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Caring for critically ill infants with congenital heart defects using an app Greyson was born at 39 weeks on August 3, 2020, and just 24 hours later arrived home to meet his two, very excited older siblings.  A week later, Greyson wouldn’t eat. His parents, sensing something was wrong, brought him to Nemours Children’s Hospital, Delaware where he was admitted to the intensive care unit and put on oxygen.  At first, doctors thought it was a viral infection, but an echo of Greyson’s heart revealed that he was in heart failure.  The diagnosis was hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), a severe congenital heart defect, requiring a series of three highly complex surgeries to correct it.  With Greyson just 10 days old, Dr. Christian Pizarro performed the first surgery. All went well.  Greyson spent the next 7 weeks recovering in the hospital and as discharge planning began, acute care pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Erica Del Grippo cautioned his parents that the […]

Nemours’ Advance Delivery Program is designed for healthy moms-to-be whose babies will need complex care from the moment they’re born.

It may feel like viruses are in the news a lot these days. And perhaps you just heard about parechovirus (puh-REH-ko-veye-rus). Well, it turns out that parechovirus isn’t new! What Is Parechovirus? Parechovirus is a virus that’s been around for many years. Parechovirus infection is pretty common, especially in kids. Did you know that most kids get a parechovirus infection by the time they turn five years old? You probably weren’t even aware if your child has had a parechovirus infection. That’s because kids usually have no symptoms or just mild ones.  Parechovirus can spread when someone comes in contact with infected poop or infected droplets of saliva or mucus that come out in a cough or sneeze. It can also spread when someone touches a contaminated surface or object. Symptoms of parechovirus infection are like symptoms that come with other cold viruses, such as a sore throat, runny nose, […]

Rocco started his freshman year in September 2021, excited to be in high school and ready for a new school year. Two weeks into the school year, Rocco and his family went to their favorite skate park. Rocco fell off his skateboard and injured his leg. His parents took him to the emergency room, where they found out he fractured his right ankle. During his workup in the emergency room, the care team noticed that Rocco’s blood pressure was high. Stacey, Rocco’s mom, initially did not think much of it, considering he had just broken his ankle. But the ER nurse was very insistent that they make a follow up appointment with Rocco’s pediatrician. Stacey took note and monitored Rocco’s blood pressure over the next few days. When Rocco’s blood pressure did not return to normal, Stacey immediately made an appointment with their pediatrician. At the pediatrician’s office, Stacey made […]

“We are so happy with Dr. Khoury and what he’s been able to do for our son. He is an amazing doctor. He always treats everyone with respect. We are excited to continue our scoliosis journey with Dr. Khoury and Nemours.” –Mom to Quinn (age 4) Quinn’s mom first noticed something was wrong with his back when he was just 2 months old. “I could feel a bump on one side of his back,” she explains. “I thought it was lack of muscle tone…I didn’t know that what I was feeling was the rib hump.” When she mentioned this to Quinn’s pediatrician, she diagnosed him with torticollis and Quinn began doing physical therapy. His torticollis eventually got better, but mom knew there was still something wrong with his back. That was because Quinn didn’t sit on his own until around 8 months, and he didn’t crawl until after 9 months. […]

Contributed by Kevin Neal, MD, orthopedic surgeon What is the Apifix device that is used to treat scoliosis? The Apifix device has a few different names. It can also be called minimally invasive deformity correction (MID-C) or an “internal brace.” The Apifix device is a rod that is used to straighten scoliosis curves without a major spine fusion. Why do some patients want to avoid spine fusion? A spine fusion is where the vertebral bodies are stabilized so they can’t move, typically with rods and screws. The joints between the vertebrae bones are removed and bone graft is placed to help the vertebral bodies grow together and become solid. Preventing movement of the spine keeps scoliosis curves from getting worse and keeps the spine straight after it has been corrected. Spine fusion is a great operation for many patients with scoliosis. But some patients want to treat their scoliosis without […]