Highlights from Acta Paediatrica NOVEMBER ISSUE
DOI: 10.1111/apa.15016
HIGHLIGHTS IN THIS ISSUE
D I A LO G I C R E A D I N G WA S B E T TE R TH A N S C R E E N ҃ BA S E D S TO RY TE LLI N G
CA survived past 5 years of age, although survival rates varied across CA groups. Five-year survival was higher for children with isolated
Twait et al1 evaluated what ef-
anomalies than multiple anomalies and lower for preterm than termborn infants.
fect a 6-week dialogic reading intervention had on 16 fiveyear-old children and compared them with 16 children exposed to screen-based sto-
N U D G I N G PA R E N T S TO ACC E P T V ITA M I N K AT B I RTH
rytelling. They found that di-
Over the last few years, there
alogic reading, which involves
has been an increase in re-
having a dialogue with the
ported vitamin K deficiency
children about the text they are reading, led to neurobiological changes
complications,
that indicated improved executive functions and language abilities. The
breastfed infants whose par-
same improvements were not seen in the screen-based group.
ents have refused a standard
mostly
in
dose of vitamin K at birth. 5
Moses et al discuss why the parents refused vitamin K and suggest
W H AT PA E D I ATR I C I A N S N E E D TO K N OW A B O U T TH E G U T M I C RO B I OTA
how they can be nudged to let their infant have this important supplement. In the accompanying editorial, Strehle describes new ways to prevent bleeding related to vitamin K deficiency in infancy.6
The development of the gut microbiota occurs primarily during infancy, and growing evidence has emphasised its positive role and its implica-
PA LLI ATI V E C A R E S T U DY E X PLO R E S D I S C U S S I O N S W I T H DY I N G C H I LD R E N
tions for human health. This
All end-of-life conversations
review describes what is
in Sweden should be docu-
known about the gut microbi-
mented in the country's
ota in early life and highlights
register of palliative care.
the factors that influence it.2 It also looks at the potentially harmful ef-
However, Lövgren et al7
fects gut microbiota problems can cause later in life and what paediatri-
found that there were no
cians can do to modulate it. Szajewska comments on the findings.3
register entries about such discussions for more than
FI V E҃Y E A R S U RV I VA L R ATE S FO R M A J O R CO N G E N ITA L A N O M A LI E S H AV E I M PROV E D
half of the Swedish children who died at 4-17 years in 2015-2017. The authors say that it was not possible to say whether those discussions had been conducted or not, but healthcare professionals have reported several barriers. These have included lack of communica-
The survival of infants with
tion skills, little time to prepare for discussions, feeling that patients
major congenital anoma-
or parents were not ready and unrealistic parental expectations.
lies (CA) has improved in recent years. An Australian register-based
study
by
4
Schneuer et al showed that nine in 10 infants with major
1932 | ©2019 Foundation Acta Pædiatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd
50
nr.
38 (1) 2020
Figures 1-5: istockphoto.com
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/apa
Acta Paediatrica. 2019;108:1932–1933.
