https://phys.org/ en-us Latest news from Children's Hospital Los Angeles Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are characterized as stressful or traumatic experiences encountered before 18 years of age. ACEs can lead to toxic stress, which causes negative physical and mental health outcomes throughout one's life, including elevated rates of anxiety and depression, increased risk for suicide, and a potential increased risk of developing chronic pain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-02-effects-adverse-childhood-diverse-marginalized.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 26 Feb 2026 09:40:05 EST news691320517 A stent designed specifically for infants and young children with congenital heart disease has demonstrated strong safety and effectiveness in a pivotal multicenter clinical trial. Children's Hospital Los Angeles led the national study and in 2022 performed the first-in-human implantation of the Minima stent, which can be expanded as a child grows—all the way to adult size. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-trial-strong-results-kind-stent.html Cardiology Tue, 27 Jan 2026 10:57:32 EST news688733821 In 2019, Children's Hospital Los Angeles was part of a multi-institution collaboration that was the first in the Western U.S. to perform a completely laparoscopic repair of fetal spina bifida. Now, the team is marking a major milestone: its 100th fetoscopic surgery for open spina bifida (myelomeningocele). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-10-qa-surgeons-lessons-fetoscopic-spina.html Surgery Thu, 23 Oct 2025 15:43:03 EDT news680452981 When a critically ill baby with dextro-transposition of the great arteries (D-TGA) was transferred to Children's Hospital Los Angeles last year—just hours after birth—the Heart Institute team saw right away that the case was anything but routine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-surgical-team-rare-variation-d.html Cardiology Wed, 10 Sep 2025 10:40:01 EDT news676716712 An increasing number of games are now using virtual reality because of its ability to create appealing immersive worlds. Is VR any different from a normal computer game? Children's Hospital Los Angeles experts use virtual reality applications to help their young patients feel more comfortable during medical care. https://techxplore.com/news/2025-09-virtual-reality-games-kids-clinic.html Consumer & Gadgets Mon, 08 Sep 2025 09:34:53 EDT news676542884 A team led by Eamon Doyle, Ph.D., in the Borzage Laboratory at Children's Hospital Los Angeles developed novel computational models for magnetic resonance imaging. These models enable more accurate imaging of cerebral blood flow in children and adults while compensating for missing imaging data. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-08-mathematical-errors-mri-brain-blood.html Radiology & Imaging Fri, 08 Aug 2025 11:06:03 EDT news673869962 Researchers at Children's Hospital Los Angeles have discovered a key difference between the two main types of rhabdomyosarcoma—paving the way for more targeted treatments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-extracellular-matrix-pathway-emerges-treatment.html Oncology & Cancer Wed, 23 Jul 2025 11:00:04 EDT news672487201 Amblyopia, commonly referred to as "lazy eye," is the leading cause of vision loss in one eye in children, affecting around 2% of the population. Treatment success varies based on sociodemographic factors, with previous studies showing that Black children and those with Medicaid insurance are at higher risk for unsuccessful treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-impact-sociodemographic-factors-treatment-compliance.html Ophthalmology Thu, 17 Jul 2025 09:30:09 EDT news671962611 A new study led by Children's Hospital Los Angeles has found a novel mechanism behind neuroblastoma progression: the shape and structure of the extracellular matrix. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-key-mechanism-neuroblastoma.html Oncology & Cancer Tue, 15 Jul 2025 07:19:24 EDT news671782759 Given the rising rates of childhood obesity and its association with multiple chronic diseases, a team of Children's Hospital Los Angeles researchers examined the relationships between financial adversity, changes in the brain, and weight gain in adolescents. Economic hardship has been associated with changes in subcortical neurodevelopment and the risk of developing obesity, but studies have yet to illuminate how these different factors interact, and in what sequence. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-07-smaller-size-reward-brain-regions.html Neuroscience Thu, 03 Jul 2025 12:11:04 EDT news670763462 A group of Children's Hospital Los Angeles researchers found that ventilation managed by a computerized decision support (CDS) tool shortened the time children with lung failure spent on ventilation and helped them regain the ability to breathe unassisted after mechanical support. The results were published in NEJM Evidence. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-05-trial-computerized-decision-tool-ventilator.html Pediatrics Tue, 27 May 2025 14:29:54 EDT news667574990 A research team led by the Borzage Laboratory at Children's Hospital Los Angeles tested a new functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) analysis method to measure cerebrovascular health in aging adults. What they found was unexpected and validated the usefulness of this method for measuring neurovascular aging in childhood diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-05-fmri-analysis-method-children-unexpected.html Neuroscience Tue, 27 May 2025 14:24:33 EDT news667574670 The powerful chemotherapy drug cisplatin has been used since the late 1970s to treat a variety of cancers. It's highly effective against solid tumors and is often a core element of treatment for children with brain and spinal cord tumors, neuroblastoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-05-machine-tool-child-personal-cisplatin.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 07 May 2025 16:09:04 EDT news665852941 Exome sequencing (ES) is commonly used to diagnose Mendelian disorders, which occur when pathogenic variant(s) in a gene are either inherited from one or both parents or are de novo. Examples of such disorders include cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-05-exome-sequencing-variants-diagnostic-yield.html Genetics Mon, 05 May 2025 11:15:52 EDT news665662544 A team led by Children's Hospital Los Angeles has become the first in the world to demonstrate the possibility of using genetically engineered pig hearts as a potential "bridge" to heart transplant for critically ill babies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-04-team-world-cardiac-xenotransplant-bridge.html Surgery Mon, 28 Apr 2025 12:16:04 EDT news665061361 A new study led by Jonathan D. Santoro, MD, Director of the Neuroimmunology Program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, shows evidence of dysfunction of the blood–brain barrier and inflammation in the central nervous system in individuals with Down syndrome regression disorder (DSRD). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-links-blood-brain-barrier-dysfunction.html Neuroscience Thu, 13 Mar 2025 08:30:04 EDT news661073402 On any given day, nearly 20% of patients seen by the Sports Medicine team at Children's Hospital Los Angeles are children with concussions. That's not surprising, given that nationwide, up to 1.9 million youth a year experience this mild traumatic brain injury. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-03-qa-sports-medicine-specialist-pediatric.html Pediatrics Fri, 07 Mar 2025 08:48:02 EST news660559676 Brain injuries are a leading cause of death and long-term disability in infants. Among the most common is neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), which affects one to three in 1,000 live births per year and accounts for 22% of infant deaths worldwide. Only slightly less common is perinatal arterial ischemic stroke (PAIS). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-01-mri-overlap-common-neonatal-brain.html Neuroscience Fri, 31 Jan 2025 10:14:16 EST news657540845 A recent study led by Principal Investigator Michael Goran, Ph.D., and Rachel Schenker, MD, a Fellow in the Children's Hospital Los Angeles Liver Transplant Program, has found a novel combination of plasma-based biomarkers that could potentially predict liver fibrosis—scarring due to long-term inflammation or damage—linked to metabolic dysfunction‐associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the most common pediatric liver disease in the U.S. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-simple-plasma-based-biomarker-liver.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 17 Dec 2024 14:13:37 EST news653667214 Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is the most common genetic cardiovascular condition. It is the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young people and children, with an annual mortality rate of 1%. However, 10% to 20% of these patients have a significantly higher risk of sudden cardiac death. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-cardiovascular-mri-heart-children-hypertrophic.html Cardiology Tue, 03 Dec 2024 09:31:03 EST news652440661 In patients with chronic kidney disease, the loss of podocytes—part of the kidney's glomerular filtration barrier—causes irreversible disease progression. So far, physicians and researchers have found no way to effectively prevent podocyte damage, loss, and deterioration leading to end-stage kidney disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-fasting-diet-aid-kidney-function.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 31 Oct 2024 12:27:03 EDT news649596421 Liver transplantation is currently the only cure for pediatric acute liver failure (PALF), a rapidly progressing and life-threatening condition that can affect previously healthy children. Some children do not get a transplant in time because of a lack of suitable organs. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-10-allocation-survival-children-liver-failure.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 02 Oct 2024 16:05:13 EDT news647103907 A study led by Children's Hospital Los Angeles found wide variation in pediatric inpatient psychiatric beds across the United States. It highlights the growing concerns about the demand and access to mental health services for children and the geographic disparities in the availability of inpatient psychiatric care. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-pediatric-inpatient-psychiatric-beds-youth.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 19 Aug 2024 11:00:01 EDT news643279884 Adolescence is a crucial developmental period in which the risk of mental health problems can first emerge. But for millions of youths, that sensitive time period coincided with the social isolation of COVID-19 and remote schooling. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-08-mental-health-income-adolescents-wealthier.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 08 Aug 2024 09:58:40 EDT news642329916 In the last 50 years, behavioral health researchers have made major progress in understanding depression not as a condition born purely from lived experiences, but as a multi-faceted disorder with complex underlying biology. A growing body of research has increased understanding of the biology of depression at the cellular level as well as potential targets for innovative treatments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-07-behavioral-health-hundreds-brain-scans.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 02 Jul 2024 09:12:04 EDT news639130322 Little is known about the genetics and biology of chordoma, a rare and aggressive bone tumor. Chordomas occur in approximately one in a million people in the U.S. a year and 5% of these are in children. These tumors can arise anywhere along the spine in adults. However, in children, these tumors occur mostly at the base of the skull, making complete surgical removal challenging or impossible. Any tumor remnants are treated with high doses of radiation—which can cause significant damage to the developing brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-05-team-potential-rare-lethal-bone.html Oncology & Cancer Fri, 31 May 2024 08:49:37 EDT news636364172 Retinoblastoma is a rare pediatric cancer, with approximately 250–300 new cases per year in the United States and 8,000 worldwide. The cancer grows within the retina, a thin layer of cells at the back of the eye, and is usually treatable when diagnosed early. However, if undiagnosed, retinoblastoma can metastasize and lead to death. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-expert-current-state-retinoblastoma.html Oncology & Cancer Mon, 22 Apr 2024 09:05:43 EDT news632995540 Children with liver transplants must take immunosuppressant medications for life. To maintain tolerance of the transplanted liver, doctors treat transplant rejection and conduct ongoing maintenance immunosuppression by increasing dosages of medication enough to counteract rejection. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-probe-immune-microenvironment-pediatric-liver.html Immunology Wed, 17 Apr 2024 09:46:03 EDT news632565962 No therapies currently exist that can halt the progression of chronic kidney disease in children or restore the ability of kidney cells to filter blood. Recently, researchers at the GOFARR Laboratory for Organ Regenerative Research and Cell Therapeutics in Urology at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles found new clues to understanding how chronic kidney disease progresses. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-04-uncover-underlying-mechanism-membranous-nephropathy.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 08 Apr 2024 14:15:17 EDT news631804511 Children with sickle cell anemia are vulnerable to serious infections and stroke, but many do not receive the preventative care that could help them stay healthier for longer, a Children's Hospital Los Angeles study has found. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-03-kids-sickle-cell-anemia-lack.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 06 Mar 2024 14:48:03 EST news628958871