Principal Investigator: Daniel R. Ganger, MD Many babies born with heart problems grow up and mature well into adulthood thanks to modern surgical advancements. In fact, one million adults currently live with some form of congenital heart disease in the United States alone. A rare congenital heart condition, single ventricle disease usually requires surgical intervention early on, with most children undergoing a common surgery known as the Fontan procedure. While it helps these young patients to overcome their heart problem, unfortunately the Fontan procedure can lead to liver problems—from cirrhosis and liver cancer to even liver failure—over time. Even with this knowledge, current hepatic laboratory testing, imaging tools, and/or liver biopsies are woefully inaccurate predictors of the development of serious liver disease. Awarded a grant from the Digestive Health Foundation, Northwestern Medicine investigators see a potential solution to providing effective screening and treatment for this chronically-ill population: the HepQuant-SHUNT test. Safe and non-invasive, the HepQuant-SHUNT test has shown promise by yielding easily reproducible and accurate measurements of liver function. In studies involving Hepatitis C patients, the novel test has begun demonstrating its strength for predicting important hepatic clinical outcomes, including liver-related death. Outdoing the results of the current gold standard of care, invasive liver biopsy, the HepQuant-SHUNT test may offer a more accurate as well as tolerable test for patients. GI and hepatology faculty member Daniel R. Granger, MD and chief medical resident Alexander Lemmer, MD, hope to determine if the HepQuant liver function test can accurately predict significant hepatic clinical outcomes in the post-Fontan population. Recruiting a total of 50 Fontan patients (ages 18-65) from Northwestern Memorial Hospital...
Principal Investigator: Sarah Quinton, MD Behavioral and psychological interventions for digestive health conditions are highly effective in reducing symptoms and enhancing patient well-being and adjustment to living with chronic digestive conditions. However, most patients face significant barriers to accessing care from a trained GI health psychologist despite high levels of interest. In recent years, health coaching has been integrated into standard models of behavioral health care, and the benefits of health coaching have been demonstrated with patients with a variety of chronic diseases. In a study conducted by a multidisciplinary team, Kathryn Tomasino, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, and Sarah Kinsinger, PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, will evaluate the usefulness of integrating health coaching into standard behavioral interventions for digestive conditions provided by GI health psychologists. The team will recruit participants to the study from patients referred for behavioral medicine services at Northwestern Medicine and will randomize participants into two groups. Half will receive the standard psychological therapy sessions (care as usual) and the other half will receive a reduced number of sessions with a GI psychologist plus support from a trained health coach. The coach connect with patients in between sessions via bi-weekly phone calls or MyChart messages to reinforce behavior change, enhance motivation and skills practice, and problem solve challenges—all with the goal of supporting patients along their journey to better health. The team hopes to determine the benefits and feasibility of this integrated model compared to standard...
