Urology News and Highlights

Dr. Daniel B. Herz Named Director of Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Daniel B. Herz, MD, a pediatric urological surgeon, has joined the Section of Urology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital as director of Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Surgery. This new program launched in January 2013 with the installation of a state-of-the-art da Vinci® surgical system from Intuitive Surgical, and will enhance the current minimally-invasive surgery capabilities at Nationwide Children’s. The initial focus of the program will be Urology, eventually expanding to encompass additional surgical specialties. Read the news release »

Stimulator Device Offers Treatment Option for Children with Incontinence   

Incontinence is typically a condition associated with adults; however, many children also struggle with incontinence – bladder, bowel or both. In order to help these children, doctors at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have turned to a device, typically used in adult patients, to help manage children with chronic incontinence.

The sacral nerve stimulator is a surgically implanted device that helps regulate the bowel muscles and/or urethral (bladder) sphincter to control fecal and urine flow. Read the news release »

Measuring Bacteria’s Virulence May Help Predict UTI Severity

Children with urinary tract infections (UTI) may have differing symptoms depending on their infecting bacteria’s ability to evade the host immune response, according to a Nationwide Children’s Hospital study appearing in The Journal of Urology.  Clinicians may one day be able to harness discarded urine samples to predict UTI-causing bacterial virulence and patient outcome. Read the article »

Jayanthi Appointed Chief of Urology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Venkata R. Jayanthi, MD, has been appointed chief of the Section of Pediatric Urology at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. 

Dr. Jayanthi has served as a urologist at Nationwide Children’s since 1994 while also holding a faculty position in the Department of Urology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. In January 2012, he was named Interim Chief of Pediatric Urology. Read the news release »

Potential Biomarkers Linked to Urinary Tract Infection-Related Pregnancy Complications Identified

Investigators in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital have developed a mouse model in which a mother’s urinary tract infection negatively affects the offspring, an occurrence anecdotally observed in humans. Using this first-of-its-kind model, they have identified proteins in the blood that may indicate whether such an infection might stunt fetal growth. Study findings have been published in the March 21, 2012, edition of PLoS ONE. Read the news release »