Page 11 - Mecklenburg_Medicine_November-December-2016

n Levine Children’s Hospital has
Success with Clinical Trial for
Pediatric Cancer
Javier Oesterheld, MD, specialty medical
director of pediatric hematology/oncology/
BMT and palliative care at
Levine Children’s Hospital, is
leading a multi-institutional
study that is improving
survival rates among patients
Javier Oesterheld,MD with relapsed leukemia. Dr. survived the infection.
Oesterheld and Dr. Jessica Hochberg created
the study in New York and Charlotte and
have been running the study collaboratively.
The patient population for relapsed
leukemia does not have a strong survival
rate; however, the data collected in the study
shows that the combination of therapies is
delivering an incredible response. “We are
seeing 80 percent response rates, where
normally the response rate is only 40-60
percent,” says Oesterheld.
Data from the clinical trial, known
as the MITCL (Mitoxantrone and
Clofarabine), recently was recognized
by the American Society of Pediatric
Hematology and Oncology. Out of
hundreds of abstracts, the paper from
Levine Children’s Hospital was the No. 1
choice to be recognized at this year’s
Society conference in Minneapolis.
Oesterheld and Hochberg presented
the data to conference attendees and it
received an overwhelming response. “We
are now expanding this study nationally
and expect to prove the point that this is a
great combination of chemotherapy with
promising results,” says Oesterheld.
To date, the trial has treated more than 20
patients in Charlotte and the Medical College
of New York. For more information, contact
Oesterheld at 704-381-9900.
n Teamwork Leads to Supply of
Promising Drug
Thanks to great teamwork between
CHS’ Therapeutic Research and
Development Department and Carolinas
Medical Center’s Inpatient Pharmacy,
Carolinas HealthCare System now has a
supply of a drug that has shown promise
in treating a deadly brain infection.
The infection, caused by an amoeba that
can inhabit lakes and streams, recently took
the lives of a visitor to the U.S. National
Whitewater Center and a swimmer in the
Edisto River near Charleston.
Mark King,AVP of Enterprise Research at
CHS, learned that a drug called miltefosine
had been used to treat two patients who
Although the drug originally was available
only through a clinical trial with the CDC,
King reached out to Ryan Bender, supervisor
of Pharmacy’s Investigational Drug Services,
to explore options to stock it locally. After
discovering that a hospital inTexas had obtained
a supply of the drug, Bender and King reached
out to the drug manufacturer. They learned that
miltefosine recently had been approved by the
FDA to treat another infection, and CHS could
stock it without employing investigational
protocols, so they looped in Tyler Greenwood,
Manager of Pharmacy at CMC.
Greenwood worked with the drug
manufacturer to obtain the paperwork
needed to stock the drug and secured internal
approval of the agreement in less than a day.
The supply arrived at CMC’s pharmacy in
just two days.
Katie Passaretti, MD, medical director
of infection prevention for CHS, urged
caution before drawing conclusions on
the drug’s effectiveness.
“Miltefosine only has been used in a few
cases, and we don’t have enough data to say
for sure that it was the key in curing these
patients,” says Passaretti. “It does appear that HealthCare System urgent care location,
providing treatment as soon as possible is
important, and having the drug on hand will
allow us to respond quickly, if needed, and
combine it with other supportive therapies.”
n Four Physicians Named
Full Professors
After intense review of their outstanding
academic portfolios and letters of
recommendation from five external
full professor reviewers, the Faculty
Advancement Committee recommended four
CHS faculty members advance to the rank
of Full Professor of Carolinas HealthCare
Mecklenburg Medicine • November/December 2016 | 11
At the Hospitals
System. This is based on their national and/
or international stature, significant impact on
their field, recognition as a thought leader
in relevant professional organizations and
ongoing commitment to System mission and
citizenship. They are:
Alan Heffner, MD – Pulmonary and
Critical Care Consultants and Departments
of Internal and Emergency Medicine.
Michael Runyon, MD – Director of
Research, Department of Emergency
Medicine.
Jaspal Singh, MD – Pulmonary
and Critical Care Consultants and the
Department of Internal Medicine.
Kelly VanderHave, MD – Pediatric
Orthopaedic Surgeon, Department of
Orthopaedic Surgery.
n New Service to Cut Wait Times at
Urgent Care Locations
Carolinas HealthCare System now allows
patients to electronically reserve a spot in
line at all 28 of its urgent care locations in the
region. Use of the reservation system already
has cut wait times an average of 64 percent at
three pilot locations.
For decades, urgent cares have been
built as walk-in facilities, with no way of
reserving a time to see a provider. Now,
patients can treat an urgent care visit the
same way they treat checking in for an
airline reservation or a rapid pick-up order
at a restaurant — by making a few clicks on
a phone or tablet.
To reserve a spot online at a Carolinas
patients can use a tablet, smartphone or
computer. One of the easiest ways to reserve
a spot is through the Carolinas HealthCare
System “Carolinas” app, available on
the iTunes store and on Google Play. Using
the app, patients can log on, find an urgent
care close to them and click “Reserve Your
Spot” to sign up for a time. Once patients
select an urgent care reservation time and
opt in to receive text message updates, they
will receive alerts when the reservation time
is approaching.
The initiative is part of Carolinas
HealthCare System’s goal to respond to
patients’ need for on-demand care, while
ensuring they get high-quality care.