Debora Porter

The last two years have been tremendously stressful for everyone everywhere. We learned last week on The PediaBlog that children and teenagers, surrounded by sickness and death, fear and uncertainty for the last 18 months, have been having a tough time coping. The American Academy of Pediatrics explains why pandemic-related stressors and trauma are having lasting effects on the developing minds of young people: An estimated 40,000 children in the United States have lost a parent to COVID-19, for example. Many families have also lost financial stability during the pandemic. At the same time, children have had vital supports including school, health care services, and other community supports interrupted by the pandemic. And many have experienced or witnessed increased racism and xenophobia during the pandemic, particularly toward families of Asian descent.   Parents may find it difficult to recognize when their children and teenagers are struggling with their emotions. ...

Hensel et al compared outcomes of children diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease and sclerosing cholangitis (IBD-SC) at 2 centere in the UK and found that patients with IBD-SC have better clinical outcomes if the liver disease is diagnosed at a shorter interval after the IBD diagnosis.(1) The difference between the mean time from IBD to SC diagnosis was ∼6 months (2.7±6.1 vs. 9.3±19.4) between both cohorts. source https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(21)00885-4/fulltext?rss=yes

In this volume of The Journal, Tolia et al1 report a large cohort of premature infants discharged home with a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA). The study highlights a low rate of spontaneous ductal closure in the first 12 to 18 months of age (47% to 58%), which is lower than previous reports.2,3. Importantly, they also report that three infants died during the study period; two of these had documented evidence of progressive pulmonary hypertension (PH). source https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(21)00882-9/fulltext?rss=yes

A 13-year-old girl was referred to our clinic for evaluation of a “keyhole” abnormality of her left eye. The patient’s past medical and ocular history was unremarkable. Ocular examination revealed a best-corrected visual acuity of 20/20 in the right eye and 20/200 in the left eye. The ocular exam of the right eye was unremarkable. The left eye revealed an inferonasal defect of the iris in the left eye (Figure 1). Intraocular pressure was 13mmHg in both eyes. Funduscopic exam in the left eye revealed a white, scarred area in the inferior quadrant with pigment deposition scattered through the lesion and its borders with the normal retina (Figure 2). source https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(21)00881-7/fulltext?rss=yes

One of the ongoing challenges with regard to the outcome and treatment of juvenile sclerosing cholangitis (JSC) is the limited number of published series, with the majority coming from small single-centre studies. Whereas the multi-centre study of Deneau et al (1) addressed the sample size, limitations are the lack of a consensus on diagnostic tests including liver histology, radiology and treatment in the various centres. We feel that one of the strengths of our study is that patients with JSC , were managed following an identical diagnostic and therapeutic protocol, thereby addressing these limitations. source https://www.jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476(21)00884-2/fulltext?rss=yes

Zack Hill by John Deering & John Newcombe ( arcamax.com/thefunnies )           source http://www.thepediablog.com/2021/09/12/sunday-funnies-471/

September 11th: Why We Remember from HISTORY on YouTube: Volunteers from the 9/11 Tribute Center reflect on the importance of sharing their stories of 9/11 with future generations.     source http://www.thepediablog.com/2021/09/11/cool-video-of-the-week-471/