Dr. Riva-Cambrin is an associate professor and pediatric neurosurgeon at the University of Utah and Primary Children’s Hospital. Since the MYI award, Dr. Riva-Cambrin has received tenure and is Director of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowship Program at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He is also the Medical Director of the Neurotrauma Unity at Primary Children’s Hospital and is a primary investigator for the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network. Dr. Riva-Cambrin received a BSc in pharmacology and a MD from the University of Alberta and an MSc in clinical epidemiology from the University of Toronto.

STUDY TITLE: In children presenting with hydrocephalus, is ventricular size associated with neuropsychological outcomes: Proposal for a phase II clinical study

MENTOR: John Kestle, MD

The literature is inconclusive regarding the direct association between large ventricle size and poorer cognitive outcomes as these studies had design issues such as being retrospective, containing confounding variables, and only studying varying sub-populations of hydrocephalus. We propose a prospective multi-center study where we will examine this relationship between ventricle size and neuropsychological testing 6 months after the hydrocephalus was treated. The study will focus only on school-age children, ages 5-17, with new diagnoses of hydrocephalus from any primary cause. The children will also have neuropsychological testing before their hydrocephalus is treated as a source for comparison.

Clinical Interests

Pediatric neurosurgery, hydrocephalus, clinical trials

Presentations

2014 Invited Lecture: 13th National Conference on Hydrocephalus 2014 Invited Lecture: World Congress for Endoscopic Surgery of the Brain, Skull Base and Spine 2013 AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery 2012 AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery 2012 Invited Lecture: 12th National Conference on Hydrocephalus 2011 Invited Lecture: Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting

Publications

Selected hydrocephalus-related publications

Liesemer . Riva-Cambrin J, Bennett KS, Bratton SL, Tran H. Metzger RR, Bennett TD. Use of Rotterdam CT Scores for Mortality Risk Stratification in Children with Traumatic Brain Injury. Pediatric Crit Care Med. Apr 18 2014 [Epub ahead of print] PMID:247516

Whitehead WE, Riva-Cambrin J, Wellons JC 3rd, Kulkarni AV, Browd S, Limbrick D, rozzelle C, Tamber MS, Simon TD, Shannon CN, Holubkov R, Oakes WJ, Luerssen TG, Walker ML, Drake JM, Kestle JR; for the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network. Factors associated with ventricular catheter movement and inaccurate catheter location: post hoc analysis of the Hydrocpehalus Clinical Research Network Ultrasound-Guided Shunt Placement Study. J Neurosurg Pediatric. 13:1-6, 2014.

Riva-Cambrin J, Kestle J. In Reply: Pediatric Arachnoid Cysts and Subdural Hygromas in the Early Infancy: Challenging the Direction of the Causality Paradigm. Neurosurgery Jan;74(1):E153-4 2014.

Whitehead WE, Riva-Cambrin J, Wellons JC, Kulkarni AV, Holubkov R, Illner A, Oakes WJ, Luerssen TG, Walker ML, Drake JM Kestle JR, For the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network. No significant improvement in the rate of accurate ventricular catheter location using ultrasound-guided CSF shunt insertion: a prospective, controlled study by the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network. J Neurosurg Pediatric 12(6) 565-574, 2013.

Kulkarni AV, Riva-Cambrin J, Butler J, Browd SR, Drake JM, Holubkov R, Kestle JRW, Limbrick DD, Simon TD, Tamber MS, Wellons JC, Whitehead WE. For the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network. Outcomes of CSF shunting in children: comparison of Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network cohort with historical controls. Clinical article. J Neurosurg Pediatric 12(4): 334-338, 2013.

Garber ST, Riva-Cambrin J, Bishop FS, Brockmeyer DL. Comparing fourth ventricle shunt survival after placement via stereotactic transtentorial and suboccipital approaches. Clinical article. J Neurosurg Pediatric 11(6):623-629, 2013.

Cress M, Kestle J, Riva-Cambrin J. Risk factors for pediatric arachnoid cyst rupture/hemorrhage; A case-control study. Neurosurgery. 2013 Jan 10.

Wellons JC, Riva-Cambrin J, Holubkov R, Whitehead WE, Kestle, JRW, Browd S, Kulkarni AV, For the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network. The assessment of bulging fontanel and splitting of sutures in premature infants: an interrater reliability study by the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network. J Neurosurg Pediatric, 11(1), 12-14, 2013.

Bennett TD, Riva-Cambrin J, Keenan HT, Korgenski EK, Bratton S. Variation in intracranial pressure monitoring and outcomes in pediatric brain injury. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2012; 166(7);641-647.

Bollo RJ, Riva-Cambrin J, Brockmeyer MM, Brockmeyer DL Complex Chiari malformations in children; an analysis of preoperative risk factors for occipitocervical fusion. J Neurosurg Pediatric 10: 134-141, 2012.

Bowers C, Riva-Cambrin J, Couldwell WT, Efficacy of clip-wrapping in treatment of complex pediatric aneurysms. Childs Nerv Syst 2012, DOI 10.1007/s00381-012-1888-4.

Riva-Cambrin J, Shannon CN, Holbukov R, Whitehead WE, Kulkarni AV, Drake J, Simon TD, Browd SR, Kestle, JRW, Wellons, JRC, For the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network. Center effect and other factors influencing temporization and shunting of cerebrospinal fluid in preterm infants with intraventricular hemorrhage. Clinical article. 2012 J Neurosurg Pediatric, 9(5), 473-481.

Riva-Cambrin J, Shannon CN, Holbukov R, Whitehead WE, Kulkarni AV, Drake J, Simon TD, Browd SR, Kestle, JRW, Wellons, JRC, For the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network. Center effect and other factors influencing temporization and shunting of cerebrospinal fluid in preterm infants with intraventricular hemorrhage. 2012 Clinical article. J Neurosurg Pediatric, 9(5), 473-481.

Simon TD, Whitlock KB, Riva-Cambrin J., Kestle JRW, Rosenfeld M, Dean JM, Holubkov R, Langley M, Mayer-Hamblett N. Association of intraventricular hemorrhage secondary to prematurity with cerebrospinal fluid shunt surgery in the first year following initial shunt placement. 2012 J Neurosurg Pediatric, 9(1), 54-63.

Simon TD, Whitlock KB, Riva-Cambrin J, Kestle JR, Rosenfeld M, Dean JM, Holubkov R, Langley M, Hamblett NM. Revision surgeries are associated with significant increased risk of subsequent cerebrospinal fluid shunt infection. 2012 Pediatr Infect Dis J, 31(6), 551-556.

Bennett TD, Riva-Cambrin J, Keenan HT, Korgenski EK, Bratton SL. Variation in intracranial pressure monitoring and outcomes in pediatric traumatic brain injury. 2012 Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 166(7), 641-647.

Bailey BM, Liesemer K, Statler KD, Riva-Cambrin J, Bratton SL. Monitoring and Prediction of Intracranial Hypertension in Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Clinical Factors and Initial Head Computed Tomography. 2011 J Trauma, 72(1), 263-270.

Book Chapters

Riva-Cambrin J, Drake J, Adult Hydrocephalus: The role for endoscopic third ventriculostosmy. In: Winn HR (Eds). Youmans Neurological Surgery: Chapter 37. 6th Edition. Philadelphia, Elsevier. 2011

Simon TD, Stone BL, Riva-Cambrin J, Curtin G. Tutorial: Gizmos. In A Practical Guide to Pediatric Emergency Medicine: Caring for Children in the Emergency Department (ed. N. Ewen Amieva-Wang), Chapter 169, pp. 803-810. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2011.