AIM: Parents are increasingly confronted with loss during their child's end of life. Healthcare professionals struggle with parental responses to loss. This study aimed to understand parental coping with grief during their child's end of life.…
Aim Specialised paediatric palliative care has not previously been a priority in Denmark. The aim of this study was to support its development and organisation, by examining why and where children died using official national data for 1994–2014.…
The presence in blood of proteins normally confined to the cytoplasm of brain cells is considered peripheral evidence of brain damage. Only recently have these proteins been measured in the blood of children at risk of brain damage. To show the value…
AIM: Perinatal deaths occurring outside the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are rarely recorded in outcome studies, despite having a direct impact on perinatal statistics. Our aim was to investigate the timing and modes of perinatal deaths that…
AIM: To describe the epidemiology of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) in the Nordic countries, to define clinical subgroups and to investigate factors predicting chronic disease. METHODS: A prospective registration was done from 1998 to…
BACKGROUND: Fabry disease is a rare X-linked disorder caused by deficient activity of the enzyme alpha-galactosidase A. This produces progressive lysosomal accumulation of globotriaosylceramide throughout the body, leading to organ failure and…
Aim: To describe the experience involving the early introduction of palliative care (PC) in oncological patients treated within the paediatric oncology unit of the Istituto Nazionale Tumori of Milan and compare this cohort with a cohort of patients…
AIM: We compared neonatal deaths and end-of-life decisions in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) in a Dutch tertiary children's hospital. SUBJECTS: All 235 full-term infants who died within 28 days of life…
Aim: To compare indicators of high-intensity treatment at end-of-life (HI-EOL) among children according to causes of death. Method(s): We conducted a nationwide registry study in Denmark among 938 children of 1-17 years of age who died from natural…
AIM: This study described the development, and pilot evaluation, of the Implementing Pediatric Advance Care Planning Toolkit (IMPACT). METHODS: Key elements of paediatric advance care planning (ACP) were defined using a systematic review, a survey of…
This study was undertaken to characterize the current feeding situation and nutritional status of moderately or severely disabled children with cerebral palsy (CP). Thirty-five children with CP (17 with diplegia, 11 with dystonia, 6 with tetraplegia…
Aim: No studies have described long-term paediatric home respiratory support in Nordic countries. We examined the clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes of paediatric patients who received continuous positive airway pressure,…
AIM: A follow-up conversation with bereaved parents is a relatively well-established intervention in paediatric clinical practice. Yet, the content and value of these conversations remain unclear. This review aims to provide insight into the content…
The World Health Organization describes paediatric palliative care (PPC) as the active total care of the child's body, mind and spirit and supporting their family.1 It should be established as early as possible and continued along the entire disease…
The clinical courses of 17 JNCL patients were analyzed retrospectively with the use of a simple, disease-specific scoring system. The mean observation period was 14 years (range 8-18 years). Scores of 0 (maximal dysfunction) to 3 (normal function)…
Clinical and neonatal screening methods using a tandem mass spectrometer are clearly a model for modern laboratory testing in the new Millennium. By the year 2000, more than 1 million blood and plasma samples will have been tested in laboratories…
We describe a male patient with late onset globoid cell leukodystrophy (GLD) (Krabbe's disease) still alive at 24 years of age, with a well preserved intellectual and communicative capacity, in contrast to visual failure and severe central pyramidal…
AIM: Children with refractory or high-risk malignancies frequently suffer from poor quality of life during palliative care. This study explored the effect of metronomic drug administration on survival and quality of life in paediatric patients with…
AIM: To enhance our knowledge on why adolescents with a chronic condition (insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, IDDM) choose to smoke despite possible awareness of health risks. METHODS: Twelve patients aged 15-20 with IDDM who smoked cigarettes…
AIM: Perinatal death is often preceded by an end-of-life decision (ELD). Disparate hospital policies, complex legal frameworks and ethically difficult cases make attitudes important. This study investigated attitudes of neonatologists and nurses…
Communication is as important as the drug and the knife in medical care, particularly when patients are facing life-threatening conditions. However, the ability to communicate effectively has been commonly associated with strong emotional barriers…
AIM: To explore and compare acute and long-term care professionals' perspectives about paediatric palliative care. METHODS: Focus group interviews were conducted in 2016-2017 with professionals from acute (Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit)…
AIM: To investigate paediatricians' expectations and perspectives of genetic testing for children with developmental disorders. METHODS: Paediatricians working in a developmental clinic were surveyed each time they ordered a chromosomal microarray…
AIM: To determine the prevalence and associations of self-reported and parent-reported pain in children with cerebral palsy (CP) of all severities., METHOD: Cross-sectional design using a questionnaire; analysis using ordinal regression. Children…
AIM: Understanding of coping strategies that parents use before the death of their child is crucial, and will enable us to best provide support. The current study aimed to explore parents' coping strategies, and map these onto an existing theoretical…
AIM: Understanding of coping strategies that parents use before the death of their child is crucial, and will enable us to best provide support. The current study aimed to explore parents' coping strategies, and map these onto an existing theoretical…
AIM: This Italian study investigated home-based palliative care for young children and how long it took parents to meet their needs. METHODS: The study population consisted of 33 families with a child under the responsibility of the Veneto Regional…
Aim: This work explores the experiences and meaning attributed by parents who underwent the decision-making process of withholding and/or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment for their newborn. Methods: Audio-recorded face-to-face interviews were…
AIM: To explore and compare acute and long-term care professionals' perspectives about pediatric palliative care. METHODS: Focus group interviews were conducted in 2016-2017 with professionals from acute (Emergency Department, Intensive Care Unit)…
Aim: Paediatricians caring for severely ill children may receive requests for physician-assisted dying (PAD). Dutch euthanasia law only applies to patients over 12 who make well-considered requests. These limitations have been widely debated, but…
Physiological, plasma beta-endorphin and cortisol responses to nasotracheal intubation were studied in 20 distressed infants of median age 0.3 days (range 0.1-23 days) randomized into groups given pethidine 1 mg/kg (n = 10) or alfentanil 20…
Clinicians may struggle to discuss goals of care with parents in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and may view key elements of such conversations differently. We previously described the relationship between components of goals-of-care…
AIM: This study examines parental satisfaction with care received in the context of a life-limiting fetal diagnosis and subsequent birth. METHODS: Survey methods were utilized to embed the Quality Indicators (QI) and Parental Satisfaction of…
In the last 20 years, the prevalence of children on domiciliary long-term ventilation (LTV) has increased in many countries, and in Italy it is now 4.3 of the 100 000. The complex management of these patients’ conditions requires highly specialised…
