Author Interviews, Infections, Lancet, Pediatrics, Surgical Research / 30.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Marjo Renko MD PEDEGO Research Unit University of Oulu Oulu, Finland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: For over a decade there has been suture materials containing antiseptic agent in the market. Trials in adults have shown some possible benefits from these sutures as in some studies they have reduced occurrence of surgical site infections. Only one small study had so far been published in children and thus we decided to carry out a large trial comparing sutures containing triclosan with ordinary ones. Our trial included over 1500 children who came to Oulu University Hospital for surgery. Surgical site infections were carefully monitored. Surgical site infections occurred in 2.6 % of the children who received absorbing sutures containing triclosan while that occurred in 5,4 % of the children who received ordinary sutures. (more…)
Author Interviews, Pediatrics, Pediatrics, Vaccine Studies / 29.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Harvey Kaufman MD Quest Diagnostics Madison, New Jersey MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Quest Diagnostics is the leading provider of diagnostic information services, meaning we provide information and insights from our laboratory test services. This includes analyzing results of our laboratory test data in order to provide insights into health, wellness and disease to help providers, patients and health plans make better healthcare decisions. A Quest Diagnostics Health Trends™ study published in the Pediatrics evaluated 276,949 de-identified test results from children ages infant through 9 years over an 11-year period to determine trends in laboratory rotavirus detection and the impact of the rotavirus vaccine on rotavirus detection. Vaccination is recommended for infants. In the study, two patients groups were evaluated for rotavirus vaccine – likely vaccinated (children who were infants after vaccine availability) and unlikely vaccinated (children who were infants prior to vaccine availability). (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 28.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Sarah El-Heis MBBS, MRCP (London) Clinical Research Fellow MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit University of Southampton Southampton General Hospital Southampton MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Atopic eczema is a common, multifactorial and potentially distressing skin condition. Evidence that it partly originates in utero is increasing with some studies suggesting links with aspects of maternal diet during pregnancy. Nicotinamide is a naturally occurring nutrient that is maintained through the dietary intakes of vitamin B3 and tryptophan. As a topical treatment it has been used in the management of some skin conditions including atopic eczema, and has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects, to stabilise mast cells and to alter lipids in the outer layers of the skin. The objective of our study was to examine the link between maternal serum concentrations of nicotinamide and related tryptophan metabolites to the risk of atopic eczema in the offspring. We found that maternal late pregnancy concentrations of nicotinamide and related metabolite concentrations were not associated with offspring atopic eczema at age 6 months. Higher maternal serum concentrations of nicotinamide and anthranilic acid were, however, associated with a 30% lower risk of eczema at age 12 months. (more…)
Author Interviews, HIV, Pediatrics, PLoS / 28.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kenneth K. Mugwanya MBChB, MS Department of Epidemiology andDepartment of Global Health University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA Division of Disease Control, School of Public Health Makerere University Kampala, Uganda MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Women living in regions with high HIV prevalence are at high risk of HIV acquisition in pregnancy and postpartum because they infrequently use condoms, do not know their partner's HIV status, and have biologic changes or changes in their partner's sexual partnerships that increase susceptibility. Moreover, acute HIV infection during pregnancy or breastfeeding period is associated with high rates of mother-to child HIV transmission because of high circulating level of HIV virus in blood. Oral antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a powerful HIV prevention strategy recommended by both the World Health organization and US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. PrEP is an attractive prevention strategy for women as it can be used discreetly and independent of sexual partners. However, there is limited research about the safety of PrEP in HIV-uninfected pregnant or breastfeeding mothers and their infants. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics / 27.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Erik Berg, MD Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care University of Bergen Bergen, Norway MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Parents regularly express concern about long term health outcomes for children born with oral cleft. In this study we used population-based long-term follow-up data from multiple national registries to focus on the future health outcomes of cleft cases without additional chronic medical conditions or congenital anomalies. The study cohort consisted of all individuals born in Norway between 1967 and 1992. All patients treated for clefts in Norway during the study period were invited to participate. 2 337 cases with isolated clefts and 1 413 819 unaffected individuals were followed until 2010. The main outcome variables were conditions diagnosed in childhood or early adulthood, need for social security benefits, and risk of death. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Depression, JAMA, Pediatrics / 21.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Laura P. Richardson, MD, MPH Interim Chief | Division of Adolescent Medicine Director | UW Leadership Education in Adolescent Health (LEAH) Program Professor | UW Department of Pediatrics Seattle Children's | University of Washington MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Adolescent depression is one of the most common mental health conditions during adolescence. Up to one in five adolescents experience an episode of major depression by age 18. Depressed youth are at greater risk of suicide, dropping out of school and poor long-term health. Treatments, including medications and psychotherapy, have been proven to be effective but most depressed teens don’t receive any treatment. Two years ago, we showed that the Reaching Out to Adolescents in Distress (ROAD) collaborative care model (a.k.a. Reach Out 4 Teens) designed to increase support and the delivery of evidence-based treatments in primary care was effective in treating depression in teens, significantly improving outcomes. We ran a randomized clinical trial at nine of Group Health’s primary care clinics and reported effectiveness results in JAMA. The current paper represents the next step in this work, examining the cost-effectiveness of collaborative care for adolescent depression in our intervention sample of 101 adolescents with depression, ages 13-17 years. (more…)
Allergies, Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics / 21.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Robert Boyle Senior lecturer in paediatric allergy honorary consultant, Paediatric allergist Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?   Editors' note: Please discuss food introduction with your child's pediatrician before embarking on any new foods. Response: Food allergy is a common problem which may be getting more common. We have known for over 100 years that feeding egg to animals such as guinea pigs can prevent egg allergy. However randomised trials of allergenic food introduction for preventing food allergy in human infants have not been done until the past 5 years, and have so far yielded mixed results. One trial for peanut allergy was positive, with less peanut allergy in infants who were fed the food from early in life compared with infants who avoided it for 5 years. Other trials have yielded null findings, but may have been too small to yield a conclusive result. We used a technique called meta-analysis to combine the results of all previous trials of timing of allergenic food introduction and risk of food allergy. We also evaluated other allergic and autoimmune diseases. Our analysis yielded conclusive results for both egg and peanut – that early introduction of these foods into an infant’s diet might reduce their risk of egg and peanut allergy by around 40-70%. We were surprised to see null findings in our meta-analysis of timing of gluten or wheat introduction and risk of coeliac disease (gluten intolerance) which is a different type of allergy to egg and peanut allergy. This suggests that early introduction of allergenic foods does not reduce risk of all types of food allergy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, Biomarkers, JAMA, NIH, Pediatrics / 21.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Yong Cheng, PhD Postdoctoral Fellow NIH MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders which affect about 1 in 68 children in the United States, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is an important moderator in neurodevelopment and neuroplasticity, and studies have suggested the involvement of BDNF in ASD. Although some clinical studies show abnormal expression of BDNF in children with ASD, findings have been inconsistent. Therefore, we undertook a systematic review of the scientific literature, using a meta-analysis to quantitatively summarize clinical data on blood BDNF levels in children with ASD, compared with healthy peers. (more…)
Author Interviews, JCEM, Microbiome, Pediatrics, Weight Research, Yale / 21.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nicola Santoro, MD, PhD Associate Research Scientist in Pediatrics (Endocrinology) Yale University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The study start from previous observations showing an association between the gut microbiota and obesity. Similarly to what previously described in adults and in children, we found an association between the gut microbiota and obesity. We took a step further and also observed that the gut flora is associated to body fat partitioning (amount of fat in the abdomen). Moreover, we observed that the effect of microbiota could be mediated by the short chain fatty acids a product of gut flora. (more…)
Author Interviews, Mayo Clinic, Nutrition, Pediatrics, Weight Research / 17.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David R. Jacobs, Jr., PhD Mayo Professor of Public Health Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health University of Minnesota Minneapolis MN 55454-1075 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Project EAT (Eating and Activity in Teens and Young Adults) is on ongoing longitudinal study which began by screening middle and secondary school students in the Minneapolis and St Paul Metropolitan are. Students were the 11-18 years old (average age 15), then followed up at average ages 20 and 25. We had devised an eating pattern in about 2006, which a) predicts a lot of things in several different studies (including total mortality in the Iowa Women's Health Study) and b) looks a great deal like the recently released 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). We call our diet pattern A Priori Diet Quality Score (APDQS) and think of it as close to or in the style of a Mediterranean/prudent/healthy diet. We hypothesized that this pattern would be associated with lower weight (in general with better long term health, but the focus in Project EAT was weight and BMI), probably least so at age 15. The minimal hypothesized effect in adolescence relates to the very large energy expenditure in adolescent growth years; we thought that diet composition would be less important for body weight at that time than energy intake (and APDQS is about diet composition). (more…)
Author Interviews, Pediatrics, Social Issues, Toxin Research / 17.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Katherine Ahrens PhD Office of Population Affairs Rockville, MD 20852 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Lead exposure among children is linked to many adverse effects on health and cognitive development, which can be irreversible. The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) has linked 1999 to 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data to administrative data for the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) largest rental assistance programs (1999 through 2014), and these linked data allow calculation of the first-ever national blood lead level estimates among children living in HUD-assisted housing. Here we compare blood lead levels among children 1 to 5 years of age in 2005 to 2012 who received housing assistance during 1999 to 2014 with levels among children who did not receive housing assistance during that period. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Pediatrics, PLoS / 16.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joseph Leigh Simpson, MD FACOG, FACMG President at International Federation of Fertility Societies March of Dimes Foundation White Plains, NY MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Preterm birth (PTB) is the most common single cause of perinatal and infant mortality, affecting 15 million infants worldwide each year with global rates increasing. A total of 1.1 million infants die each year. Preterm births and their complications are the leading cause of deaths in children under age 5. The biological basis of preterm birth remains poorly understood, and for that reason, preventive interventions are often empiric and have only limited benefit. Large differences exist in preterm birth rates across high income countries: 5.5 percent in Sweden and at present 9.6 percent in the U.S. The International Federation of Gynecologists and Obstetricians (FIGO)/March of Dimes Working Group on Preterm Birth Prevention hypothesized that identifying the risk factors underlying these wide variations could lead to interventions that reduce preterm birth in countries having high rates. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections, JAMA, Pediatrics / 14.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Johanna M. Uitti, MD Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine Turku University Hospital Turku, Finland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: According to several national guidelines, close follow-up is required if initial observation without antimicrobial agents is chosen for the management of acute otitis media (AOM) in children. The aim of this study was to examine whether close follow-up with reexamination is needed for children with AOM initially managed without antimicrobial agents who have symptomatic improvement during the first week after diagnosis, as assessed by their parents. Of the 104 children with symptomatic improvement, 3 (2.9%) developed worse signs or perforation of the tympanic membrane as seen on otoscopy. In contrast, of the 54 children with symptomatic failure, 16 (29.6%) developed worse signs or perforation of the tympanic membrane as seen on otoscopy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer, Cancer Research, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 14.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pooja Rao, MD, MSCE Assistant Professor Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Milton S. Hershey Medical Center Penn State College of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Although many chemotherapy drugs can cause birth defects, no standardized guidelines exist for pregnancy screening in adolescent female patients with cancer. Additionally, little is known about how often they are screened prior to receiving treatment. Our study found that adolescent girls are not adequately screened for pregnancy prior to receiving chemotherapy or CT scans that could potentially harm a developing fetus. Adolescents with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common childhood cancer, had the lowest pregnancy screening rates of the patients studied. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Pediatrics, Technology / 14.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jesus Pujol, MD Director of the MRI Research Unit. Department of Radiology. Hospital del Mar Barcelona MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The pros and cons of video gaming in children have been extensively debated. There are relevant amounts of data indicating both the positive and negative effects of video games. Nevertheless, a key question for many parents remains unanswered: How long should children play? To provide some clarity, we have investigated the relationship between weekly video game use and certain cognitive abilities and conduct-related problems. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Pediatrics, Social Issues, UCSF / 12.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Laura M. Gottlieb, MD, MPH Department of Family and Community Medicine, 2Center for Health and Community University of California, San Francisco MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Numerous studies have demonstrated that childhood exposures to social adversities, like family financial insecurity, food insecurity, and housing instability, lead to poorer health outcomes across the life course. These social adversities disproportionately affect low-income and racial minority populations. In response to this evidence there have been calls to address social needs in pediatric clinical care settings. For example, recently the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Task Force on Childhood Poverty endorsed the promotion of evidenced-based strategies to reduce the negative health effects of poverty on low-income children, including by increasing the availability of clinic-based interventions addressing social risks. In response to these calls to action, a growing number of pediatric health care organizations are screening for and address families’ social needs. There is a critical need for more evidence on the effectiveness of these types of interventions. Many of the studies conducted so far have focused primarily on assessing program process outcomes or impacts on families’ social needs, but have not evaluated actual health outcomes resulting from program participation. To our knowledge, this study was the first randomized clinical trial evaluating the impacts of a pediatric social needs navigation program on child health. The reported number of social needs identified at baseline ranged from 0 to 11 out of 14 possible items, with a mean [SD] of 2.7[2.2] needs identified by participating families. Family participation in the navigation program intervention significantly decreased families’ reports of social needs by a mean (SE) of .39(0.13) vs. an increase of a mean (SE) of .22(0.13) in the active control arm. Participation in the navigation program also significantly improved parent-reported overall child health, with a mean (SE) change of -.036(0.05), compared to the active control arm with a mean (SE) change of -0.12(0.05). At 4 months post enrollment, the number of social needs reported by those that participated in the navigation program decreased by a mean (SE) of .39(0.13). (more…)
Asthma, Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Pediatrics / 08.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Olga Gorlanova Wissenschaftliche Assistenzärztin Paediatric Pneumology Research Group Universitäts-Kinderspital beider Base MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Previous research has investigated how childhood asthma and early wheeze can develop as the result of a complex interaction between environmental exposures, such as tobacco exposure, older siblings and an individual’s genetic profile. Genes associated with childhood asthma risk are located on chromosome 17, called 17q21. Our study asked the question: could the effect of 17q21 on respiratory symptoms in infants be modified by breastfeeding? (more…)
Allergies, Author Interviews, Pediatrics / 07.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bryan L. Love, PharmD, BCPS-AQ ID Associate Professor Department of Clinical Pharmacy & Outcomes Sciences South Carolina College of Pharmacy University of South Carolina Columbia, South Carolina 29208-0001 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: In the US, food allergy has become one of the more common childhood medical conditions diagnosed in young children. Antibiotics are frequently prescribed in young children, and research continues to reveal that as many as 30% of antibiotic prescriptions are not appropriate.* We sought to examine if there was an association between antibiotic prescription and food allergy diagnosis. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Infections, Pediatrics / 07.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: William Ryan B.V.Sc. Ryan Mitchell Associates LLC Westfield, NJ and Bernard Cohen, MD Professor Dermatology and Ellen Koch, MD Division of Pediatric Dermatology Johns Hopkins Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: As a group we were concerned about the misinformation that continues to be promulgated on the internet and through other sites. Importantly, the group consisted of experts with specific experience in the management of head louse infestations, from pediatric dermatology, pediatrics, school nursing and head louse research fields. Even information sources that we would have expected to be credible are outdated, unreliable or both, often continuing myths about head louse infestations and how they can be controlled.  We wanted to provide a balanced and informed perspective that would help physicians and parents recognize that head louse infestations do not present a serious problem, and can be well managed with an informed approach to treatment. The main findings are that over the counder products (permethrin/pyrethrins) are unlikely to be effective, and that that there are safe and effective products that are available by prescription. Interestingly, head lice do affect Indian and African children in their home countries, but virtually nonexistent in African Americans in North America. There has been speculation about hair grooming regimen or structure of African American hair but the cause is unknown.  In a study we performed assessing resistance to over the counter pediculicide components over a decade ago in Baltimore, we were not able to find a single African American child with head lice. We were not able to recruit any patients from the Baltimore City Schools. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Infections, Pediatrics / 07.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Alan Irvine DSc Consultant Dermatologist Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Associate Professor of Dermatology Trinity College Dublin MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The background is that atopic dermatitis (AD) has a close relationship with staphylococcus aureus (SA) colonisation, and this is known to drive flares or exacerbations of AD but before our report it was not known which came first-AD colonisation or atopic dermatitis? By following a cohort pf patients very carefully over a 1 year period and regularly sampling their skin microbiome we were able to show that SA colonisation did not precede development of AD and in fact that several non SA species of staphylococcus actually appeared to be protective for developing atopic dermatitis. This is an important new finding in the complex relationship between the microbiome and skin inflammation, suggesting that some commensal bacterial are anti-inflammatory or protective. (more…)
Asthma, Author Interviews, Pediatrics, Weight Research / 06.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Professor Charlotte Suppli Ulrik MD DMSc et al. Dept. of Respiratory Medicine Hvidovre Hospital Copenhagen, Denmark MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Obesity is a risk factor for new-onset asthma, but the association is incompletely understood. Our aim was, therefore, to investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) BMI in childhood and asthma admissions in early adulthood (until age 45 years). We used data on BMI measured annually (age 7-13 years) in 321,830 children enrolled in the Copenhagen School Health Records Registry. During the 36-years of follow-up, a total of 2,059 first-time ever hospital admissions for asthma were observed. (more…)
Asthma, Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 06.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Steve Turner MD MBBS Lead investigator of the study team and Respiratory paediatrician Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: For almost thirty years there has been evidence that we are all born with a certain predisposition to what are called non communicable diseases (NCD) such as high blood pressure, type II diabetes and heart disease. The evidence comes from studies which have linked reduced birth weight with increased risk for these NCDs in later life. The question which arises, and which has been more difficult to answer, is “when during pregnancy is the predisposition to for NCDs first seen?” This is important to any attempt to reduce the unborn baby’s risk for NCD. We and other researchers have used fetal ultrasound data to link size before birth to non communicable diseases outcomes. In childhood, NCDs include asthma. (more…)
Author Interviews, OBGYNE, Pediatrics / 06.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David Osborn MB BS MM PhD FRACP Clinical Associate Professor, University of Sydney Senior Neonatologist, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In an analysis of trials of placental transfusion at delivery by either delayed umbilical cord clamping or cord milking in infants born before 30 weeks gestation, placental transfusion was associated with short term benefits including increased hemoglobin, fewer blood transfusions, improved blood pressure and reduced late onset sepsis, with no significant effect on other outcomes. There were insufficient data regarding effects of placental transfusion on survival and long term disability. The Australian Placental Transfusion Study (APTS) is a randomised controlled trial that aims to determine if delayed cord clamping (≥ 60 seconds) compared to early cord clamping (≤10 seconds) in 1600 infants born before 30 weeks gestation results in improved newborn outcomes and disability free survival. In this echocardiographic sub study, the aim was to determine the effect of placental transfusion on systemic blood flow in the first day after birth in 266 infants randomly allocated to delayed versus early cord clamping (133 infants in each group). The primary outcome was superior vena cava (SVC) flow (cardiac input) which overcomes the problem of shunts across the adapting heart which affect the usefulness of measuring ventricular outputs in the first days after birth. In infants born <30 weeks gestation, delayed cord clamping had no effect on the principle measure of systemic blood flow (SVC flow) during the first 24 hours compared to immediate cord clamping. However, right ventricular output (RVO) was lower in the delayed cord clamping group. This was not predicted and may be a chance finding. Further analysis suggests the effect of cord clamping on RVO could be mediated by its effect on hemoglobin. This may be a positive or negative adaptive change. There was no evidence of an increase in right to left ductal shunting suggestive of high pulmonary blood pressure to explain the difference in RVO. Delayed cord clamping resulted in a 8.9g/L greater increase in hemoglobin to 6 hours but had no effect on ductus arteriosus size, shunt direction or treatment, no effect on blood pressure or its treatment, and no effect on blood gas parameters and other cardiovascular variables in the first 24 hours. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Heart Disease, Pediatrics / 06.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Steven E. Lipshultz, MD, FAAP, FAHA Schotanus Family Endowed Chair of Pediatrics / Carman and Ann Adams Endowed Chair in Pediatric Research / Professor, Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics / Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), Oncology, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Molecular Biology/Genetics, Family Medicine/Public Health Sciences, & Pharmacology /Professor in the Center for Molecular Medicine and Genetics Wayne State University School of Medicine President, University Pediatricians & Interim Director, Children’s Research Center of Michigan Pediatrician-in-Chief, Children’s Hospital of Michigan MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Surviving childhood cancer has dramatically and increasing improved to the point where more than 80% will achieve a 5-year event free survival. Many of these survivors look forward to decades of active productive life. More than half of these survivors have been treated with therapies know to be associated with late cardiotoxicity that can be pervasive, persistent, and progressive and associated with cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In this article we review both the course and prevention of this cardiotoxicity. We focus in part on anthracycline chemotherapy that is widely used and known to be cardiotoxicity. We further review studies we and others have conducted to examine the effectiveness of dexrazoxane, an iron chelator, that when given before each anthracycline dose results in anthracycline cardioprotection for long term survivors. In some reported studies this has allowed for higher cumulative anthracycline doses to be safely given. In other cases this has allowed for simultaneously being able to safely treat children with malignancies that would be refractory to conventional therapy more potent therapies that would normally have additive cardiotoxicity. (more…)
Asthma, Author Interviews, Lancet, Pediatrics / 01.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Francine M. Ducharme, MD, FRCPC Professor, Departments of Paediatrics and Social and Preventive Medicine University of Montreal Associate Director of Clinical Research and Knowledge Transfer, Research Centre, CHU Ste-Justine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The management of asthma attacks in preschoolers has been the subject of much recent debate. The results of a study published in 2009 had shaken the pediatric world. The study reported that preschool children with viral-triggered flare-ups did not respond to standard treatment and, suggesting that this was due to their young age. Such finding was particularly worrisome as the majority of asthma-related emergency room visits and hospitalizations involve preschool children. We conducted this large cohort study in which children aged 1 to 17 years with a moderate or severe asthma attack were treated using the established evidence-based therapy adjusted to the severity of exacerbation assessed by the Pediatric Respiratory Assessment Measure (PRAM), administered rapidly. We explored the determinants of the failure of emergency therapy. Age was not a factor. Instead, in addition to attack severity and symptoms between attacks, it was rather the presence of respiratory viral infection or fever triggering the attack that was more often associated with treatment failure, i.e., higher hospitalization rates, more returns to the emergency room, and reduced speed of recovery over the 10 days after discharge. Viral detection occurred more frequently in preschoolers (67%) than in older children (46%) with asthma. Nevertheless, the results confirm the overall effectiveness of standard treatment, adjusted to the severity of the attack and administered early, in the vast majority of children, regardless of age and viral detection. Indeed, although a failure rate of nearly 40% was expected in this group of children with moderate to severe attack, only 17% of the participants did not respond to standard treatment. This rate was significantly higher (19%) in children with viral infection compared to uninfected children (13%). (more…)
Asthma, Author Interviews, NEJM, Pediatrics, Pharmacology / 01.09.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David A Stempel, MD Medical Affairs Lead US Medical Affairs GlaxoSmithKline MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Long-acting beta-agonists (LABAs) have been shown to increase the risk of asthma-related death among adults and the risk of asthma-related hospitalization among children. It is unknown whether the concomitant use of inhaled glucocorticoids with LABAs mitigates those risks. This trial prospectively evaluated the safety of the LABA salmeterol, added to fluticasone propionate, in a fixed-dose combination in children. (more…)
Author Interviews, Nutrition, Pediatrics, Vitamin D / 31.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Ben Wheeler MB ChB(Otago) DCH CCE FRACP Senior Lecturer / Paediatrician / Paediatric Endocrinologist Department of Women’s & Children’s Health : Te Tari Hauora Wāhine me te Tamariki Dunedin School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Vitamin D is essential for calcium and bone metabolism. It is unique among vitamins in that it is mainly derived from synthesis in the skin after exposure to UV-B radiation. In the absence of fortification, few foods are rich in vitamin D, including human milk, which contains very low amounts. Breastfeeding infants in higher latitude countries such as New Zealand, much of North America and Central/Northern Europe are at risk of vitamin D deficiency. The most profound manifestation of vitamin D deficiency in growing children is rickets, characterized by bone deformities, impaired growth, biochemical abnormalities, and depending on the severity of deficiency, seizures. Studies also identified a number of common factors that potentially affect the risk of rickets, including darker pigmented skin, maternal vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy, season of birth, and age. A potential alternative strategy to improve the vitamin D status of breastfed infants is high-dose vitamin D supplementation to pregnant and lactating women. This would be attractive from a compliance perspective, promote exclusive breastfeeding, and treat both the mother and her infant. Thus, the primary aim of this randomized, placebo-controlled study was to determine the effect of two different monthly doses of maternal vitamin D supplementation on the vitamin D status of non–vitamin D–supplemented breastfed infants and their mothers. (more…)
Author Interviews, Nutrition, Pediatrics, Social Issues, Weight Research / 31.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kai Ling Kong, PhD, MS Assistant Professor Division of Behavioral Medicine Department of Pediatrics School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences State University of New York at Buffalo MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Infant temperament, or individual behavior styles, can be reliably measured and is related to weight status. However, we know very little about the association of infants’ temperament and their motivation to eat versus engage in other activities (relative food reinforcement). Examining such associations is an important step given the need to use behavioral strategies in obesity prevention in early life. The purpose of our study was to determine if infant temperament, specifically the factors that have been linked with obesity risk, are associated with infant relative food reinforcement. (more…)
Anesthesiology, Author Interviews, Emergency Care, JAMA, Pediatrics / 31.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Marc Auerbach, MD, FAAP, MSc Associate Professor of Pediatrics (Emergency Medicine) and of Emergency Medicine Co-chair INSPIRE (International Network for Simulation Based Pediatric Innovation Research and Education) Director, Pediatric Simulation Yale Center for Medical Simulation; MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Severely ill infants and children present to any of over 5000 United States Emergency Departments every day. A direct comparison of the quality of resuscitative care across EDs is challenging due to the low frequency of these high stakes events in individual EDs. This study utilized in-situ simulation-based measurement to compare the quality of resuscitative care delivered to two infants and one child by 58 distinct interprofessional teams across 30 EDs. Composite quality scores correlated with annual pediatric patient volume, with higher volume departments demonstrating higher scores. The pediatric readiness score measures compliance with guidelines created by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Emergency Nurses Association. The pediatric readiness score correlated with composite quality scores measured by simulation. (more…)
Author Interviews, Infections, Outcomes & Safety, Pediatrics / 29.08.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Cohen Regev, M.D Head of the infectious diseases and infection control units Sanz Medical Center, Laniado hospital Netanya, Israel MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: During 3 months in 2012 we had a number of clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) in our neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and a high incidence of colonization among ventilated patients in our medical-surgical intensive care unit (MSICU). The origin of PA may be from various environmental sources (‘exogenous’), from the patients’ own microbiome (‘endogenous’), or from both. Since in NICUs the origin is usually exogenous, we investigated the sources of the bacteria, focusing on the faucets of these units, as they were previously incriminated as causes of outbreaks in ICUs. The study was conducted in Sanz medical center, a 400-bed community hospital located in central Israel. In the NICU we obtained several environmental cultures from faucets using a bacterial swab by rubbing the tip into the distal part of the faucet. Aerators were dismantled from all faucets, cultured from their inner part using a swab and were not repositioned. Contaminated faucets were occasionally replaced or treated with enzymatic fluid and sterilization by Ethylene Oxide. During the intervention and since, neonates were bathed only with warmed sterile water, and tap water was allowed only for hand hygiene practices. In the MSICU tap water was used only for bathing the patients. All other uses of tap water, such as drinking, moistening and mouth treatments, were allowed using only sterile water. The units' faucets were sampled on two different days concurrently with surveillance cultures of pharyngeal, sputum and urine from the patients. Bacteria were identified with VITEK 2 (Biomerieux®) and typing was done by Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC) PCR. (more…)