Yearly Archives: 2014

Septic Shock; 3 negative trials

Three trials back to back in the PNEJM (that’s the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine for any new readers) in adults with septic shock are disappointing: Early Goal Directed Therapy has become a dogma in recent years; it even … Continue reading

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , | 1 Comment

I think our spring is broken

Spring officially started already (who decided that spring starts at the same time all over the northern hemisphere and lasts exactly 3 months? To me, spring starts when the snow is gone, the trees are budding and the birds start … Continue reading

Posted in Not neonatology | 1 Comment

Worms are beautiful

I found these amazing pictures of Marine Worms just stunning I won’t copy them here as I think the photographer deserves the clicks! https://www.behance.net/gallery/Worms-Renaissance/15109599 Well maybe just one…

Posted in Not neonatology | Leave a comment

Pressure-Volume loops are not consistently interpreted

In case you remember my little Survey Monkey questionnaire on pressure volume loops, and were wondering about the responses, there were about 100 people who wasted a few minutes on the survey. Most were from medical professionals, (mostly neonatologists and … Continue reading

Posted in Neonatal Research | Leave a comment

Publishing research results, can do better.

Trial registration was supposed to reduce publication bias, and also improve the quality of publications. Ensuring that what investigators say they did, is what they actually did. Becker JE, Krumholz HM, Ben-Josef G, Ross JS. Reporting of results in ClinicalTrials.gov … Continue reading

Posted in Neonatal Research | Leave a comment

Neonatal Updates : Therapeutic hypothermia

Three recent articles dealing with the effects of therapeutic hypothermia: Drury PP, Gunn ER, Bennet L, Gunn AJ. Mechanisms of Hypothermic Neuroprotection. Clin Perinatol. 2014;41(1):161-75. the first is an excellent review article describing how hypothermia works, SPOILER ALERT, its mostly … Continue reading

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Hypotension after PDA ligation

A new prospective multi-center evaluation, of cardiac function and the causes of hypotension after PDA ligation, has just published data about adrenal function. Clyman RI, et al: Hypotension following patent ductus arteriosus ligation: The role of adrenal hormones. The Journal … Continue reading

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged , | Leave a comment

S’il suffisait d’aimer

Sainte Justine is a unique hospital, we are a ‘full-service’ children’s hospital with an integrated maternity service. The obstetricians, of course, think that we are a maternity hospital with a children’s hospital tacked on! We have a fund-raiser at the … Continue reading

Posted in Neonatal Research | Leave a comment

Please, please, not ABBA!

I think whoever designed this study should be subjected to prolonged and unrelenting auditory torture. the only thing worse than ABBA that I can think of would have been Rolf Harris’s 2 little boys; so that is the sentence I … Continue reading

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged | 5 Comments

Sticking needles into babies doesn’t reduce colic. Who’d have thought…

More nonsense, this time acupuncture for babies! Ninety babies were randomized in a multicenter trial of sticking needles into non-existent meridians to channel imaginary Qi energy. Unfortunately the condition they were investigating, infantile colic, causes a lot of real distress … Continue reading

Posted in Neonatal Research | Tagged | 6 Comments