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Query: UMLS:C0728731 (prematurity)
 7,134 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The correct differential diagnosis of an abnormal head shape in an infant or a child is vital to the management of this common condition. Establishing the presence of craniosynostosis, which warrants surgical correction, versus non-synostotic causes of head deformity, which do not, is not always straightforward. This paper deals with three groups of abnormal head shape that may cause diagnostic confusion: the spectrum of metopic synostosis; the dolichocephaly of prematurity versus sagittal synostosis; and the differential diagnosis of plagiocephaly. Special emphasis has been placed on the problem of posterior plagiocephaly, in the light of recent evidence demonstrating that lambdoid synostosis has been overdiagnosed. Metopic synostosis presents as a wide spectrum of severity. Although only severe forms of the disorder are corrected surgically, all cases should be monitored for evidence of developmental problems. The dolichocephalic head shape of preterm infants is non-synostotic in origin and is managed nonsurgically. The scaphocephalic head shape resulting from sagittal synostosis requires surgical intervention for correction. Posterior plagiocephaly may be due to unilambdoid synostosis or positional molding, which have very different clinical and imaging features. True lambdoid synostosis is rare. Most cases of posterior plagiocephaly are due to positional molding, which can usually be managed nonsurgically. Regardless of the suture(s) involved, all children with confirmed craniosynostosis should be monitored for increased intracranial pressure and developmental problems.
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PMID:The differential diagnosis of abnormal head shapes: separating craniosynostosis from positional deformities and normal variants. 960 53

Over the last decade, increasing evidence of cognitive functions of the cerebellum during development and learning processes could be ascertained. Posterior fossa malformations such as cerebellar hypoplasia or Joubert syndrome are known to be related to developmental problems in a marked to moderate extent. More detailed analyses reveal special deficits in attention, processing speed, visuospatial functions and language. A study about Dandy Walker syndrome states a relationship of abnormalities in vermis lobulation with developmental problems. Further lobulation or volume abnormalities of the cerebellum and/or vermis can be detected in disorders as fragile X syndrome, Downs's syndrome or William's syndrome. Neuropsychological studies reveal a relation of dyslexia and attention deficit disorder with cerebellar functions. These functional studies are supported by structural abnormalities in neuroimaging in these disorders. Acquired cerebellar or vermis atrophy was found in groups of children with developmental problems such as prenatal alcohol exposure or extreme prematurity. Also focal lesions during childhood or adolescence such as cerebellar tumour or stroke are related with neuropsychological abnormalities, which are most pronounced in visuo-spatial, language and memory functions. In addition, cerebellar atrophy was shown to be a bad prognostic factor considering cognitive outcome in children after brain trauma and leukaemia. In ataxia teleangiectasia, a neurodegenerative disorder affecting primarily the cerebellar cortex, a reduced verbal IQ and problems of judgment of duration are a hint of the importance of the cerebellum in cognition. In conclusion, the cerebellum seems to play an important role in many higher cognitive functions especially in learning. There is a suggestion that the earlier the incorrect influence the more pronounced the problems.
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PMID:The cerebellum in cognitive processes: supporting studies in children. 1778 20

Over the last decade, increasing evidence of cognitive functions of the cerebellum during development and learning processes could be ascertained. Posterior fossa malformations such as cerebellar hypoplasia or Joubert syndrome are known to be related to developmental problems in a marked to moderate extent. More detailed analyses reveal special deficits in attention, processing speed, visuospatial functions, and language. A study about Dandy Walker syndrome states a relationship of abnormalities in vermis lobulation with developmental problems. Further lobulation or volume abnormalities of the cerebellum and/or vermis can be detected in disorders as fragile X syndrome, Downs's syndrome, William's syndrome, and autism. Neuropsychological studies reveal a relation of dyslexia and attention deficit disorder with cerebellar functions. These functional studies are supported by structural abnormalities in neuroimaging in these disorders. Acquired cerebellar or vermis atrophy was found in groups of children with developmental problems such as prenatal alcohol exposure or extreme prematurity. Also, focal lesions during childhood or adolescence such as cerebellar tumor or stroke are related with neuropsychological abnormalities, which are most pronounced in visuospatial, language, and memory functions. In addition, cerebellar atrophy was shown to be a bad prognostic factor considering cognitive outcome in children after brain trauma and leukemia. In ataxia teleangiectasia, a neurodegenerative disorder affecting primarily the cerebellar cortex, a reduced verbal intelligence quotient and problems of judgment of duration are a hint of the importance of the cerebellum in cognition. In conclusion, the cerebellum seems to play an important role in many higher cognitive functions, especially in learning. There is a suggestion that the earlier the incorrect influence, the more pronounced the problems.
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PMID:Cerebellar disorders in childhood: cognitive problems. 1905 77

Computer aided analysis plays a nontrivial role in assisting the diagnosis of various eye pathologies. In this paper, we propose a framework to help diagnose the presence of Aggressive Posterior Retinopathy Of Prematurity (APROP), a pathology that is characterised by rapid onset and increased tortuosity of blood vessels close to the optic disc (OD). We quantify vessel characteristics that are of clinical relevance to APROP such as tortuosity and the extent of branching i.e., vessel segment count in the defined diagnostic region. We have adapted three vessel segmentation techniques: matched filter response, scale space theory and morphology with local entropy based thresholding. The proposed feature set equips us to build a linear discriminant classifier to discriminate APROP images from clinically healthy images. We have studied 36 images from 21 APROP subjects against a control group of 15 clinically healthy age matched infants. All subjects are age matched ranging from 33-40 weeks of post menstrual age. Experimental results show that we attain 100% recall and 95.45% precision, when the vessel network obtained from morphology is used for feature extraction.
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PMID:Comprehensive Retinal Image Analysis for Aggressive Posterior Retinopathy of Prematurity. 2771 Dec 31

Anorectal malformations' (ARMs) management has taken strides over the past few decades. The advent of Posterior sagittal anorectoplasty (PSARP) and its acceptance by most people across the globe as standard procedure has given way to a debate of single vs. three-staged repair. After initial hesitancy and lot of skepticism, single-staged repair has very well established its role because of its advantages over the staged procedure. There is enough evidence which suggests that single-staged repair has got equally good outcome as that of staged repair (if not better). Further, one-staged repair offers advantages of lesser morbidity, lesser cost, and lesser burden to the family. The initially thought disadvantages of higher chances of injuries, wound infection and stress to neonates have been countered by growing evidences. The authors agree that staged procedure will continue to stay around for few specific indications like perforation peritonitis, extreme prematurity and special anatomical entities. Further, it can have more important role with advent of laparoscopy and better health infrastructure in future. But with new developments in imaging, scopes and neonatal care, single-staged repair is a feasible and safe modality for treatment of these anomalies.
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PMID:Controversy of Single versus Staged Management of Anorectal Malformations. 2860 Jun 61