Pediatrics News and Research

Latest Pediatrics News and Research

Recurrence risk can be identified before hepatectomy

Patients who are likely to experience disease recurrence after undergoing hepatectomy for hepatocellular carcinoma can be identified by factors that are available preoperatively, indicate the results of a Hong Kong study.

31 Oct 2012

Technology creates 3-D map of stresses linked to malformed structures

Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have found a way to create three-dimensional maps of the stress that circulating blood places on the developing heart in an animal model - a key to understanding triggers of heart defects.

31 Oct 2012

Eliminating bacteria's DNA, boosting antimicrobial proteins may help prevent recurrent ear infections

Eliminating bacteria's DNA and boosting antimicrobial proteins that already exist may help prevent middle ear infections from reoccurring. These are the findings from a Nationwide Children's Hospital study that examined how an immune defense protein common in the middle ear interacts with a structure meant to protect a colony of bacteria.

31 Oct 2012

Behavioural treatment can be very effective for severely obese children

A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that behavioural treatment for inducing weight-loss can be very effective for severely obese children. However, the treatment to change dietary and exercise habits must be given in time, as it showed to have little effect on adolescents with the same problem.

31 Oct 2012

Pediatric hospitalists keen on texting, worry about privacy

An overwhelming majority of pediatric hospitalists use a smartphone and text messaging, while approximately half either send or receive work-related text messages while they are on duty, show survey findings.

30 Oct 2012

Immigration status, language of caregivers appear to impact care of Hispanic children with cancer

Language barriers and the immigration status of caregivers appear to impact the care of Hispanic children with cancer and affect the experience of the families within the medical system, according to data presented at the Fifth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here Oct. 27-30, 2012.

30 Oct 2012

Oxidative stress occurs in genetic models of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency

A team of researchers under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey Teckman in the Department of Pediatrics at St. Louis University, have demonstrated that oxidative stress occurs in a genetic model of alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency.

30 Oct 2012

Post-hepatectomy mortality unexpectedly high

In-hospital mortality rates for liver resection patients may underestimate true, postoperative mortality by 50%, show the findings of a national study.

29 Oct 2012

Jaundice screening requires bilirubin assessment as well as clinical factors

Measurement of total plasma/serum bilirubin combined with predischarge transcutaneous bilirubin levels plus clinical factors best identifies neonates who require phototherapy, research shows.

29 Oct 2012

Cellectis announces successful programming of immune system cells to kill cancer cells

Cellectis, the genome engineering specialist, has announced successfully programming cells from the immune system (T cells) to kill cancer cells. This technological breakthrough was revealed for the first time ever on Saturday, October 27th at the congress of the ESGCT (European Society of Gene & Cell Therapy) in Versailles, outside Paris.

29 Oct 2012

ESDM improves social skills and brain responses to social cues

The Early Start Denver Model, a comprehensive behavioral early intervention program that is appropriate for children with autism spectrum disorder as young as 12 months, has been found to be effective in improving social skills and brain responses to social cues in a randomized controlled study published online today in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

29 Oct 2012

Journal of Pediatrics assesses issues surrounding lack of clinical drug trials for neonates

Clinical drug trials are a vital part of pharmaceutical manufacturers gaining approval for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A Commentary scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics assesses the issues surrounding the lack of clinical trials on medications used by children, most notably neonates, and how drug manufacturers and academic researchers could work together to create clinical trials that would benefit this underrepresented population.

26 Oct 2012

Viewpoints: Medicare provider cuts 'won't work'; A 'pamphlet isn't a plan'

Once the presidential election is over, Congress will try to address the Medicare cost shortfall one way or another. They will almost certainly consider a method that is guaranteed to fail: Medicare rate cuts for doctors and hospitals. It's been tried before, most notably as part of the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. Not once since the BBA required annual physician rate cuts have those cuts been implemented, leading every year to the predictable and depressing final-hours "doc fix" vote.

26 Oct 2012

HSS announces opening of new Lerner Children's Pavilion

The new Pavilion within the #1 hospital for orthopedics in the country affirms HSS' longstanding commitment to championing children and caring for their musculoskeletal conditions.

26 Oct 2012

HCFC1 protein may cause intellectual disability

Genetics researchers at the University of Adelaide have solved a 40-year mystery for a family beset by a rare intellectual disability - and they've discovered something new about the causes of intellectual disability in the process.

26 Oct 2012

Antiviral therapy cuts progression to cancer in hepatitis

Antiviral therapy may prevent the most common form of liver cancer developing among patients who have hepatitis C-related fibrosis or cirrhosis, report researchers.

25 Oct 2012

Airport security scanners may affect function of insulin pump or CGM devices

Full-body or X-ray scanners used for airport security screening may affect the function of insulin pump or continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices.

25 Oct 2012

Study finds high internet use by caregivers of children with hydrocephalus

When faced with disease, patients and caregivers now readily turn to the Internet for information and emotional support. This is particularly true in the case of caregivers of children with hydrocephalus.

25 Oct 2012

Rapid and point-of-care tests accurate, convenient for hepatitis C screening

Rapid and point-of-care screening tests for hepatitis C have a high accuracy and quick turnaround time, suggest results of a systematic review and meta-analysis.

24 Oct 2012

International community must ensure political will, financial support necessary to eradicate polio

"Last month, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened a group of global leaders, including [Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Co-Chair] Bill Gates and heads of state of polio-affected countries, to renew the commitment to eliminate polio," William Keenan, executive director of the International Pediatric Association, and Robert Block, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, note in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

24 Oct 2012