Dr. N. Scott Adzick, chief surgeon at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), recently attained recognition from the Congenital Hyperinsulinism International (CHI) group for his outstanding work with pediatric patients born with a rare genetic disorder.
Adzick received the CHI Be My Sugar Award for Surgical Excellence at the third annual Sugar Soiree in the Seaport neighborhood of Boston.
"It is an honor to have received such a distinction," he said. "CHI does a wonderful job of bringing the HI community together so that families feel supported. It is also essential to raise awareness so that children affected by HI have access to an expert multidisciplinary team, like we have at CHOP, and the treatment options to reduce brain damage and death."
Congenital Hyperinsulinism (HI) results when pancreatic insulin cells secrete an excess of insulin and cause low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia.
Along with colleague Dr. Charles Stanley, Adzick founded the Congenital Hyperinsulinism Center at CHOP in 1999. Adzick and his team have performed over 400 surgeries on babies born with the condition.
"On behalf of the Congenital Hyperinsulinism Center at CHOP, I would like to congratulate Dr. Adzick on receiving this award," Dr. Diva De León-Crutchlow, pediatric endocrinologist and director of CHOP's Congenital Hyperinsulinism Center, said. "Surgery plays such an important role in the treatment of HI, and in many cases, is the reason babies can overcome this disease and go on to live happy, healthy lives."
CHOP was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital.
CHI advocates and educates on behalf of children affected with HI; Adzick focuses much of his work on fetal surgery for spina bifida and other prenatally detected conditions.
