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Hematology (Blood Disorders)

Gary M. Brittenham, MD

Sujit Sheth, MD

One of the earliest pediatric hematology programs in the country, the Hematology Program at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital provides inpatient and outpatient services for nearly 600 children and adolescents with a variety of blood disorders each year. Our team of specialists in pediatric hematology manages a wide range of congenital and acquired bleeding and clotting disorders through disease-specific programs and centers. We provide the latest therapies, including bone marrow transplantation that is giving hope for a cure to patients with sickle cell disease, as well as those with thalassemia.

Children are seen in a dedicated family-centered outpatient setting by a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, geneticists, pain specialists, psychologists, and social workers, and a number of other care providers, all of whom coordinate their efforts to provide the most comprehensive care to all patients. We also provide outpatient services in off-site locations in Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester County and New Jersey.

We offer a broad range of programs and specialized multidisciplinary centers in:

• sickle cell disease
• thalassemias
• iron deficiency and overload anemias
• thrombosis and hemostasis
• coagulation and platelet disorders
• bleeding disorders
• vascular anomalies
• primary immunodeficiencies
• bone marrow failure syndromes and a variety of other rare syndromes

Children requiring hospitalization are followed daily by an attending pediatric hematologist and pediatric hematology fellow. All pediatric subspecialty physicians are available to our hematology patients and consultations with other pediatric subspecialty services are arranged as necessary.

Our newly established St. Giles Comprehensive Sickle Cell and Thalassemia Center provides comprehensive, family-centered care to pediatric patients with sickle cell disease and thalassemia. The Center is focused on guaranteeing consistent provision of the best evidence-based treatments, assuring early recognition of risks of preventable complications and providing dependable support for effective family and patient self-management. Our program provides a variety of services to the communities of Harlem, Northern Manhattan, and the tri-state area, including:

• newborn screening in sickle cell disease
• stroke prevention
• chronic transfusion and iron-chelating therapy
• pain management
• community outreach and patient education programs

In addition to our clinical practice, the Division of Hematology has a range of on-going NIH-funded and investigator-initiated research initiatives, including research in iron deficiency and transfusional iron overload, iron metabolism, cerebral malaria, magnetic resonance imaging and measurement of heart and liver iron, pulmonary hypertension in sickle cell disease, hydroxyurea and oral chelation therapy in sickle cell anemia, vaso-occlusive pain management, and novel technologies in newborn screening. Our HRSA service project, in collaboration with General Pediatrics and community-based organizations, provides a coordinated care and follow up of newborns with sickle cell disease and other hemoglobinopathies. We are developing a patient database to monitor and evaluate clinical and therapeutic management, health resource utilization, and healthcare outcomes.

Our staff are dedicated to meeting the specific challenges of patients and their families, recognizing the values, culture, coping styles and beliefs of each.