News

The frightened mother of a vigorous, healthy 14-day-old girl brings her daughter to you for an urgent consultation regarding a facial rash that has blossomed since a few subtle spots were noted at birth. What’s your diagnosis?

Making the appropriate diagnosis is critical to the optimal use of antibiotics in children who have upper respiratory tract infections (URIs), according to a new clinical report.

You may not need to operate on every child with acute appendicitis. New research suggests that antibiotics and inpatient observation may be all that are required.

A new study shows that children who survive cancer may face another battle-heart disease.

Fewer than half of all adolescents with psychiatric disorders receive treatment, and many that do receive treatment in a setting where specialist mental health training is unlikely to exist.

A new study raises a question about whether too many antireflux procedures (ARP) are performed on children during a period of infancy when frequent regurgitation is normal and when already ambiguous measures of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) are difficult to interpret at best.

Amateur photographs taken with equipment no more specialized than a digital camera or smartphone can detect retinoblastoma in children’s eyes early in the course of disease.

President Obama recently signed into law the School Access to Emergency Epinephrine Act to enable school personnel to better react to children having emergent asthma attacks or severe allergy reactions.

Infants who die suddenly and unexpectedly, in what are considered to be safe and unsafe sleeping situations, have something in common-an underlying brainstem abnormality, according to recent research.

Guidelines for preventing and treating HIV/AIDS-related opportunistic infections (OIs) in children recently received a facelift. Government agencies and industry associations banded together to update recommendations previously published in 2009.

It seems that signs of autism may surface in infants aged as young as 2 months, which would be the earliest known indicator of social disability, according to a recent study.

Hospitalizations and in-hospital deaths of children with gunshot wounds (GSWs) are increasing, up 81% and 59%, respectively, from 1997 to 2009.

With the prevalence of, and prescriptions for, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rising steeply in the past decade, experts are looking at whether current diagnostic practices and definitions are helping or hindering the situation.

As a result of gaping holes in what is known about the actual incidence of concussions in young athletes and the effects of these traumatic brain injuries, the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council are calling for a national system to track sports-related concussions in children and adolescents aged 19 years and younger.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have joined forces to create a new registry of sudden deaths in young people. The hope is that the resulting database will provide researchers and health care practitioners with valuable information regarding the scope of the problem and ideas about how to prevent future tragedies.

Primary care physicians can manage the vast majority of children with in-toeing disorders. Only a few require casting or surgery, but be careful because about 15% actually have another diagnosis, according to a recent study.

When parents’ religious or spiritual beliefs prevent children from getting necessary medical care, pediatricians should intervene and report the parents to state child protective services agencies for medical abuse and neglect, reiterates a new policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

Many youngsters, particularly those who are obese, use the calorie information that often is available at fast food and chain restaurants to determine what menu items to order.

Your V2.0 pediatric practice should be officially credentialed as a patient-centered medical home, but even practices that aren’t accredited can still provide exceptional care.

If federal funding expires, states may opt to reduce eligibility or eliminate programs in 2020.

A healthy adolescent boy asks you to cure an itchy and painful rash on the nape of his neck that began over a year ago when he switched barbers. What’s your diagnosis?

As innate as admiring a new baby and congratulating the parents when we enter the room, our tendency as pediatricians to palpate the anterior fontanel when we meet an infant, the “pediatrician’s handshake,” is universal. Why do we do this?

About 23% of almost 1,500 parents surveyed while in the waiting rooms of 19 primary care pediatric practices reported that they had used a retail clinic (RC), such as those found at Walgreens and CVS, for their child’s care.

Physicians often empirically prescribe antibiotics for urinary tract infections (UTIs) without conducting urine testing (urinalysis or culture), according to a retrospective study of 40,603 treated UTI episodes in youngsters aged up to 18 years.

Children of persistent smokers are much more likely to smoke.

With day-spanning sessions such as “Building Brains, Forging Futures,” this year’s American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2013 National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida, represented a robust airing of data and developments from the pediatric front. In this report, Contemporary Pediatrics brings you highlights from the AAP meeting by key therapeutic area.

A wide range of cardiovascular signs and symptoms present to the pediatrician’s office, and clinician knowledge of key “red flags” alerting them to a higher likelihood of significant pathology or more urgent need for subspecialty referral is paramount.

Garey Noritz, MD, presented information on a clinical algorithm developed by the AAP to help guide pediatricians on screening and workup of children with suspected motor delays.