News

Fewer than one in every 1,000 deliveries is stillborn but, of those that are, little is known about survival and neurologic outcome. Currently, the International Liaison Committee is considering a proposal to stop resuscitative efforts after 10 minutes on stillborn babies, even though most respond to resuscitative treatment beyond that time.

"Time spent outdoors is the strongest predictor of activity in children," said Gilbert Liu, MD, at an epidemiology platform session here today &#8212 noting, at the same time, the reported dramatic drop in such activity among children. But as parks and green space increase in a given community, Dr. Liu pointed out, people walk more, more social cohesion develops, and the crime rate drops.

An estimated 96 million people in the United States wear prescription eyeglasses. According to Ohio researchers at Columbus Children's Research Institute (CCRI) on the campus of Columbus Children's Hospital, during a two-year period of time, more than 26,000 people were treated in emergency departments in the US for eyeglass-related injuries - 6% of whom had an injury that resulted in admission. Those researchers also found that the mechanism of the injury varied with the wearer's age.

Domestic abuse affects the child. That was the message of a presentation on the epidemiology of domestic violence and issues related to screening, prevention, intervention and teaching. "When there are children involved, domestic violence is anything but a private matter," said speaker Danielle Thomas-Taylor, MD, of the Center for Child Health Research, Rochester, NY. And physicians are likely see numerous victims of spousal abuse, Dr. Thomas-Taylor stressed, given the epidemic proportions of domestic abuse.

Sleep-associated deaths are the leading cause of infant death in Arizona-and that state is the source of new information, presented at the 2005 Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting, suggesting that most deaths attributable to SIDS, suffocation, and asphyxiation may be preventable.

Eye on Washington

Door opens for return of ephedra, cancer-risk guidelines offered, greater scrutiny of NSAIDs

Despite a reputation as a "safe"sport, soccer is associated with a variety of acute and overuse injuries. This overview helps you diagnose, manage, and refer these problems, and clarifies how to prevent them.

Your patient in the emergency department today is a 5-day-old girl brought in by her parents because of an episode of what they describe as "shaking." First, they tell you, she had an episode of choking and gagging during a feed, accompanied by noises resembling the hiccups. Shortly afterward, she developed rhythmic twitching of the arms and legs.

Working with pediatric residents and medical students to care for patients provides many opportunities to recognize, and be grateful for, progress. Some patient discussions I recently had highlight improvements in medical care that, in the absence of historical perspective (in other words, if you haven't been around for a long time) would be easy to take for granted.

The irides of a legally blind 19-year-old woman had been absent since birth. When she was 6 weeks old, her parents noted that she was not focusing on objects the way her siblings had. They consulted an ophthalmologist who diagnosed aniridia. The woman is able to read book print close up and can ambulate independently, although she has difficulty at times, such as when stepping off a curb in unfamiliar surroundings.