NewYork-Presbyterian sits at the intersection of pediatrics and innovation, allowing patients like Glenn Romagnoli Doyle to experience compassionate, cutting-edge treatment from the beginning.
As the #1 children’s hospital in New York City, Children’s Hospital of New York at NewYork-Presbyterian boasts capabilities that are powered by innovation and compassion. Along with our academic medical partners at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Weill Cornell Medicine, we offer a full-spectrum pediatric general surgery program that infuses leading expertise with state-of-the-art equipment. “Columbia is a historical center for [prenatal intervention]” says Dr. Vincent Duron, Co-Director of Fetal Therapy, Director of Minimally Invasive Surgery, and Director of Pediatric Trauma and Surgical Critical Care at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital (MSCH).
It was this expertise in advanced care that would comfort marketing professional and community organizer Joan Doyle and her family in 1966 when her newborn son Glenn Romagnoli Doyle needed emergency treatment. Less than a month before his birth, Joan persuaded a group of new moms to donate to the March of Dimes. She had never done so before—nor had any of her friends—yet when the opportunity arose for the group to donate to a meaningful cause, helping children with birth defects and their families was her first thought. Joan recalls, “We were all young and having children … and I said somebody has to be the parents of children born with birth defects. I don’t know why I said that, but I did.” Unbeknownst to her, she would soon be seeking help as one of them.
“Life was normal, we were raising our first child, Mark, and were expecting a normal delivery for our second,” Joan shares. She delivered Glenn without incident but minutes later, things would change dramatically. As Joan recounts, “Shortly after Glenn was born, I heard my pediatrician’s voice—and he said, ‘There’s a problem. The baby’s in trouble.’”
At 10 1/2 hours old, Glenn had stopped breathing, turned blue, and was rushed into surgery. The care teams deduced that Glenn had been born with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), a disability that occurs when a fetus’s diaphragm does not fully form, leaving an opening instead. Organs typically found in the abdomen, such as the intestines, liver, and colon, move into the chest through this opening. Joan notes, “They had told us he had a 50/50 chance of surviving. After the surgery, they told us he had a 20/80 chance of survival.”
Glenn’s earliest days were occupied with surgery, recovery, and uncertainty. “He couldn’t breathe, and he was gray. Even after surgery, when he was all sewn up, he just wasn’t doing well," Joan shares. “My husband went down after work and saw him every single day—he willed Glenn to live.” After two more weeks on machine-assisted breathing and a full month in NYP’s care, Joan and her husband, Al Romagnoli, were finally able to take Glenn home. Joan remembers, “The doctors could not believe what they saw, he was a changed baby.”
Glenn with his mother Joan
Today, Glenn is a successful molecular biology researcher and a living example of the efforts of Dr. John Schullinger and his team. While Glenn’s journey included two additional surgeries during childhood, the expert, coordinated care he received at New York Presbyterian enabled him to pursue a full and rewarding life. “My experience with CDH has largely been defined by surviving it,” Glenn says. “I was fortunate to have very few lasting effects. It didn’t prevent me from living the life I wanted. I’ve been able to build a career, meet my wife, travel the world, and enjoy a truly fulfilling life.”
NewYork-Presbyterian continues to advance the treatment of CDH and similar conditions through innovative approaches such as fetoscopic endoluminal tracheal occlusion (FETO), a fetal intervention designed to improve lung development before birth. “We place a detachable balloon in the fetus to allow the lungs to grow and improve pulmonary outcomes and survival,” Duron notes. “We’ve been able to minimize our footprint on the uterus and the fetus, and through technology and advancements of our instruments, improve the outcomes significantly.”
Innovation is foundational to pediatric care, and with the generosity of our supporters, including Joan and Glenn Doyle, NYP is ensuring the youngest we serve can access life-saving treatments designed for their needs.