Archives of Disease in Childhood articles from October 2003

Archives of Disease in Childhood archives from October 2003

Thoracic empyema: a role for primary video assisted thoracoscopic surgery?(Surgery)
October 1, 2003... As long ago as 300 BC, Hippocrates commented that a person "with empyemata... shall die on the fourteenth day, unless something favourable supervene". (1) After identifying the affected side he would recommend drainage with a tin tube....

Smallpox vaccination.(Stamps In Paediatrics)
October 1, 2003... It is known that Lady Mary Wortley Montagu occupies an important place in the medical history for her efforts in smallpox vaccination. While in Turkey with her British ambassador husband, she vaccinated her 5 year old son. After returning to...

Empyema thoracis: not time to put down the knife.(Surgery)
October 1, 2003... "A minor operation: one performed on somebody else" (Anon) The incidence of empyema has increased dramatically in children over the past decade. A sevenfold increase in cases was first recorded in the UK in 1997, (1) and a similar increase...

Renal transplantation: present outcomes and future challenges.(Transplantation)
October 1, 2003... Renal transplantation is undoubtedly the treatment of choice for children with end stage renal failure. While great advances have been made in the field of renal replacement therapy, the provision of dialysis and associated therapies places...

Spinal muscular atrophy-type I: the challenge of defining a child's best interests.(Ethics)
October 1, 2003... Spinal muscular atrophy-type I or Werdnig-Hoffman disease is an autosomal recessive disorder of childhood that causes profound weakness and death from respiratory failure, typically by the age of 2 years in the absence of mechanical...

Does the use of a specialised paediatric retrieval service result in the loss of vital stabilisation skills among referring hospital staff?(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Aims: To compare the proportion of airway and vascular access procedures performed by referring hospital staff on critically ill children in two discrete time periods, before and after widespread use of a specialised paediatric retrieval...

Radiographic long bone appearance in a child administered cyclical pamidronate.(Images In Paediatrics)
October 1, 2003... The appearance of this radiograph caused considerable concern in the casualty department. It shows the left wrist of an 11 year old girl and was taken following suspicion of a fracture. She had been treated for two years with cyclical...

Formula feed preparation: helping reduce the risks; a systematic review.(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Aims: To assess what is known about the risks associated with errors in reconstituting the present generation of infant formula feeds, and to examine which methods are likely to be safest. Methods: Systematic review, and examination of the...

How many episodes of hospital care might be prevented by widespread uptake of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine?(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Background: It is likely that disease specific infectious morbidity is under-reported. Microbiologically identifiable diseases may be "hidden" in ICD-10 code as "unspecified" disease. Aims: To estimate the proportion of "unspecified"...

Varicella vaccination in England and Wales: cost-utility analysis.(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Aims: To assess the cost-effectiveness of varicella vaccination, taking into account its impact on zoster. Methods: An age structured transmission dynamic model was used to predict the future incidence of varicella and zoster. Data from...

Development and evaluation of a follow up assessment of preterm infants at 5 years of age.(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Background: Long term follow up shows a high frequency of developmental disturbances in preterm survivors of neonatal intensive care formerly considered non-disabled. Aims: To develop and validate an assessment tool that can help...

Inequalities in cycle helmet use: cross sectional survey in schools in deprived areas of Nottingham.(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Aims: To describe cycle helmet owning and wearing among children in a deprived area and to investigate the association between helmet ownership and wearing and socioeconomic deprivation. Methods: Cross sectional survey in 28 primary schools...

Chronic pain in adolescents: evaluation of a programme of interdisciplinary cognitive behaviour therapy.(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Aim: To determine the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary cognitive behavioural treatment for adolescents with chronic pain. Methods: Fifty seven adolescents (mean age 14.28 years) with chronic pain and 57 accompanying adults underwent an...

Genetic counselling after carrier detection by newborn screening when one parent carries [DELTA]F508 and the other R117H.(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Newborn screening (NBS) for cystic fibrosis (CF) has been carried out in Victoria, Australia since 1989. The primary screen is immunoreactive trypsinogen (IRT) followed by [DELTA]F508 mutation analysis. As part of this process, carrier babies...

Carbon monoxide concentrations in paediatric sepsis syndrome.(Short Report)
October 1, 2003... Plasma carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations were measured in 12 patients with sepsis syndrome. CO concentrations were found to be significantly increased in compared with those in 30 normal controls. Patients with septic shock had significantly...

Issues and experience around the paediatric register of inflammatory bowel disease.(Current Topic)
October 1, 2003... Accurate epidemiological data is one of the most important tools to elucidate disease aetiology and natural history. Disease registers are the cornerstone of this process. The importance of registers in facilitating an efficient health service...

Chronic fatigue syndrome in children: a cross sectional survey.(Personal Practice)
October 1, 2003... Background: Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) in children is a controversial diagnosis with unclear aetiology, ill defined but likely increasing incidence, and debatable clinical management options. However these children experience real and...

Medication for sleep-wake disorders.
October 1, 2003... Medication is indicated for only a limited number of children's sleep disorders. However, correctly chosen and supervised, pharmacological treatment may be justified and helpful. For a given sleep problem it is important to identify the...

Deficits in attention, motor control, and perception: a brief review.
October 1, 2003... The concept of DAMP (deficits in attention, motor control, and perception) has been in clinical use in Scandinavia for about 20 years. DAMP is diagnosed on the basis of concomitant attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and developmental...

A systematic review for evidence of efficacy of anticholinergic drugs to treat drooling.
October 1, 2003... Drooling frequently occurs in children with multiple handicaps; application of anticholinergic drugs is a potential strategy to treat drooling. A computer aided search of original studies concerning the treatment of drooling was carried out....

Management of parapneumonic effusion and empyema.(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Aims: To gather data on the clinical presentation of parapneumonic effusion and empyema and to examine the effect of different management strategies on short term outcomes. Methods: Retrospective case note review of 48 children admitted to...

Management of thoracic empyema in childhood: does the pleural thickening matter?(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Aims: To determine the clinical course and long term outcome of empyema treated without decortication. Methods: Fourteen consecutive admissions to one hospital were studied; radiological resolution and lung function were subsequently...

Bronchoalveolar lavage cellularity in infants with severe respiratory syncytial virus bronchiolitis.(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Aim: To examine over time, the cellular response within the lungs of infants ventilated with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis and to compare this response in infants born at term with those born preterm. Methods:...

Immune complex associated complications in the subacute phase of meningococcal disease: incidence and literature review.(Original Article)
October 1, 2003... Aim: To determine the incidence of immune complex associated complications (IAC) after severe meningococcal disease (SMD) in a group of Dutch children admitted to a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Methods: Retrospective chart...

Incorporating psychological approaches into routine paediatric venepuncture.(Personal Practice)
October 1, 2003... Studies of paediatric procedural distress have flourished over the past two decades, with psychological intervention strategies showing consistently high efficacy in reducing pain and fear. This review concentrates briefly on the acquisition...

Acute panuveitis and Takayasu's arteritis.(Case Report)
October 1, 2003... A 12 year old boy presented with severe hypertension and was diagnosed with renal artery stenosis requiring balloon angioplasty. Takayasu's arteritis was subsequently diagnosed, but he also developed acute panuveitis, an entity not previously...

"Unresolving pneumonia" as the main manifestation of atypical Kawasaki disease.(Case Report)
October 1, 2003... Two cases of atypical Kawasaki disease (KD) manifested as persistent lobar lung consolidation, prolonged fever, and active inflammatory laboratory markers unresponsive to antibiotic treatment are reported. One of the children developed a giant...

Acute otitis media: do the current guidelines work?(Journal Watch)
October 1, 2003... Concerns about resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae, frequent treatment failures and relapses, and lack of specific bacteriologic information for individual patients make the treatment of acute otitis media (AOM) one of the most frustrating...

Bigger is definitely not better!(Journal Watch)(macrosomia)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Macrosomia, usually defined as birth weight >4000 g, is believed to be associated with increased perinatal morbidity and mortality, and its incidence may be increasing. Using linked birth and death files from the U.S. National Center for Health...

Developmental outcomes of children with prenatal exposure to SSRIs.(Journal Watch)(selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors )(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The known risk for major depressive disorder (MDD) among women of childbearing age and the availability of relatively safe selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)have raised concerns about how prenatal SSRI exposure affects children....

CT or MRI screening for head injury in high-risk abused infants.(Journal Watch)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that young children (age, Of 65 infants who were referred to a child-abuse team, 51 underwent head CT or MRI. Of these, 19 (37%) had evidence of occult head injury (scalp injury, skull fracture,...

Reducing the dose of inhaled steroids in asthma.(Journal Watch)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Although inhaled steroids are effective in treating asthma, they are not problem-free. Thus, most guidelines recommend reducing steroid doses once control is established. This approach works in the short term for patients with mild asthma, but...

Oral clodronate as treatment of osteogenesis imperfecta.(Letters)
October 1, 2003... The benefits of treatment with intravenous pamidronate in osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) have recently been reported. (1-3) These include reduced bone resorption, increased bone density, and improved clinical outcomes as judged by apparently...

Serum prolactin in coeliac schoolchildren.(Letters)
October 1, 2003... Literature published suggests that in children with coeliac disease (CD) serum prolactin concentrations are increased, and correlate with the grade of mucosal atrophy. It has been proposed that prolactin is a possible marker of disease...

A Clinical Guide to Inherited Metabolic Diseases, 2nd ed.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
October 1, 2003... Edited by JTR Clarke UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002, 29.95 [pounds sterling], pp 306. ISBN 0521890764 Dr Clarke's enthusiasm and erudition are evident on every page of this book, which is handily sized, and, wonder of wonders, costs...

Eating Problems in Children: Information for Parents.(Book Review)
October 1, 2003... Edited by C Fox, C Joughin. London: Gaskell, 2002, 10.00 [pounds sterling], pp 621. ISBN 1901242862 How commonly do we encounter the following scenario? A desperately anxious mother at last convinces her GP that she needs to see a...

Childhood Headache.(Book Review)
October 1, 2003... Edited by I Abu-Arafeh. UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002, 45 [pounds sterling], pp184. ISBN 1 898 68326 3 Headaches in children are a common problem--70% of school children have headaches at least once a year, with 25% suffering from...

Corrections.(Correction Notice)
October 1, 2003... In the article by Nixon et al (Arch Dis Child 2002;87:306-11), Dr Claire Wainwright should have been included as an author. Dr Wainwright's contribution was the establishment of the methodology and early patient recruitment and testing. Dr...

Lucina.
October 1, 2003... Could wheezing during upper respiratory tract infections in toddlers be prevented by putting steroid into their noses? This seemingly odd suggestion arose, apparently, because of recent evidence of "cross talk" between noses and lungs. (We know...