News

New guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) call for, among other things, screening all children for obstructive sleep apnea. What prompted these guidelines, and will you add this screening to your exams?

A new study finds that infantile hemangiomas begin growing much faster and earlier than previously thought, which means evaluation and treatment are occurring too late. Find out what experts now recommend.

Up to two-thirds of mothers of critically ill newborns in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) believe their children are less sick than their treating physicians indicate. How can you optimize communication in this most stressful setting?

Influenza complications hit some children especially hard. Which group had a particularly high rate of influenza-related death in 2009?

It seems yet another reason exists not to overprescribe antibiotics, particularly in infancy. And still something else that may contribute to the childhood obesity epidemic.

Infants and toddlers will put just about anything into their mouths. And foreign objects in the GI tracts of children and teens may not be the result of sexual abuse.

The mother of this 10-year-old boy insists that he has "acne," which started when the boy was a baby. More details here...

A study finds that children exposed to anesthesia before their third birthdays are at higher risk for neuropsychological deficits later in childhood.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for the 2012-2013 flu season include an updated vaccination schedule for children aged 6 months through 8 years.

The father of a healthy 3-year-old girl begs you to help with a bleeding bump on her left cheek. It has been present for a few weeks but in the last 2 days has bled profusely on 3 occasions for more than 30 minutes each time.

A survey of a large group of Australian schoolchildren when they were aged 12 years and again at 17 years found that levels of physical activity and of sedentary behaviors are associated with health-related quality of life (QOL), which includes physical, mental, and social well-being.

To prevent the morbidity and mortality associated with emergency complications of sickle cell disease, it's important that providers recognize the signs and interpret what lab and imaging results mean.

You are doing a pediatric nephrology rotation. It is late in the evening, and you're just about to leave for home when your pager goes off. You answer the call and learn about a 5-week-old girl who was seen in the orthopedic clinic that afternoon for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH).

Children with autism who require emergency medical care have special needs clinicians must address before beginning treatment. Resources and strategies are available to help you coordinate such care in your setting.

Investigators set out to determine whether plasma levels of follistatin-like protein 1 (FSTL-1), which is produced by cardiac myocytes, correlate with Kawasaki disease (KD) and acquired coronary artery aneurysms (CAA), of which KD is a major cause.

Once confused with other gastrointestinal disorders, cyclic vomiting syndrome can be diagnosed using specific criteria instead of extensive confirmatory testing.

A number of studies show that some school-based interventions for the prevention of childhood obesity can be effective, says a draft review from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the key federal agency charged with improving quality and effectiveness in health care.

Life expectancy has increased markedly for children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, to the point that estimated life expectancy of patients diagnosed between 1965 and 1980 is only about 4 years less than that of the general US population.

The medical home is a familiar concept to pediatricians. In recent years its definition has been made more formal and more comprehensive, but it is nearly always linked to an environment of primary care in the outpatient setting.

Most children survive serogroup B meningococcal disease without major sequelae. British researchers report, however, that about 10% of children who have had meningococcal infection experience major disabling deficits. What screening is needed for survivors of meningococcal disease? More >>

The steadily declining rate of circumcision in US newborn boys could add more than $4.4 billion in avoidable health care costs for treating the increasing cases of sexually transmitted infections and related cancers among uncircumcised men and their women partners over the next decade. More >>

Infants and children aged younger than 2 years who are vaccinated against hepatitis A virus (HAV) show persistent seroprotection whether they received antibodies to the virus from their mothers, a new study reports. More >>

The health benefits of newborn circumcision of boys outweigh the risks and justify elective, although not routine, use of the procedure, according to the latest policy statement on circumcision from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). What are the benefits? More >>

Prolonged diarrhea causes dehydration and cellular depletion in the gastrointestinal lumen. Sodium-rich liquids and functional foods help restore gut balance.

The ophthalmologist was not able to rule abuse in or out based on his examination because of the number of retinal hemorrhages seen.

Not all patients with life-threatening dermatologic disorders are sick enough or symptomatic enough to go to the emergency department. . . some may come to your office with what may look like a relatively benign lump or bump. Yet within a few hours, such lesions can cause significant morbidity or even death.

About half of all information on the Internet about safe infant sleep practices is incorrect or irrelevant, according to new research. How can you help parents find the right half? More >>

Children with nonsevere obstructive sleep apnea who took the oral leukotriene modifier montelukast daily for 12 weeks showed reductions in severity of symptoms and adenoid size, a new study reports. Which children might benefit? More >>