Archives of Disease in Childhood articles from August 2002

Archives of Disease in Childhood archives from August 2002

Audit and risk management in community child health: a focus on preventive care programmes. (Leading Article).
August 1, 2002... The widespread acceptance of clinical governance as a tool for improving the quality of health care delivery means that consultant community paediatricians share responsibility for setting and maintaining standards of practice in the...

Achieving a coat of arms. (Images in Paediatrics).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Shortly after receipt of the charter for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, its executive committee appointed the late Professor David Baum (then president-elect) and myself (honorary archivist) to arrange the production of a...

Breast feeding: an effective but under applied intervention in Europe. (Leading Article).(preventing communicable diseases in children)
August 1, 2002... Over 95% of the world's children are initially breast fed and as the result of promotion programmes, prevalence has increased throughout the 1990s in many developing countries. (1) Although breast feeding could improve the health of mothers...

The impact of corticosteroids on growth and bone health: an examination of current evidence. (Leading Article).
August 1, 2002... Glucocorticoids (GC) are important regulators of diverse physiological systems and are often used in the treatment of a number of chronic inflammatory, autoimmune, and neoplastic diseases. It is estimated that 10% of children may require some...

Growth charts for Down's syndrome from birth to 18 years of age. (Original Article).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Arch Dis Child 2002;87:97-103 Background: Growth in children with Down's syndrome (DS) differs markedly from that of normal children. The use of DS specific growth charts is important for diagnosis of associated diseases, such as coeliac...

Epidemiology of birthweight. (Archivist).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Babies with lower birthweights have higher risks of dying in infancy. Populations with lower mean birthweights usually have higher infant mortality rates. So is low birthweight, of itself, an adequate explanation of increased infant...

New cross sectional stature, weight, and head circumference references for Down's syndrome in the UK and Republic of Ireland. (Original Article).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Aim: To prasent a growth reference for children with uncomplicated DOWN'S syndrome living in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Data are available for height and weight in the age range 0-18 years, including the first three months of life, and...

Is this a Pom I see before me? (Postcard from Down Under).(infrequent bathers)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... How do you define nationality? For some I imagine that this is fairly straightforward. I find it a little more challenging. I know that I'm English, because I was born in England. In some parts of the world it is easiest to define oneself as...

A common metric for the Griffiths Scales. (Short Report).(calculating mental age in the mentally disabled)(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... The GQ and individual scales from the Griffiths Mental Development Scales (2-8 years) have differing means and standard deviations. They differ from the common standard among developmental tests. Direct comparisons between Griffiths subscale...

Lung abscess complicating post-varicella pneumonia. (Images in Paediatrics).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... A previously healthy 2 1/2 year old boy with varicella infection presented five days later with high fever, productive cough, and dyspnoea. On admission, he had signs of respiratory distress and poor perfusion. He was pale and dyspnoeic,...

The impact of atmospheric pollution on vitamin D status of infants and toddlers in Delhi, India. (Original Article).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Aims: To compare the vitamin D status of 34 children, 9-24 months old, living in an area of Delhi renowned for high levels of atmospheric pollution (Mori Gate), with a comparable age matched group of children from a less polluted (Gurgaon)...

Fetal, perinatal, and infant death with congenital renal anomaly. (Original Article).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Aims: To ascertain why 19.6% of pregnancies in which a fetal renal anomaly has been detected fail to produce a surviving child, and whether antenatal diagnostic accuracy has altered since specialised fetal medicine units were established in...

Short compared with standard duration of antibiotic treatment for urinary tract infection: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials. (Original Article).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Aims: To compare the effectiveness of short course (2-4 days) with standard duration oral antibiotic treatment (7-14 days) for urinary tract infection (UTI). Methods: Meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials using a random effects...

Upregulated eotaxin expression and T cell infiltration in the basal and papillary epithelium in Cows' milk associated reflux oesophagitis. (Original Article).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Background: Cows' milk sensitive reflux oesophagitis is an emerging clinical entity in children, normally indistinguishable from primary gastro-aesophageal reflux (GOR) apart from the response to dietary antigen exclusion. It is conjectural...

Parents' accounts of wheeze and asthma related symptoms: a qualitative study. (Original Article).
August 1, 2002... Aims: To examine parents' accounts of how they recognise and judge respiratory symptoms in children, and to investigate their interpretations of respiratory survey questions about wheeze, shortness of breath, and cough. Methods:...

An unusual rash. (Images in Paediatrics).(henna tattoos can cause contact dermatitis)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... While on holiday in Turkey a 7 year old boy had a henna "tattoo" applied to his back. His skin soon became inflamed and then secondarily infected (fig 1). He was treated with oral antibiotics and antihistamines. Four weeks later the skin has...

Urogenital abnormalities in male children with cystic fibrosis. (Original Article).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Background: Congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD) is presumed to occur prenatally and is present in over 99% of adult males with cystic fibrosis (CF). Aims: To describe ultrasonic features in male children with CF. We...

Surgery for both hips in severe cerebral palsy. (Archivist).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Up to 60% of children with quadriplegic cerebral palsy have unstable hips. Bilateral subluxation or dislocation of the hip may ensue and is often accompanied by pelvic obliquity and spinal deformity. The "Windswept" deformity frequently...

Longitudinal analysis of growth and puberty in 21 -hydroxylase deficiency patients. (Original Article).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Aims: To evaluate growth from diagnosis until final height (FH) in 21- hydroxylase deficiency patients. Methods: A retrospective longitudinal study was performed. Only patients treated with hydrocortisone and fludrocortisone (in case of...

Fatal Kawasaki disease caused by early occlusive coronary artery disease. (Short Report).
August 1, 2002... In Kawasaki disease severe coronary artery narrowing may develop at an early stage despite treatment with gammaglobulin and in the absence of prominent aneurysm formation or thrombosis. Vaso-occlusive disease may not be clinically or...

Immunoglobulin levels in methotrexate treated paediatric rheumatology patients. (Short Report).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Retrospective review of serum immunoglobulin levels in 78 methotrexate treated paediatric rheumatology patients showed that IgG, IgA, and IgM levels fell significantly by 26%, 21%, and 17% respectively while on methotrexate. Six patients with...

Percutaneous retrieval of central venous catheter fragments. (Short Report).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Children with indwelling central venous catheters are at risk of embolisation of catheter fragments. Often their underlying condition means that they are poor candidates for surgical removal. We describe six children who underwent...

Investigation of daytime wetting: when is spinal cord imaging indicated? (Personal Practice).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Background: Most children with daytime wetting have detrusor instability. A minority have neuropathic vesicourethral dysfunction. The commonest cause is spina bifida, which may be closed. Clinical features suggestive of closed spina bifida...

Use of tonsil size in the evaluation of obstructive sleep apnoea. (Child Health Series).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Aims: (1) To determine the extent to which tonsil size contributes to the severity of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) in children; and (2) to assess the use of tonsillar-pharyngeal (TP) ratio in differentiating patients with different severity...

The use of multidisciplinary assessment and scientific measurement in advanced juvenile idiopathic arthritis can categorise gait deviations to guide treatment. (Original Article).(Statistical Data Included)
August 1, 2002... Background: It is difficult to identify the range of gait deviations associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) using simple clinical observations. Aims: To use objective gait analysis to accurately describe biomechanical gait...

More on antiepileptic drug exposure in utero. (Archivist).(birth defects due to anti-epileptic drugs)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... About six of every thousand pregnant women has epilepsy and congenital malformations have been reported in up to 14% of children exposed to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in utero. A retrospective study in Aberdeen (JCS Dean and colleagues....

Accelerometers identify inactive and potentially obese children (EarlyBird 3). (Short Report).
August 1, 2002... Accelerometers revealed a fivefold variation in physical activity among healthy 5 year old children. They singled out habitually inactive children, most of them girls, who did little, whether at school or over the weekend. Accelerometers are...

What's the use of Archimedes? (Short Report).
August 1, 2002... Last year, Archives of Disease in Childhood introduced a new section entitled "Archimedes". Its purpose is "to assist practising clinicians by providing 'evidence based' answers to common questions which are not at the forefront of research...

Letters.
August 1, 2002... Problems involved with the use of comforters While I share many of the concerns expressed by Gill (1) in his diatribe on dummies there are a number of matters mentioned which require amplification or correction. The first patent on the...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
August 1, 2002... In July's Archives (Arch Dis Child 2002;87:85), the correction mentioned "the following table": this was incorrect. The sentence should have read "The corrected amounts are listed in the revised figures". No table was missing, and readers can...

Journal of Medical Ethics 2002;28:89-94. (Lucina).(organ donation standards)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... In Australia (Journal of Medical Ethics 2002;28:89-94) up to 82% of requests for organ donation have been refused, mainly, it seems because of difficulties that families have with the concept of brain death. It is proposed that death should...

Diabetes Care. (Lucina).(food habits of diabetic children)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Young children with diabetes may develop mealtime behaviour problems. In Cincinnati, Ohio (Diabetes Care 2002;25:313-8) 40 preschool children with diabetes were compared with 40 controls. The children with diabetes were more likely to present...

Journal of the American Medical Association 2002;287:869-74. (Lucina).(anthrax diagnoses in children)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Diagnoses that seem impossible are not made. In October 2001 when doctors in New York (Journal of the American Medical Association 2002;287:869-74) were faced with a child with cutaneous anthrax their first diagnosis was cellulitis. After the...

Lancet. (Lucina).(pilgrimage and meningococcal infection risk)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... In 1987 there was a pandemic of group A meningococcal infection associated with pilgrimage to the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Arabian authorities made vaccination with group A and C polysaccharide vaccine a requirement for the granting of...

Journal of Medical Ethics 2002;28:136-8. (Lucina).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Blood testing for phenylketonuria is not compulsory in any Western country yet an Irish local health board took a child's parents to court for refusing the test (Journal of Medical Ethics 2002;28:136-8). What decided the issue in favour of...

Emergency Medicine Journal. (Lucina).(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Two boys aged 11 and 14 years presented in Stoke on Trent with supraventricular tachycardia unresponsive to Valsalva manoeuvres and unilateral carotid sinus massage (Emergency Medicine Journal 2002;19:358-9) but in both cases the arrhythmia...

Thorax. (Lucina).(thrombolytic therapy and hospital stay duration)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Sixty children at 10 UK centres (Thorax 2002;57:343-7) had parapneumonic empyema and were randomised to intrapleural urokinase (40 000 units in 40 ml saline, or 10 000 units in 10 ml for infants) or 40 ml saline, every 12 hours for 3 days....

New England Journal of Medicine 2002;346:725-30. (Lucina).(relationship between birth defects, low birth weight and reproductive technology)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Assisted reproduction technology may increase the risk of major birth defects and of low and very low birthweight. In Western Australia (New England Journal of Medicine 2002;346:725-30) between 1993 and 1997 the risk of major birth defect...

New England Journal of Medicine 2002:346:857-8. (Lucina).(lack of transcription factor causes allergic asthma)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... T-bet is a newly discovered transcription factor that allows helper T cells to become Th 1 cells. It is present in lymphocytes in normal bronchi but absent in asthmatic bronchi (report, New England Journal of Medicine 2002;346:857-8; original...

Journal of the American Medical Association 2002;287:606-11. (Lucina).(chickenpox incidence lowered)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2002... Varicella vaccine was introduced in the USA in 1995. Before that there were 4 million cases of chickenpox with 11 000 admissions to hospital and 100 deaths nationwide each year. Active surveillance in areas of California, Texas, and...