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 and joined the MJH Life Sciences team in December 2019. She graduated from Youngstown State University in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and a minor in political science. Prior to graduating, Morgan worked as the editor-in-chief of her college newspaper. She went on to work as an assignment editor at a broadcast news station in Youngstown, Ohio before joining 

 You can reach her at mpetronelli@mjhlifesciences.com.

Articles

. He joined the brand in March of 2023 as an editor before being promoted to senior editor in January 2024. Fitch graduated from Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio in 2020 with a degree in telecommunications and journalism. He started his career as a news and sports videographer before becoming an on-air sports anchor at the NBC-affiliated news station in Youngstown. Fitch briefly worked as a national content writer for a Chicago-based national television station before joining the 

team. He can be reached at: jfitch@mjhlifesciences.com.

FDA accepts MannKind’s sBLA for Afrezza in children and adolescents with diabetes.

FDA accepts Afrezza sBLA for pediatric diabetes 

Tina Tan, MD, FAAP, FIDSA, FPIDS—editor in chief of 

, professor of pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, Infectious Diseases attending at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, and president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

This issue has a number of outstanding must-read articles related to pediatric vaccines. 

Letter from the editor, October 2025 

Explore effective techniques for gathering psychosocial histories from adolescents using the HEADS FIRST Checklist to enhance mental health interventions.

Psychosocial screening of adolescents: Using the HEADS FIRST Checklist, part 2 

Isabella J. Tan, is a third-year medical student at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

5-week-old with blood under the tongue 

Contemporary Pediatrics connects pediatricians with peer-reviewed articles, guideline updates, and practice strategies for real-world clinical application.

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Explore essential resources and toolkits for managing the ongoing stimulant medication shortage affecting ADHD treatment and patient care.

A brief review of primary care resources and toolkits for the stimulant shortage

**Editor's Note** Please note that starting January 1, 2025, we will be switching to an online-exclusive publication process. This will allow us to publish case submissions quicker without having to deal with the variables that come along with print publication. All cases will still be eligible for print publication consideration, but publication in our print magazine is not guaranteed and will be up to the editor's discretion. 

Do you have a puzzling pediatric case that you’d like to share with the readers of 

We are looking for intriguing diagnoses that have stumped the experts—a diagnostic “Puzzler”—to help our physicians enhance their day-to-day practices. If you have such a story to tell, tell us.

Here’s what to do: Before you begin, we suggest that first you review the Puzzler 

https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/case-studies

. Please note the specific style required for writing Puzzler manuscripts.

Next, prepare a draft of your case, including a summary of the presenting symptoms, a case overview, a 

table of the differential diagnosis (MANDATORY)

, and the special aspects of your case that qualify it as a Puzzler, and send it to us. Please note that the differential diagnosis table should also be discussed in the body text. We’ll review your draft and let you know what you need to add or revise before we send the manuscript to peer review for evaluation.

Puzzlers vary in length, and we suggest a minimum of 1,200 words up to a maximum of 2,000 words, but that is because of the complexity of some cases and whether some patients returned for many assessments before their diagnoses were determined. Also, some authors describe the pathophysiology of the differentials in great detail. Please also note no more than 3 authors are allowed per article.

What's most important is to show us the process that you used to analyze the case, including:

Why you decided to order certain tests and why you did not order others.

Peer consultations or why you elected to contact other specialists.

Lab values including vital signs or blood tests.

Labs and values if your patient was attended to in the emergency department or other hospital departments such as radiology or neurology.

Discussion related to the possible diagnoses.

Final diagnosis, treatment, prognosis, and follow-up.

Remember to indicate numbered citations within the body of the text and include a complete list of corresponding literature/references at the end of the manuscript. (Do not use any citation management programs or unlink them.) 

Limit references to 25. No references (unless it is a seminal study) can be older than 10 years.

We prefer primary research as references, but some cases are so obscure that authors will need to pull from a variety of sources. However, 

. Be advised that peer reviewers are adamant that the disease/disorder you describe was actually diagnosed and not determined by index of suspicion on the basis of ruling out various differentials. We use AMA11 as our publication style, which uses superscript citation numbers and a corresponding numbered reference list. Please create your citations and references in this style.  Check this recent article posted online at 

https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/the-rx-of-adhd

 for examples of reference style. IMPORTANT NOTE WITH AMA 11TH EDITION: PLEASE PUT DOI OR WEBSITES/URLS AT THE END OF THE REFERENCE LINE.

When you send your draft manuscript, also 

. These image files must be high-resolution jpg or tiff files (minimum of 300 dpi) and as large in size as possible. We suggest a minimum of 7 horizontal inches. The images must be original photos with clear permissions to use, not images from copyrighted sources. Send as separate attachments with your e-mail submission; do not embed images into your manuscript document.

After we receive your manuscript, our editors and peer reviewers will review your draft and let you know if we accept your submission for publication. 

Puzzler is one of the departments for which we receive the most submissions, so it may be several months after submission before you receive feedback from us.

If we do accept your submission for publication, we will contact you with further instructions.

Send your submissions in Microsoft Word format to 

, via e-mail to mpetronelli@mjhlifesciences.com

Guidelines for PUZZLER, Contemporary Pediatrics

 poll. Take a look at the following case below. After reading through the description, choose a multiple-choice answer and try to guess the correct patient diagnosis.

Then visit our website on September 24, 2025, at 3:00 PM EST or later for the full case presentation, differential diagnosis, and correct patient diagnosis.

Heather Boone, OMS-III; and Neil Cella, MD. 

A 12-year-old female with no significant past medical history presents to our Emergency Department with 3 days of right-sided neck swelling, which has progressively worsened. The patient notes some pain with chewing on the right side, which has led to decreased intake. The parents report no known fevers but note that other members of the family have recently been sick with a suspected viral illness. The family also reports that this is a recurrent issue that occurs 2 to 3 times a year and endorses that it began after her tonsillectomy procedure. They state that symptoms typically resolve after a course of antibiotics. She has been seen at an ENT clinic for these concerns in the past, with reportedly no solution. She has no other known medical diagnoses or surgeries and is not taking any medications. She lives with her parents and 3 siblings and is in 7th grade.

Her vital signs, including temperature, are within normal limits upon arrival. Physical exam is significant for an indurated, moderately-tender, swelling approximately 2 cm in diameter located anteroinferior to the mastoid process. An oral exam is unremarkable aside from reported dental discomfort elicited by right-sided bite testing. Some residual tonsillar tissue is noted. Upon consulting with the team, labs and imaging are ordered, including CBC, CMP, CRP/ESR, LDH, uric acid serum tests, and diagnostic ultrasound. The lab values demonstrate mild hemoconcentration (possibly due to living at high altitude) and a mildly elevated lymphocyte count. Ultrasound findings include limited images showing bilateral hypoechoic foci in the parotid gland and upper neck regions, and a broad differential is provided. Due to these nonspecific findings, a blood culture is ordered, which produces no growth.  

Below, take your best guess at diagnosing this patient

Try to diagnose this patient with 3 days of right-sided neck swelling. 

Case Studies

News

Poll: Can you diagnose this 12-year-old female with right-sided neck swelling?

At 32 6/7 weeks, a 1970-g child was born via meconium-stained vaginal delivery to a 37-year-old mother (gravida 2, para 1) who recently immigrated from India. The mother presented with preterm premature rupture of membranes for 11 hours prior to eventual vaginal delivery. 

Maternal history was otherwise notable for rubella nonimmunity, advanced maternal age, and a prior history of intrauterine fetal death 4 years prior. Prior to delivery, the mother received one dose of ampicillin given her unknown group B 

 status and a single dose of betamethasone to accelerate fetal lung maturity.

After delivery, the newborn was vigorous, with delayed cord clamping of 1 minute. The Apgar scores were 8 and 8 at 1 and 5 minutes of life, respectively. There was mildly increased respiratory effort in the delivery room, for which continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) respiratory support was begun. The child was brought to the neonatal intensive care unit with CPAP of 5 and 30% fraction of inspired oxygen. 

E. coli with extended spectrum beta-lactamase

 website on Wednesday, September 10, at 12:00 PM EST or later for the full case presentation, differential diagnosis, and correct patient diagnosis. 

A recently immigrated mother from India presents in preterm labor at 32 6/7 weeks and delivers a vigorous baby whose initial blood culture result is positive at 18 hours of life with gram-negative rods. 

Can you diagnose this infant with neonatal respiratory distress?

This case was presented by Tyler Hanna, MD; Joshua Khuvis, MD; Sara Sanders, MD; Jennifer Haile, MD

A 7-year-old female with a history of receptive-expressive speech disorder presents with her father to establish care. She complains of dull headaches that occur 3 to 4 times per month to her central forehead over the past few months that improve with acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and closing her eyes. They occur in any setting and do not have any clear trigger.

The father also described an episode of chest pain 2 days prior to presentation. She was getting ready to leave for school when she felt her heart racing and father witnessed her fall to the floor. This episode lasted 2 minutes before self-resolving. Father denied dyspnea, loss-of-consciousness, or cyanosis with this event. No previous episodes like this were reported, though father reports that she has had more anxious episodes recently that could be panic attacks. Family history was notable for hypertension in father, neuroendocrine tumor in paternal grandmother, as well as hyperlipidemia and heart disease in paternal grandfather. The initial exam was notable for an elevated automatic blood pressure of 125/88 mmHg, heart rate of 113 beats per minute (BPM), height of 125.6cm (64th percentile), and weight of 26.7kg (75th percentile).

 website again on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, at 3:00 PM EST or later for the full case presentation, differential diagnosis, and correct patient diagnosis.

Try to diagnose this patient with a history of receptive-expressive speech disorder and anxiety. 

Poll: Can you diagnose this 7-year-old with anxious episodes?

As cannabis use among youth becomes increasingly common, pediatric primary care providers are more likely to see patients who use cannabis while also struggling with mental health disorders. Research shows clear associations with anxiety and depression, and up to one in five young users develop cannabis use disorder.

In this article, child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Blair Ritchie highlights what clinicians should know when supporting this population. Key considerations include monitoring for medication interactions, screening with tools like the CRAFFT, and applying evidence-based approaches such as family-based therapy, motivational interviewing, and CBT.

Dr. Ritchie emphasizes that PCPs don’t need to be substance use experts to help. By addressing comorbid conditions, providing guidance, and connecting families to resources, clinicians can improve outcomes for adolescents at risk.

As a follow-up to REACH’s article about youth cannabis use and harm reduction, we asked child and adolescent psychiatrist Blair Ritchie, MD, FRCPC, to walk us through what clinicians should know when diagnosing and treating mental health disorders among youth cannabis users. 

NOINDEX

NOFOLLOW

Managing mental health disorders in adolescent cannabis users

Many families face complex barriers to mental health care that go beyond getting a diagnosis or prescription. This can include lack of time, tight finances, geographic barriers, distrust of the medical system, and differing cultural and religious beliefs. Culturally responsive care gives providers a way to bridge those gaps and improve outcomes for children and families.

In this article, pediatrician and REACH faculty member Dr. Noor Jihan Abdul-Haqq shares practical strategies for empowering parents across diverse backgrounds. From asking families directly about their mental health beliefs, to prioritizing care when diagnoses feel stigmatizing, to connecting families with trusted community resources, her guidance centers on building trust and collaboration.

By practicing cultural responsiveness, clinicians can help parents feel confident, engaged, and equipped to support their child—transforming both care experiences and long-term mental health trajectories.

REACH faculty member and pediatrician Noor Jihan Abdul-Haqq, who has grounded her practice in cultural responsiveness, shares her top strategies and recommendations for REACH-trained clinicians to ensure parents from all backgrounds feel empowered and engaged in their child’s mental health care.

Yu Ming He

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