Former Safar Center fellow Jessica Wallisch publishes findings on a novel approach to bedside magnetic resonance imaging for neonatal and pediatric patients on ECMO

Former Safar Center T32 fellow Jessica S. Wallisch, MD, currently Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, and Children’s Mercy Hospital, published a manuscript titled “Ultralow-field portable MRI Feasibility and Safety in pediatric and neonatal ECMO: a single center year-long experience” this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association. In research supported by the American Heart Association, Dr. Wallisch is addressing an important challenge in infants and children on ECMO support, namely, rapid identification of neurological complications in these extremely critically ill patients. She and her collaborative team at Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas City reported on the potential utility of this novel MRI approach in her ongoing clinical trial (NCT06074406). Ultralow-field portable MRI was applied at the bedside in 13 patients where T1, T2, FLAIR and DWI sequences were acquired without complications. Portable MRI could revolutionize diagnosis and treatment of neurological complications on ECMO in infants and children. Congratulations to Dr. Wallisch and the research team at Children’s Mercy.