Dr. Michel Mikhael, Neonatology

Dr. Michel Mikhael joined CHOC Hospital in 2012 and currently serves as an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at UC Irvine. His philosophy of care is to provide family centered care and apply evidence-based practices. He has special interest in perinatology, extremely low birth weight neonates and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. He is board certified in pediatrics and neonatal-perinatal medicine by the American board of Pediatrics.

Dr. Mikhael attended medical school at Cairo University School of Medicine in Egypt, completed his pediatrics residency at Maimonides Infants and Children’s Hospital, Brooklyn, NY, then fellowship training in neonatal perinatal medicine at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX.

Locations

CHOC Hospital
1201 W. La Veta Ave.
Orange, CA 92868

CHOC at Mission Hospital
27700 Medical Center Rd. 5th Floor
Mission Viejo, CA 92691

Education

• Fellowship – Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine
  University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX
• Internship
  Cairo University Teaching Hospitals, Cairo, Egypt
• Medical School
  Cairo University School of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt
• Residency – Pediatrics
  Maimonides Infants and Children’s Hospital, Brooklyn, NY

Administrative Appointments

• Medical Director, CHOC Small Baby Unit
• Associate Program Director and CHOC Site Director, UCI Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship Program

Honors and Awards

• Children’s Clinical Research Advisory Committee (CCRAC) Award
  Children’s Medical Center of Dallas
• The Sassine Rahi award for Excellence in Neonatology
  Maimonides Infants and Children’s Hospital of Brooklyn
• Pediatric Subspecialty Faculty Research Fund Award, Children’s Hospital of Orange County
• Orange County Medical Association Physicians of Excellence Award

Professional Organizations

• American Academy of Pediatrics
• Egyptian Medical Syndicate
• Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium (CHNC)
• American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL)

Publications

Pham B, Denslow A, Mikhael M, Lim J. A Case of an Extremely Low Birth Weight Infant with Morganella morganii Bacteremia and Peritonitis. AJP Rep. Aug 2021.

Cuna A, Lagatta J, Savani R, Vyas S, Engle W, Rose R, DiGeronimo R, Logan J, Mikhael M, Girija Natarajan G, Truog W, Kielt M, Murthy K, Zaniletti I, Lewis T. Association of Time of First Corticosteroid Treatment with Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia in Preterm Infants. Pediatr Pulmonol. Aug 2021.

Vyas S, Logan J, Cuna A, Machry J, Leeman K, Rose R, Mikhael M, Wymore E, Ibrahim J, R DiGeronimo, Yallapragada S, Haberman B, Padula M, Porta N, Murthy K, Nelin L, Coghill C, Zaniletti I, Savani R, Truog W, Engle W, Lagatta J. A Comparison of Newer Classifications of Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia: Findings from the Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium Severe BPD Group. J Perinatol. Aug 2021.

Kurihara C, Zhang L, Mikhael M. Newer Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia Definitions and Prediction of Health Economics Impacts in Very Preterm Infants. Pediatr Pulmonol. Nov 2020.

Lim J, Sun W, Zhang L, Mikhael M. Birth Tourism is Associated with Fewer Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Admissions: a Healthy Migrant Effect? Am J Perinatol. Nov 2020.

Curran M, Mikhael M, et al. Perinatal Management of Bart’s Hemoglobinopathy: Paradoxical Effects of Intrauterine, Transplacental, and Partial Exchange Transfusions. AJP Rep. Jan 2020.

Lack of Evidence for Time or Dose Relationship between Antenatal Magnesium Sulfate and Intestinal Injury in Extremely Preterm Neonates. Mikhael M, Bronson C, Zhang L, Curran M, Rodriguez H, Bhakta KY. Neonatology. 2019 Apr 9;115(4):371-378. doi: 10.1159/000497412. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 30965340

Adrenal insufficiency in neonates undergoing cardiopulmonary bypass and postoperative hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal function after prophylactic glucocorticoids. Tang A, Rosenfeld CR, Mikhael M, McPhaul MJ, Koch JD. J Perinatol. 2019 May;39(5):640-647. doi: 10.1038/s41372-019-0344-7. Epub 2019 Mar 12. PMID: 30867544

Three-hourly feeding intervals are associated with faster advancement in very preterm infants. Chu E, Freck S, Zhang L, Bhakta KY, Mikhael M. Early Hum Dev. 2019 Apr;131:1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2019.01.021. Epub 2019 Feb 2. PMID: 30721843

Carmi Syndrome in a Preterm Neonate: A Multidisciplinary Approach and Ethical Challenge. Hicks TD, Singh H, Mikhael M, Shah AR. Case Rep Pediatr. 2018 Dec 20;2018:4548194. doi: 10.1155/2018/4548194. eCollection 2018. PMID: 30671273

Birth Tourism and Neonatal Intensive Care: A Children’s Hospital Experience. Mikhael M, Cleary JP, Dhar V, Chen Y, Nguyen DV, Chang AC. Am J Perinatol. 2016 Dec;33(14):1415-1419. Epub 2016 May 16. PMID: 27183000

Mikhael M, Brown LS, Rosenfeld CR. Serial Neutrophil Values Facilitate Predicting the Absence of Neonatal Early-Onset Sepsis. J Pediatr March 2014.

Rastogi S, Mikhael M, Filipov P, Rastogi D. Effects of Ventilation on Hearing Loss in Preterm Neonates: Nasal Continuous Positive Pressure Does Not Increase the Risk of Hearing Loss in Ventilated Neonates. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol March 2013.

RDS-NExT workshop: consensus statements for the use of surfactant in preterm neonates with RDS. Bhandari V, Black R, Gandhi B, Hogue S, Kakkilaya V, Mikhael M, Moya F, Pezzano C, Read P, Roberts KD, Ryan RM, Stanford RH, Wright CJ.J Perinatol. 2023 Aug;43(8):982-990. doi: 10.1038/s41372-023-01690-9. Epub 2023 May 15.

Birth Weight and Gestational Age as Modifiers of Rehospitalization after Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Admission. Moreno T, Ehwerhemuepha L, Devin J, Feaster W, Mikhael M.Am J Perinatol. 2023 Apr 18.

Misdiagnosis of Total Parental Nutrition-Related Riboflavin Deficiency: Three Case Reports of Diagnostic Error. Shafer GJ, Abdenur JE, Dhar V, Mikhael M.AJP Rep. 2023 Mar 13;13(1):e11-e16. doi: 10.1055/a-2032-9737. eCollection 2023 Jan.

Health Economics of Selective Early Rescue Surfactant Administration and Standard Surfactant Administration for Newborns With Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Yao W, Jensen I, Claussen M, Dandurand K, Buffington B, Fuentes D, Mikhael M.J Pediatr Pharmacol Ther. 2022;27(8):695-702. doi: 10.5863/1551-6776-27.8.695. Epub 2022 Nov 17.

Osteogenesis Imperfecta: Multidisciplinary and Goal-Centered Care. Chang B, Keating S, Mikhael M, Lim J.AJP Rep. 2022 Sep 30;12(3):e144-e147. doi: 10.1055/a-1911-3755. eCollection 2022 Jul.

Epidemiology of Neonatal COVID-19 in the United States. Devin J, Marano R, Mikhael M, Feaster W, Sanger T, Ehwerhemuepha L.Pediatrics. 2022 Oct 1;150(4):e2022056297. doi: 10.1542/peds.2022-056297.

Chronic lung disease in full-term infants: Characteristics and neonatal intensive care outcomes in infants referred to children’s hospitals. Mikhael M, Cleary JP, Zaniletti I, Truog WE, Ibrahim J, DiGeronimo R, Cuna A, Kielt MJ, Coghill CH, Vyas-Read S, Yallapragada S, Engle WA, Savani RC, Murthy K, Lagatta JM; Children’s Hospitals Neonatal Consortium (CHNC) Severe BPD Focus Group.Pediatr Pulmonol. 2022 Sep.

Our neonatologists commonly treat the following conditions in newborns and babies:

• Apnea
• Bradycardia
• Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)
• Coarctation of the aorta
• Gastroschisis
• Heart valve abnormalities
• Hypoglycemia
• Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)
• Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH)
• Jaundice
• Macrosomia
• Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC)
• Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA)
• Persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN)
• Pneumonia
• Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS)
• Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)
• Sepsis
• Septal defects
• Tetralogy of Fallot
• Transposition of the great arteries
• Trouble keeping warm