News

New codes for the New Year: Addition to circumcision codes, consultations, and nebulizations.

Get off to a good start with these helpful hints for your practice.

Do you find it difficult to have trusting relationships with your adolescent patients? Are you sometimes afraid to find out too much? The author explains how to open up conversations by focusing on the teenager's strengths-and how rewarding the results can be.

Thyroid problems can be worrisome, but relatively few children referred for workup for an abnormal thyroid test have clinically significant disease. Choosing the right screening tests can prevent these costly encounters without compromising children whose test results warrant close follow-up and possible intervention.

Thyroid problems can be worrisome, but relatively few children referred for workup for an abnormal thyroid test have clinically significant disease. Choosing the right screening tests can prevent these costly encounters without compromising children whose test results warrant close follow-up and possible intervention.

These days, most pediatricians have at least one set of twins among their patients, and triplets or even higher order multiples are not uncommon. Here's what you need to know to meet the special needs of these children and counsel their parents appropriately.

How the Internet can teach us a thing or two about comprehensive health care for children.

A 4-year-old girl presented with bilateral deviation of the fifth fingers. The deformity was noted in early childhood. There was no history of trauma or family history of a similar deformity. Physical examination was normal except for incurving of the fifth fingers.

In recent years, adolescents have begun to turn to unconventional sources of drugs to abuse. One such drug that is becoming more and more popular among teenagers is dextromethorphan, a common ingredient in many cough and cold medications. In large doses, dextromethorphan is broken down into dextrorphan, which can produce euphoria and hallucinations--effects similar to those of phencyclidine

I appreciated the excellent photograph of cutaneous leishmaniasis thatCPT Kenneth Brooks recently contributed to Photoclinic (CONSULTANT, June2004, page 1018, Figure).

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved in October an over-the-counter medication to relieve eye itch. Zaditor (ketotifen fumarate), manufactured by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp., is an eye itch relief drop safe for children as young as three years of age. With just one drop, Zaditor provides up to 12 hours of continuous relief.

The National Institutes of Health recently launched Genetics Home Reference, a free Web site with up-to-date information on genetic conditions and the basics of genetic science. The site can be accessed at http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov.

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health, is funding five new research projects on antidepressant medications, notably selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and their association with suicidal thoughts and actions (suicidality). SSRI use in children and adolescents has become a controversial issue, with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), issuing a black box warning for all SSRIs in 2005.

What's the cause of a hyperpigmented patch on an adolescent boy's back?

A 5-year-old boy's constant need to remove all his clothing before using the toilet to void or defecate.