Brain tumors are now the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among children. Year after year, Kentucky ranks among states with the highest incidence of children with brain tumors, and Kentucky currently ranks third in the nation. At Norton Children’s Cancer Institute, affiliated with the UofL School of Medicine, our goal is to be able to…
Children on Medicaid in Kentucky who experience asthma may have had a tougher time managing their symptoms following a payer-initiated formulary change that led to the use of a different inhaler device, according to a recent study. A formulary change undertaken in August 2016 by a Medicaid payer in Kentucky eliminated coverage of beclomethasone dipropionate,…
Individuals with mild-to-moderate adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) had poorer neurocognitive performance, most significantly in tests of alphanumeric trail-making, in a recent study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Deficits in alphanumeric trail-making may translate to issues with multitasking, prioritizing, maintaining information in working memory, planning and organizing. “That may be why…
Erythrocytapheresis (automated red cell exchange) increasingly is used to replace sickled red cells in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients as an alternative to transfusion. The procedure doesn’t significantly raise the total hemoglobin — a frequent result of other methods — when replacing sickled red cells with healthy donor cells. Erythrocytapheresis removes the patient’s sickled red…