Norton Children’s hematology specialists offer programs for children and families living with conditions such as sickle cell disease, hemophilia and other blood disorders. These programs offer patients access to skilled care for sickle cell disease and hemophilia. Clinical trials and newer therapies are available to help infants, children, teens and young adults with these conditions.

Sickle Cell Disease Program

Norton Children’s Sickle Cell Disease Program offers a broad range of specialty services to meet the needs of children and teens. Kids with sickle cell have access to pediatric general surgeons, orthopedists, ophthalmologists, pulmonologists and other specialists who provide care that’s designed specifically for the child and his or her condition.

The program also works with social workers and community partners, including the Sickle Cell Association of Kentuckiana, to provide education and support for children and their families around sickle cell disease and associated issues affecting everyday life, including school, employment, finances and more.

Children with sickle cell disease have the highest risk of complications between ages 18 and 28. The Norton Children’s Sickle Cell Disease Program works closely with the Norton Cancer Institute Adult Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program to prepare teens and young adults to transition from pediatric care to adult care, including the logistics of managing their own care without parental or caregiver help. There is no specific age when a child graduates from pediatric to adult care — transition is unique to each person. Some kids may be ready to transition to adult care as young as age 16; some may not transition until age 21 or older.

Apheresis and Photopheresis Program

The region’s only pediatric Apheresis and Photopheresis Program helps with the treatment of leukemias and various other blood disorders. The program’s services also help patients fight graft-versus-host disease after stem cell transplants, and rejection after solid organ transplants and other treatments. The program focuses on children, but the program also treats adult patients.

Comprehensive Hemophilia Clinic

The Hemophilia Clinic provides care for children and families dealing with hemophilia and other blood clotting disorders. The clinic provides access to care that treats the whole child, including physical therapy, social workers, dental care and much more. The clinic also acts as a learning center for hemophilia patients and their families — children can learn about their condition and work to prevent complications or other issues so they can get back to the business of being a kid.

Additional Clinics

Young Women’s Bleeding Disorders Clinic

Hematology and pediatric/adolescent gynecology specialists from Norton Children’s evaluate and provide care for girls experiencing conditions such as menorrhagia (abnormally heavy or long menstrual bleeding time) and von Willebrand disease.

Comprehensive Stroke Clinic

Norton Children’s hematologists and neurologists evaluate children recently diagnosed with stroke in this specialty clinic. Hematologists and neurologists identify all risk factors and develop a comprehensive plan to prevent the child from having another stroke.

The Norton Children’s Difference

As home to the state’s leading pediatric hematology program, Norton Children’s offers sophisticated care for your child, including:

• The state’s largest pediatric coagulation center. Our hematology specialists have extensive experience with treatments, including two decades of red cell exchange apheresis care.
• Norton Children’s Cancer Institute, affiliated with the University of Louisville, features the area’s only pediatric apheresis and photopheresis program. Apheresis can be used in treatment protocols for many blood disorders.
• Norton Children’s is home to the area’s only blood and marrow transplant program dedicated to treating children. Stem cell transplants are used to treat a variety of blood disorders.
• Norton Children’s Infusion Center provides families with easy access to care without having to spend a night in the hospital. The center focuses on children, but also administers infusions to adults. The center offers:
  • Blood transfusions
  • Intravenous infusion therapy for patients with specific needs
  • Red blood cell depletion to remove excess red blood cells using apheresis.
  • Red blood cell exchange – an effective therapy for sickle cell disease in which damaged red cells are removed and replaced with healthy red blood cells
  • White cell depletion, which uses apheresis to remove white blood cells when levels are dangerously high