In a special episode of Precision: Perspectives on Children's Surgery, you will hear a powerful story about a little boy named Patrick Marvel who was diagnosed with drug-resistant epilepsy due to a perinatal stroke and how an endoscopic hemispherectomy surgery at Lurie Children's transformed his life. Patrick’s parents, Erin and Brendan Marvel, join Dr. Sandi Lam, Division Head of Neurosurgery Lurie Children’s who performed Patrick’s surgery, to discuss how advocacy and medical expertise can turn a devastating diagnosis into a hopeful new beginning.

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Northwestern Medicine have established the Collaborative Advanced Reconstructive Evaluation (CARE) Clinic, which provides multidisciplinary care for children, adolescents and women with congenital anomalies and acquired diseases of the genitourinary tract. In this episode, two of the clinic’s leaders, Drs. Julia Geynisman-Tan and Dr. Julia Grabowski, talk about the transformative surgical innovations they’ve developed and life-changing procedures and supportive care they offer to help women achieve functional vaginal anatomy, relief from pain, the ability to menstruate and more.

Experts in cardiac care at Lurie Children’s Hospital want to ensure that children with congestive heart (CDH) disease live the healthiest, happiest lives possible. Lurie Children’s unique, comprehensive approach is dedicated to investing in the long-term outcomes of children with CHD. In this episode, Dr. Kiona Allen, attending physician in cardiology and Medical Director of the Regenstein Cardiac Care Unit, discusses key components of a supportive, long-term approach for children with this condition. This includes neurodevelopmental and mental health support, exercise, teaching children to take ownership of their health and helping bridge the gap for those with socioeconomic obstacles.

Anti-seizure medications are the mainstay of epilepsy treatment, but these medications are not effective for all forms of epilepsy, such as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome or LGS. It's a rare form of epilepsy that has no cure. Dr. Sandi Lam, Division Head, Neurosurgery at Lurie Children’s,  is working to help pediatric patients with LGS and their families manage this condition by investigating the outcomes that matter most to patients and their families. In this episode, Dr. Lam talks about this important work and how it may help build a roadmap that will empower the future of research for LGS and other pediatric epilepsies and rare diseases.

In this episode, leaders from the multidisciplinary Spina Bifida Center at Lurie Children's  discuss their innovative approaches to spina bifida care in the areas of fetal surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedics, and urology. Learn about the latest advancements from the center, including a new orthopedic classification system that’s shaping the future of spina bifida treatment.

Pediatric and adolescent patients at risk of losing their fertility due to medical conditions and treatments have more options than ever before to preserve their fertility for the future. In this episode,  Dr. Monica LaRonda, an expert in the field of reproductive biology,  shares many new projects she is leading alongside surgeons in Lurie Children’s Fertility & Hormone Preservation & Restoration Program.

A good night's sleep is critical to the health and well being of children, but undiagnosed or untreated obstructive sleep apnea can prevent kids from getting much needed rest and is associated with cardiovascular complications, impaired growth, learning problems, and behavioral problems. In this episode of Precision, Drs. Saied Ghadersohi and Taher Valika discuss the importance of sleep for children and the impact of obstructive sleep disordered breathing, which affects nearly 5 percent of the youth population in the United States. They offer advice to parents and share insights on advanced treatments at Lurie Children’s Hospital which are helping kids get the rest they need.

Transformative care through pediatric plastic and reconstructive surgery takes place every day at Lurie Children's Cleft Lip and Palate Repair Program. In this episode,  Dr. Arun Gosain, Division Head of Plastic Surgery at Lurie Children's, discusses the full spectrum of care the program offers to children with cleft lip and cleft palate, from birth through adulthood.

Lurie Children's Department of Anesthesiology administers tens of thousands of anesthetics every year to treat children with a range of health conditions. Leading these efforts is Anesthesiologist-in-Chief Dr. Olutoyin Olutoye. In this episode, Dr. Olutoye walks through her and her team members’ various roles before, during, and after an operation to ensure successful surgeries for even the tiniest babies. She also shares findings from her research in maternal-fetal anesthesiology as well as in anesthesia drugs and pediatric obesity.

Two Lurie Children's experts are on a mission to help define the next era of fetal cardiac intervention. In this episode, Dr. Sheetal Patel, a pediatric cardiologist and medical director of the fetal cardiology program at Lurie Children's, and Dr. Alan Nugent, a pediatric interventional cardiologist and section head of interventional cardiology catheterization at Lurie Children's, discuss their vision to use innovation and interventions to treat complex congenital heart diseases before birth.