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Sarah de Ferranti, MD, director of the Preventive Cardiology Clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital, explained that what is controversial about the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s most recent set of guidelines addressing lipid screening in children is the call for universal screening at 2 time points: between 9 and 11 years of age and again between 17 and 21 years of age. “This represents a change in practice,” she said in a session titled “Universal lipid screening: Are pediatricians doing it and how is it working?” held on Monday.

“Asthma is probably overdiagnosed by a factor of 5,” said Michael Seear, MD, pediatrician, respirologist, and instructor with the University of British Columbia Certificate in International Development, Vancouver, during a Monday presentation.

Day 2 at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2013 National Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida, was an interesting mix of research from allergies to urology, from practical pediatrics to practice management. Here are reviews of just 3 of the sessions presented on Sunday, October 27.

It turns out the very name itself is new, according to Ann Reynolds, MD, associate professor of pediatrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Children’s Hospital Colorado, Aurora.

“EMRs (electronic medical records) have the potential to increase patient safety, improve outcomes, and create legible, accurate records, but, unfortunately, they also have the possibility of doing just the opposite,” said Herschel Lessin, MD, Children’s Medical Group, PLLC, Poughkeepsie, New York.

“What is important,” said Thomas Challman, MD, a neurodevelopmental pediatrician and medical director of the Geisinger Autism and Developmental Medicine Institute, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, “is to teach families what is a potentially valid therapy from one that really is not beneficial.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) 2013 National Conference and Exhibition playing this weekend in Orlando, Florida, presents a robust airing of data and developments from the pediatric front. For attendees who missed these sessions onsite, or if you are unable to attend the conference in person, here are highlights from Saturday’s exciting program.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for United States youth aged between 10 and 24 years, reported Robert Sege, MD, PhD, director, Division of Family and Child Advocacy, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center, in an AAP session on Saturday, October 26, titled “Dying to be young: Teen suicide, screening, and prevention.”

Insurance exchanges and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) should mean greater access, agreed Anne Edwards, MD, and Michael McManus, MD, MPH, in a session titled “How will insurance exchanges work for pediatrics?” held on Saturday, October 26.

Parents who use integrated personal health records (PHRs) are more likely to bring their children to recommended well-child care visits and, possibly, to adhere to recommended immunization schedules, according to a new retrospective study.

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is common among teenagers with recurrent headaches, particularly those with a chronic condition or functional difficulties.

Vaccinating children against measles when they are aged between 12 and 15 months is associated with less fever and fewer seizures during the 7 to 10 days after vaccination than is vaccinating between 16 and 23 months of age, but experts emphasize that the overall risk is low either way.

Certain modifiable, lifestyle-associated risk factors dramatically increase the odds of childhood cancer survivors developing heart disease as adults. The worst offender may be hypertension.

Five years of the now recommended 2-dose varicella vaccine has dramatically reduced the incidence of chicken pox among all age groups, including among infants too young to be vaccinated.

Even early-term neonates have high neonatal morbidity and high rates of admission to the neonatal intensive care unit or neonatology service, compared with term infants.

The jury is still out on whether we should be screening asymptomatic children and adolescents for primary hypertension in an effort to prevent cardiovascular disease later in life, but we do know that being overweight and hypertension are inextricably linked and both problems seem to be growing in children.

Delaying the introduction of gluten to a child’s diet past the age of 6 months may increase the child’s risk for celiac disease, as may breastfeeding children beyond 1 year of age.

Although the incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in adults is declining, data from population-based surveillance shows no such downturn among children.

Preadolescent and adolescent girls who frequently eat peanut butter or peanuts may lower their risk for benign breast disease (BBD) as young women by about 39%.

The number of emergency department (ED) visits for sports-related traumatic brain injuries (TBI) rose astronomically in the past decade, but the percentage of children admitted to the hospital from the ED with sports-related TBI did not, and the severity of the injuries seems to be decreasing.

Over-the-counter (OTC) pain relievers are just as effective as prescription pain medications for posttonsillectomy pain, say researchers from Henry Ford Hospital.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) just updated its recommendations for the treatment of systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and secondary tuberculosis screening among children receiving biologic medications.

Step aside invasive and costly liver biopsies. It looks as if there’s a new noninvasive way to accurately assess hepatic fibrosis in children with chronic liver disease, even in those who are obese.

It seems that far more cases of Kawasaki disease occur in the winter than at any other time during the year, new research finds.

There’s hope for this year’s influenza season, particularly among children. Vaccination coverage appears to be rising.

The mother of a healthy 8-month-old boy pops into your office for an urgent visit seeking advice on a golden brown bump on her son’s lower back, visible since 2 months of age. This morning when he awoke, it appeared angry, red, and swollen although the swelling seems to be improving. What’s your diagnosis?

The discharge of a preterm infant from neonatal intensive care is a developmental milestone, yet it also marks the beginning of a challenging course of medical care from a complex system of outpatient providers. This article addresses the multiple strategies and resources that exist to help pediatricians coordinate health care and optimize quality of life for these children and their families

This month's article discusses how to best investigate the benefits of new devices and testing products for your clinical practice and how to avoid the pitfalls of adopting new technologies.