Monthly Archives: October 2012

Weekly updates #10

Posted on 13 October 2012 by Keith Barrington

Vanderbilt DL, Schrager SM, Llanes A, Chmait RH: Prevalence and risk factors of cerebral lesions in neonates after laser surgery for twin-twin transfusion syndrome. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2012, 207(4):320.e321-320.e326. The authors followed children born after laser surgery, … Continue reading →

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The Benefits of Chocolate (not quite neonatology, but relevant in the middle of a night on call)

Posted on 12 October 2012 by Keith Barrington

A new publication in the Prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (that is how the news media always refer to it, I think they should change the abbreviation to PNEJM) Messerli FH: Chocolate consumption, cognitive function, and nobel laureates. New England Journal … Continue reading →

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Fresh! New! but not any better.

Posted on 11 October 2012 by Keith Barrington

A new multicenter RCT in preterm infants has just been published. The ARIPI trial which was led by Dean Fergusson from Ottawa and included our NICU as one of the sites (Christian Lachance was our local lead investigator and is … Continue reading →

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Probiotics: enough is enough

Posted on 9 October 2012 by Keith Barrington

At the EAPS meeting in Istanbul, the Proprems trial results were just presented. Now this has not yet been subject to full peer-review, but as a report of a large multicenter RCT it is not likely that their main findings … Continue reading →

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The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Posted on 8 October 2012 by Keith Barrington

Alfred Nobel made his fortune, which he used to endow the Nobel prizes, from dynamite. He invented a way to stabilize nitroglycerine, which is very unstable and tends to explode unexpectedly. Towards the end of his life he was prescribed … Continue reading →

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Saving Babies’ Lives, for Pennies a day.

Posted on 8 October 2012 by Keith Barrington

I am talking about Canada, not the third world! Probiotics are cheap and reduce mortality. Florababy(TM) costs about $25 per 60 gram tub. One tub is enough for 120 days of prophylaxis, that is enough for the entire hospitalization of … Continue reading →

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Not neonatology: Brian Cox

Posted on 7 October 2012 by Keith Barrington

This week an American congressman, member of their science committee, stated that the earth was about 9000 years old, and that the big bang was a lie from the pits of hell. That might not touch me directly, but clearly he should … Continue reading →

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Who benefits from whole genome sequencing in the NICU? Who suffers?

Posted on 7 October 2012 by Keith Barrington

Annie and I recently published a letter to the editor of Pediatrics and Child Health about the ethical implications of using Complete Genome Hybridization (CGH) as the default test for possibly genetically determined disorders in pediatrics. CGH is a very … Continue reading →

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Not neonatology: the Ness of Brodgar

Posted on 6 October 2012 by Keith Barrington

I just heard about this from an article in the Guardian. A huge neolithic temple complex on the isle of Orkney has been discovered. A site, entirely man-made, covering more than 6 acres, which predates Stonehenge and the Pyramids. The site is … Continue reading →

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Assessing perfusion in the sick preterm baby

Posted on 6 October 2012 by Keith Barrington

I often give talks where I present my ‘data’, (notice the quotation marks, what I actually present are my prejudices, and uncontrolled observational information, along with systematic reviews of other people’s data) which suggest strongly that there is no need … Continue reading →

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