Expressed emotion in children: associations with sibling relationships

Objective   To investigate the reliability and validity of the expressed emotion (EE) measure, the Pre-school Five Minute Speech Sample (PFMSS), in child-to-child sibling relationships.
Method   A total of 106 boys aged 7–11 were recruited from 12 mainstream primary schools in North Wales. The children completed the PFMSS regarding their sibling and two self-report measures of sibling relationship: the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (SRQ) and a Child Visual Analogue Scale (CVAS). The parents of 60 participants completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire regarding the behavioural problems of the participating child and his younger sibling.
Results   The PFMSS demonstrated good inter-rater and code–recode reliability. The significant associations between EE dimensions such as relationship, positive comments and critical comments with various components of the SRQ and CVAS provided support for the concurrent validity of the PFMSS. Significantly higher levels of Conflict and Rivalry and significantly lower levels of Warmth/Closeness on the SRQ were reported by children with high EE, demonstrating good discriminant validity for the PFMSS. There was no significant association between the child's EE profile and the behavioural difficulties of both siblings as reported by parents.
Conclusions   The study found that the PFMSS is a valid and reliable measure of child EE. Future research is needed to clarify the concurrent validity of the warmth and initial statement components of the measure as well as the association between EE dimensions and behaviour.     

Providence School Asthma Partnership: School-based Asthma Program for Inner-City Families

Over 3 years, 972 families participated in an after-school asthma program at their child's school. Parents and children attended concurrent 2¹/₂ -hour workshops. Parents were 74% Latino; 45% non-English speaking, with 77% of children on Medicaid. Asthma symptoms were significantly reduced, from multiple times per week to less than once per week on average. Oral steroid use decreased to one third of baseline use. Hospital days decreased from 11% to 2%; emergency visits decreased 35% to 4%; and school days missed decreased 48% to 20%. This program has now become sustainable with both private and Medicaid insurance coverage.     

武汉市3～5岁儿童牙齿酸蚀症的研究

目的：调查武汉市3～5岁儿童的酸蚀症流行状况；评价儿童饮用饮料和饮食习惯、口腔卫生习惯与酸蚀症的关系。方法：随机抽样武汉市4所幼儿园3～5岁儿童共500人。对所有儿童进行酸蚀症和龋齿发病情况的临床检查以及问卷调查，问卷内容包括：儿童每天消耗饮料或食物的频率，以及口腔健康行为。收集酸蚀症儿童和无酸蚀症儿童各20人，对其唾液pH值、流速和缓冲能力进行测定和比较。结果：武汉市3—5岁儿童酸蚀症的患病率为9．3％。儿童睡觉时含奶瓶、喝饮料的习惯与酸蚀症的发生呈正相关。酸蚀症儿童和对照组儿童唾液分析结果无显著性差异。结论：预防酸蚀症应该减少酸性食物及饮料的消费量及频率。     

Results of the Ross operation in a pediatric population

Objective: To analyse the results of the mid-term clinical and echocardiographic follow-up of the pediatric Ross operation. Methods: Echo-Doppler follow-up of 53 consecutive pediatric Ross procedures performed between 1994 and 2003. Median age was 9.7 years at time of operation (2 weeks–17.7 years). Six patients were younger than 3 months. Median age at follow-up was 15.6 years. Aortic valve/left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT) anomalies were congenital in 49 (92%). Seventy percent had previous surgery or balloon valvuloplasty. Root replacement was used in all. Thirteen patients (25%) had LVOT enlargement. Mean cross-clamp time was 113 (69–189) minutes. Results: Early mortality occurred in 3 patients after emergency surgery following balloon failure (n=1) and extended Ross following interrupted arch/VSD repair (n=2). Late mortality was due to LV fibroelastosis in 2 patients and complicated pulmonary artery stenting in another. RVOT reoperations were required because of late homograft obstruction in 2 patients and because of pulmonary artery stenosis in another. Five patients (9.4%) were reoperated for pulmonary autograft dilatation (n=3) and for leaflet fibrosis or perforation (n=2). Autografts were repaired in two patients, while a mechanical valve was inserted in 3 cases. At 9 years the actuarial survival and event free survival were 89 and 74%, respectively. At last follow-up 90% of autograft diameters indexed to body surface area was above the 90th percentile of normal aortic root diameters. LVOT and RVOT gradients were low and autograft insufficiency was trivial to mild in 84% and mild to moderate in 16%. Autograft stenosis was not noticed. Conclusions: The pediatric Ross procedure remains an important tool but autograft dilatation also occurs in the pediatric population. The significance of this finding has yet to be determined.     

微型腹腔镜治疗小儿腹股沟斜疝62例体会

目的:探讨微型腹腔镜治疗小儿腹股沟斜疝的可行性。方法:应用微型腹腔镜,采用自行设计的带线针和En-doc lose与操作钳配合,运用提插式缝合方法,高位荷包缝扎内环口周边腹膜,治疗小儿腹股沟斜疝62例。结果:62例手术均成功,手术时间10~15m in,住院2~3d。术后随诊1~28月无复发。结论:微型腹腔镜下高位荷包缝扎内环口治疗小儿腹股沟斜疝具有损伤小、恢复快、住院时间短、对侧再发率低的优点。     

The clinical phenotypes of juvenile bipolar disorder: toward a validation of the episodic-chronic-distinction.

BACKGROUND: Recent research has addressed the issue of subtyping juvenile bipolar disorder (JBD). Accordingly, we set out to find out, in a naturalistic sample of bipolar children and adolescents with mania and mixed mania, whether the most useful subtyping should be based on clinical features (elated vs. irritable) or course (episodic vs. chronic). METHODS: We studied 136 patients, 81 male patients (59.6%) and 55 female patients (40.4%), mean age 13.5 +/- 2.9 years, meeting the DSM-IV diagnosis of bipolar disorder, assessed by a structured clinical interview (Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version [K-SADS-PL]). RESULTS: Regarding course, 77 patients (56.6%) had an episodic course and 59 patients (43.4%) had a chronic course. Patients with chronic course were significantly younger, had an earlier onset of JBD, and presented a more frequent comorbidity with disruptive behavior disorders. According to the prevalent mood disturbance, 75 patients (55.1%) showed an elated and 61 patients (44.9%) showed an irritable mood. Elated mood was more frequent in patients with episodic course, whereas irritable mood was more frequent in the patients with chronic course. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that chronic versus episodic course may be a putative differential feature. Further validation of such a distinction would require prospective studies, temperament evaluation, gender and neurobiologic approaches, and differential psychopharmacologic assignment and response.     

股静脉置管在小儿重症烧伤救治中的应用

目的:为保障MEBT／MEBO的疗效,探讨股静脉置管在小儿重症烧伤中的应用价值。方法:回顾接受MEBT／MEBO治疗的36例小儿重症烧伤患者,总结分析采用股静脉置管进行输液治疗的操作特点、穿刺结果、并发症及护理经验。结果:36例小儿重症烧伤均一次穿刺成功,迅速建立了静脉输液通道,满足了液体量补充。结论:股静脉置管能够有效维持小儿重症烧伤体液循环及静脉药物的供给,有助于MEBT／MEBO的顺利实施。     

Pediatric lupus versus adult lupus role of the laboratory

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is the archetypical immunologic disease. Approximately 20% of patients present in the first two decades of life. This article highlights some of the differences between pediatric and adult onset lupus.Children are defined as different from adults on the basis of age. Lupus presents with different gender ratios based on hormonal or pubertal status with more significant skewing toward female patients in the childbearing years. Female patients in the childbearing years appear to have a higher relative risk for mortality. Despite this, children have greater disease severity at onset based on the number of patients who present with significant organ inflammation, the amount of corticosteroids required and the abnormalities in lupus serologies including autoantibodies and low complements. Children present frequently with congenital and acquired complement defects. Children have an increased risk of infections that can be confused with lupus. They have a higher risk of serious pneumococcal infection and may have less protection from vaccinations received at the time of disease onset.The clinical immunology laboratory is critical in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric SLE. The rapid analysis and transfer of laboratory results can be life saving for the child with suspected new onset lupus. The laboratory is also helpful in determining disease activity through analysis of immunologic trends over time in pediatric lupus patients. This is especially important in the noncompliant adolescent patient who has a correlation between disease activity and lupus serologic tests. Finally, the clinical immunology laboratory is an important tool for better understanding of the immunologic phenomena associated with lupus and of disease pathophysiology.