Neonatal/Perinatology

A study of Danish children who underwent inguinal hernia repair with anesthesia as infants found no difference in their academic performance as adolescents compared with a general population sample of their peers.

In an ongoing effort to establish clinical evidence for the effects of anesthesia and sedative agents on infants and children undergoing surgical, medical, or diagnostic procedures, the FDA?s Anesthetic and Life Support Drugs Advisory Committee recently convened a panel of experts to consider the available data, develop a research agenda, and discuss how to communicate risk/benefit information to clinicians and parents.

Children as young as 9 months can now be immunized for the prevention of meningococcal disease.

Investigators examined the extent to which introduction of solid foods to infants younger than 4 months is associated with increased risk of obesity at 3 years.

Evidence does not support the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) to treat symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in infants, and placebo-controlled evidence is lacking in children and adolescents, according to researchers of a systematic review. Their findings appear online in Pediatrics.

Use of pacifiers does not interfere with breastfeeding up to age 4 months, according to a systematic Cochrane review.

Recognizing infants at risk of neonatal hypoglycemia and instituting early measures to prevent and treat low glucose concentrations are the subject of a clinical report published in the March issue of Pediatrics.

Putting infants to sleep in the prone position reduces cerebral oxygenation, which may help to explain why this sleeping position is associated with an increase in the incidence of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), say Australian researchers.

Although inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) has proved effective in improving oxygenation in late preterm infants, studies of its efficacy in infants born at or before 34 weeks have produced variable and contradictory findings. Now a systematic review of findings from 22 trials of iNO use in 3,461 early preterm infants concludes that the evidence does not support routine use of iNO to treat these infants. The review, which appears in Pediatrics, examined 14 randomized, controlled trials (RCTs), 7 follow-up studies, and 1 observation study.

A controversial new analysis suggests that introduction of solid foods before 6 months of age may reduce the risk of allergies and iron deficiency anemia compared with exclusive breastfeeding. The researchers suggest that weaning should occur as early 4 months.

Trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine may be associated with febrile seizures in infants and children aged 6 to 23 months who received the vaccine this current flu season, according to a vaccine safety update released by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Findings of a study conducted in Denmark have added to accumulating evidence that exposure to neonatal jaundice is associated with autistic disorders and other disorders of psychological development.

Preterm infants have a reduced response to some serotypes in the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) compared with full-term infants, report researchers from the United Kingdom.

Pregnant women who get vaccinated against influenza appear to reduce the risk for their infants younger than 6 months old from being hospitalized for influenza.

By the age of 5 months, more than 50% of infants are following their parents? sleep times and sleep through the night.

It's been 50 years since the publication of the first study demonstrating that chest compressions can be a life-saving measure for victims of cardiac arrest and 5 years since the American Heart Association published their 2005 Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiac Care.

FDA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission jointly warned parents against the use of sleep positioners for their babies, because the devices can suffocate infants in their cribs or bassinets.

After a quality-assurance inspection of its manufacturing plant in Michigan revealed contamination by insect pieces and larvae, Abbott notified FDA that it was suspending production and issued a voluntary recall for about 5 million containers of certain Similac-brand powdered infant formulas.

The FDA has accepted for review a supplemental biologics license application for the use of Menactra for active immunization of infants and toddlers for the prevention of invasive meningococcal disease.

A comprehensive pediatric cost analysis showed that suboptimal breastfeeding cost billions.

A diet that is high in fat may reduce infantile spasms significantly in young children, according to new research.

Infants in the United States still may not be getting enough vitamin D in their diet or daily environment, according to new findings.

A new report suggests that SIDS is associated with a defect in 1 or more components of the medullary 5-hydroxytryptamine system.

Infants who had prenatal complications or who faced injuries at birth may benefit from hopping on the treadmill.

An expert committee convened by the federal National Toxicology Program carefully chose its wording at a recent meeting to say that there is "minimal concern" about adverse developmental effects in infants fed soy infant formula.

A 9-month-old Caucasian boy has been undergoing an evaluation for fussiness and vomiting.

A short window of action exists for the newborn with suspected sepsis. With little time and less-than-perfect lab studies, are CRP values the added clue you need to arrive at a diagnosis?

Postpartum depression has been linked to choosing bottle feeding over breastfeeding, according to an evolutionary psychologist?s research.

A 7-month-old boy is brought in with brown warty plaques on his faces, along the lines of Blaschko.

An infant with failure to thrive and vomiting is eventually diagnosed with hypertrophic, dilated bladder and bilateral hydronephrosis.