Archives of Disease in Childhood articles from November 2003

Archives of Disease in Childhood archives from November 2003

Insulin pumps: a growing, option in the UK for children and young adults with type 1 diabetes.(Endocrinology)
November 1, 2003... Insulin pump therapy--continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion (CSII)--was developed in the UK in the 1970s. Rapid technological developments changed the initial pumps from the size of a house brick, charged by mains electricity to an...

Brain function: the interaction between genes and environment.(Neurology)
November 1, 2003... Many have alluded to the importance of the environment on the developing brain. As a neuroscientist, I root and endorse that view in the bump and grind of brain cells. You are born with most of the brain cells you will ever have. It is the...

Melanocortin 4 receptors and obesity.(Archivist)
November 1, 2003... Since all obesity results from an excess of energy intake over energy expenditure it follows that too much food and too little exercise must underlie the current obesity pandemic. It is tempting to blame fast food, cars, and television, and no...

Insulin-like growth factor I correlates with lean body mass in cystic fibrosis patients.(Original Article)
November 1, 2003... Background: A major consequence of malnutrition in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients is the loss of lean body mass (LBM) and the subsequent impairment of respiratory muscle function. Aim: To determine whether insulin-like growth factor I...

Pseudoporphyria secondary to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.(Images In Paediatrics)
November 1, 2003... A 3 year old girl with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) presented with recurrent blisters over the cheeks and nose which were initially treated as impetigo with flucloxacillin. Despite this, new blisters continued to appear which evolved...

Epidemiology of paediatric renal stone disease in the UK.(Original Article)
November 1, 2003... Background: The previous epidemiological study of paediatric nephrolithiasis in Britain was conducted more than 30 years ago. Aims: To examine the presenting features, predisposing factors, and treatment strategies used in paediatric stones...

Problems after repair of aortic coarctation.(Archivist)
November 1, 2003... Some years after repair of coarctation of the aorta, up to a third of patients are hypertensive and a similar proportion has developed recoarctation. Coarctation is often associated with a bicuspid aortic valve the clinical significance of...

Renal tubular dysfunction in children living in the Aral Sea Region.(Original Article)
November 1, 2003... Background: The Aral Sea region is a natural area seriously polluted by human activities. Recent surveillance revealed the increased prevalence of diverse chronic diseases in children. Aims: To investigate the function of renal tubules,...

Systemic exposure, tolerability, and efficacy of pimecrolimus cream 1% in atopic dermatitis patients.(Original Article)
November 1, 2003... Aims: To measure pimecrolimus blood concentrations and to evaluate tolerability and efficacy in children and infants treated topically for atopic dermatitis with pimecrolimus cream 1% for three weeks. Methods: Three open label,...

Vitamin K supplementation in cystic fibrosis.(Short Report)
November 1, 2003... The relation between different doses of vitamin K supplementation, several bone markers, and PIVKA-II concentrations in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients compared to controls was evaluated. Results suggest that a increased vitamin K intake may have...

Improving hearing assessment of children post-meningitis.(Short Report)
November 1, 2003... The improvement in audiological testing of children post-meningitis with one retrospective and two prospective audit cycles, is described. Direct referral by telephone prior to discharge and liaison with public health colleagues resulted in an...

BMI distribution changes in adolescent British girls.(short report)(body mass index )
November 1, 2003... Body mass index (BMI) distribution changes were assessed in 2547 relatively affluent English girls, aged 12-16 years, during the UK childhood obesity epidemic (1986-96). An increase in BMI variability was observed only in 12-14 year olds,...

Child advocacy and the Queen's representative; an unlikely link.(Notes From Australia)
November 1, 2003... In Australia, as in many other countries, we find it immensely difficult to get children's issues on the radar screens of politicians or newspaper editors. Occasionally we get stories about the lack of childcare places, or concern about numbers...

The potential of recombinant surfactant protein D therapy to reduce inflammation in neonatal chronic lung disease, cystic fibrosis, and emphysema.
November 1, 2003... By lowering surface tension at the air-water interface in the surfactant deficient premature lung, exogenous surfactant replacement therapy for neonatal respiratory distress syndrome has been highly successful in decreasing mortality after...

"Labor improbus omnia vincit"; Ambroise Pare and sixteenth century child care.
November 1, 2003... Ambroise Pare (1510-1590) is regarded as one of the greatest surgeons who ever lived. In the sixteenth century, through his example and his writings, Pare did more than anybody else to raise the previously poor reputation of surgery "to one of...

Variations in initial assessment and management of inflammatory bowel disease across Great Britain and Ireland.(Original Article)
November 1, 2003... Background: There are no published data from Great Britain and Ireland detailing the initial management of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Aims: To prospectively record the initial investigation and treatment of children...

Presenting features of inflammatory bowel disease in Great Britain and Ireland.(Original Article)
November 1, 2003... Background: Reports from individual referral centres suggest that a significant proportion of children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) present after prolonged delays and with impaired growth. Aims: To prospectively document the...

Pharmacogenomics and drug resistant epilepsy.(Archivist)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... It's simple really: you have superfamilies of proteins within which there are families within which there are members, and a member may have several, quite different, names. The transporter protein that concerns us here belongs to the ATP...

Signs and symptoms of illness in early infancy: associations with sudden infant death.(Original Article)
November 1, 2003... Aims: to describe a pattern of illness in "normal" infants, and to assess to what extent this may differ in infants who die suddenly and unexpectedly. Methods: All infants are on the CONI (Care of the Next Infant) scheme in which mothers...

Nailfold capillary microscopy.(Archivist)
November 1, 2003... Microscopic examination of nailfold capillaries is accepted as an investigational tool for adults with connective tissue diseases. Abnormalities are found in more than 80% of adult patients with scleroderma or related disorders. There are fewer...

Subclinical hypothyroidism and Down's syndrome; studies on myocardial structure and function.(Original Article)
November 1, 2003... Background: The management of subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) is still controversial, as the benefit to risk ratio of prolonged L-thyroxine therapy is not clear cut. Some authors have shown abnormalities of myocardial function and structure in...

Empyema thoracis: a 10-year comparative review of hospitalised children from south Asia.(Original Article)
November 1, 2003... Aims: To study the clinical and microbial profile of childhood empyema in South Asia and to identify the changes over the past three decades. Methods: A total of 265 children (aged 1 month to 12 years) with empyema admitted to the Advanced...

A novel presentation of juvenile idiopathic arthropathy.(Case Report)
November 1, 2003... Toe-walking is frequently observed in general paediatrics. Causes include habit, congenital Achilles tendon shortening, cerebral palsy, and rarer aetiologies. (1) Correct diagnosis of the underlying aetiology has implications for management. A...

Dysphagia caused by a foreign body.(Case Report)
November 1, 2003... A boy with a long history of dysphagia attributed to neurological impairment was shown to have a large oesophogeal foreign body. It had remained undetected for five years as a central lumen allowed the passage of liquids and semisolids. Foreign...

Late onset group B streptococcal disease manifested by isolated cervical lymphadenitis.(Case Report)
November 1, 2003... Sepsis and meningitis are the major clinical manifestations of group B streptococcal (GBS) infections in neonates, but GBS can cause a wide spectrum of presentations ranging from asymtomatic bacteraemia to fulminate septicaemia and shock. To...

Usefulness of monitoring lung function in asthma.(Personal Practice)
November 1, 2003... There is no firm evidence from randomised controlled trials that routine monitoring of lung function improves asthma control in children. Guidelines for management of asthma consistently recommend routine home monitoring of peak expiratory flow...

Resident competencies and work hours: are they mutually exclusive.(News And Notes From The USA)
November 1, 2003... For many years significant changes in residency education in the US have occurred primarily in the required curriculum for each specific training discipline. Now, residency training is undergoing dramatic revision across all graduate medical...

Impermeable bed covers for asthma and rhinitis: testing conventional wisdom.(Journal Watch)
November 1, 2003... The increasing prevalence of allergic disease has prompted exploration of new therapies. In 2 similar, placebo-controlled, randomized trials, investigators tested whether dust-mite-impermeable bed covers improve health outcomes in patients with...

Montelukast reduces need for inhaled corticosteroids in asthma.(Journal Watch)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Adding leukotriene receptor antagonists to asthma therapy introduces an additional anti-inflammatory drug class that may complement corticosteroids. Investigators performed this manufacturer-spansored, randomized, placebo-controlled trial to...

Celiac disease is prevalent, but isn't diagnosed often.(Journal Watch)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Celiac disease occurs in some genetically susceptible people (those with specific HLA haplotypes) when they are exposed to gluten-containing products, such as wheat or barley. In 2001, Finnish investigators retrospectively tested sera that had...

Adolescent preventive services: where are the GAPS?(Journal Watch)(Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services )(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The availability of preventive-service guidelines for adolescents lagged behind the availability of well-child guidelines for younger children until the introduction of the Guidelines for Adolescent Preventive Services (GAPS) in 1994. GAPS...

Cow's milk allergy is different from lactose intolerance.(Journal Watch)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... The incidence of cow's milk allergy (CMA) seems to be increasing, and all lactose-containing products often are prohibited for children with CMA. But, do lactose-containing nonmilk products retain allergenic milk proteins? Or, is the usual ban...

Rapid influenza testing in the pediatric ER.(Journal Watch)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2003... Rapid tests for influenza are becoming more accurate. To determine how they affect other aspects of patient management, investigators used rapid tests on 391 patients (age range, 2 months to 21 years) who presented to a pediatric ER in Alabama...

Lucina.
November 1, 2003... Some names given to proteins and genes are extremely tedious but Lucina was taken by the idea of a sonic hedgehog. The sonic hedgehog gene (SHH) (could it be the gene rather than the hedgehog that's sonic?) is the human homologue of a fruit fly...