One of our newest faculty members, Vijay Ravindra, MD, MSPH, is keeping booked and busy with multiple exciting research projects.
The Canerector Foundation, which supports cutting-edge research and care for patients with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, is investing in Dr. Ravindra’s research alongside several of our other faculty members, including Drs. Douglas Brockmeyer, Rajiv Iyer, Andrew Dailey, and Benjamin Ellis (Dept. of Biomechanical Engineering).
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is a connective tissue disorder linked to craniocervical instability that can result in spinal cord injuries. The team, supported by the Canerector Foundation, is creating patient-specific models of the craniocervical junction. “These models will give providers a greater understanding of the anatomical differences between patients who have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and those who don’t and will be used to inform better treatment plans in the future,” Dr. Ravindra said.
In addition to the finite element modeling project funded by Canerector, Dr. Ravindra is involved in several clinical research projects. His team at Primary Children’s Hospital is currently enrolling patients for a funded study through the American Syringomyelia Alliance Project examining computational flow modeling of cerebrospinal fluid at the craniocervical junction in children with Chiari I malformation to better understand the region and the implications of Chiari I malformation on regional fluid dynamics and their effect on symptoms and outcomes. Ultimately, he hopes to use patient-specific data to guide clinical decision making about surgery versus observation, type of surgery, etc.
Dr. Ravindra is also a site co-investigator for the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network alongside John Kestle, MD at Primary Children’s Hospital. The team recently completed an investigation analyzing whether there was an association between necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and shunt failure in children with post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus. Permanent diversion of cerebrospinal fluid can be difficult because peritoneal shunts—those that terminate in the abdomen—are preferred, and there is concern that shunt termination in the presence of necrotizing enterocolitis might lead to failure of the shunt as a result of inflammation or adhesion formation. We compared children with and without necrotizing enterocolitis and found no differences in shunt failure rates. This is an important finding because it provides high level, multi-center generated evidence that peritoneal shunts are safe to use even in children with NEC,” Dr. Ravindra said.
“It’s incredible to be part of clinical research that is making a real difference in the lives of our patients,” he shared.