-defined vision, determination and strong leadership we are certain to achieve our goal. We can become the best at providing the children of South Carolina with "healthcare." Can we become the best in the world at practicing, not medicine, but "health?" Let us have some fun and discover how we can become "the best" at what we do. In closing I would like to take a moment to remember Pete Hastings, MD. We were recently reminded about the fragility of life by the death of our good friend and colleague. Pete was a passionate man with intelligence, humor, dignity and a loving, upbeat spirit. We will miss him greatly. Sincerely, L. Lyndon Key, MD Chair, Department of Pediatrics Feature Story By: Mary Sue Lawrence, Trio Solutions Inc. Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases: Fighting HIV and More Primary pediatricians and other medical professionals all over eastern South Carolina turn to MUSC's Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases for answers and solutions. "We serve as an important resource, seeing referred patients and providing advice on the care of individual patients," says George Johnson, MD, who has led the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases since mid 2001. MUSC's pediatric infectious disease specialists provide inpatient and outpatient services for children with acute and chronic infections and immune deficiency syndromes. Collaboration with general pediatricians and subspecialty pediatricians is a hallmark of this division. "A lot of children develop infections as complications of or related to the treatment of their primary disease," says Dr. Johnson. "For example, a patient might develop an infection from an indwelling catheter or from chemotherapy treatments. Or perhaps a child is admitted with a fever and it's not clear what's wrong with her. We help sort out the causes and determine the appropriate treatments so these children receive the best care possible." [read more] Message From Our Medical Director J. Philip Saul, MD Medical Director Director, Pediatric Cardiology This month our newsletter features infectious diseases, which can be thought of as the rosetta stone of the field of pediatrics. Not only are children constantly afflicted by relatively minor infectious agents, including the common cold, but more serious infections account for a large percentage of the morbidity from the diseases of childhood. It is no wonder our hospital stays so full in the winter months when infections rain down on our children. Often these infections complicate other conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, gastrointestinal problems, genitourinary anomalies and perhaps most important, prematurity. Prior to the advent of antibiotics, bacterial infections often lead to death or serious morbidity, whereas today an equally important issue is the ever increasing resistance of bacterial organisms to even the strongest antibiotics. A children's hospital plays many roles here, balancing the need for aggressive treatment with the risk of promoting resistance, all on a background of preventing the spread of all infectious agents among our patients. Our infectious disease experts, Drs. Johnson and Fowler, are critical to all these roles. With the knowledge that universal routine precautions, including hand washing/cleansing, are the most important barrier to nosocomial spread of infections in the hospital, the MUSC Children's Hospital administration has been working closely with our faculty and staff to aggressively promote a variety of strategies for reducing intra-hospital transmission of infectious agents. We appreciate the tolerance, support and encouragement of all personnel in creating the safest possible care environment we can. Update From Our Administrator John Sanders, MHA Administrator MUSC Children's Hospital MUSC Children's Hospital and the Community The MUSC Children's Hospital is very lucky to be located in a community that supports it in many ways. Whether it is through charitable giving or volunteering in the Children's Hospital, the greater Charleston community shows that they appreciate the work that is done in our organization. As a member of the community, the Children's Hospital participates in many activities to improve the health and well being of the children of Charleston. If there is a big event like the Bridge Run or Charleston County First Day, you can bet that we are there. We have staff that provides education in the schools and special events. Just recently we sponsored the Little Heart's Walk along with the American Heart Association's Heart Walk to raise money for the care of children with cardiac diseases. What a great time for past patients, physicians and staff to reconnect. On October 1, the Children's Hospital helped sponsor the Isle of Palms Run and Walk for the Child which raises money for neglected or abused children. On October 16 we will sponsor the March of Dimes Chef's Auction to support that wonderful organization. As we did during the past year, we will continue to provide educational events through the Charleston County Parks and Recreation Department. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to provide care for Charleston's children. The work that we provide is not only in the walls of the Children's Hospital. We will continue to strive to be a contributing member of this wonderful town and we appreciate everyone seeing the MUSC Children's Hospital as Charleston's community children's hospital. Children's Research Institute News Bernard L. Maria, MD, MBA Executive Director Darby Children's Research Inst. Inderjit Singh, PhD Scientific Director Darby Children's Research Inst. In this issue of Kids Connection, we highlight the Division of Infectious Disease and the great work of Drs. Johnson and Fowler. Dr. Sandi Fowler has just received Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for a new research project collecting spinal fluid samples from children having lumbar punctures for diagnostic reasons. The plan is to analyze proteins within the spinal fluid to define parameters of inflammation that could then be used as part of efforts to translate use of exciting new compounds discovered in the Darby Children's Research Institute (DCRI) into clinical trials in children with brain inflammatory conditions, such as encephalitis and brain tumors. Dr. Fowler is setting a wonderful example for pediatric physicians reaching out to DCRI collaborators and resources by making use of our Proteomics Center expertise (Drs. Knapp and Baatz) and its technologies. [read more] Mental Health Resource News Brief Bullying Basics Surveys indicate that as many as half of all children are bullied at some time during their school years, and at least 10 percent are bullied on a regular basis. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes and ages. Kids usually become bullies because they are unhappy inside for some reason or don't know how to get along with other kids. Some kinds of bullying are Verbal - name-calling, including name-calling, happens most often Physical - punching, pushing Relational - leaving someone out of a game or group on purpose Extortion - stealing someone's money or toys Cyberbullying - using computers, the Internet, mobile phones, etc. to bully others Other kids are watching 85 percent of the time when one kid bullies another kid. If you suspect a child may be the victim of bullying or that they are witnessing bullying, ask him or her to tell you what's going on. Respond in a positive and accepting manner and provide opportunities to talk in an open and honest way. [read more] A special thanks to the following individuals for their efforts in putting together Kids Connection each month. Managing Editors: Bernard L. Maria, MD, MBA Publisher: Jennifer Cherock (Trio Solutions Inc.) and Jessica Munday (Trio Solutions Inc.) Web design: Brian Dadin (Trio Solutions Inc.) Contributing Writers: Lyndon Key, MD; Bernard Maria, MD; Inderjit Singh, PhD; John Sanders; Philip Saul, MD; John Baatz, PhD; Daniel Knapp, PhD; Mary Sue Lawrence

www.musckids.com 171 Ashley Ave. Charleston, SC 29425  ·  843-792-1414  ·  800-424-MUSC © 2006 MUSC Children's Hospital