editorial • editorial • editorial •
editorial • editorial • editorial • editorial
Fortieth Volume of
Pediatric Annals
Stanford T. Shulman, MD
J
ulie Kim Stamos, MD, has organized and edited this issue of
Pediatric Annals very well, and it
includes nice review articles related to
fever in childhood. Although some aspects of the febrile child have changed
little over time, others, such as periodic
fever syndromes, are evolving relatively rapidly while new genetic causes
are discovered or new therapies developed. These articles are well-written
and packed with clinical pearls.
This issue of Pediatric Annals also
marks the beginning of the 40th volume of this journal. Pediatric Annals
was launched almost 40 years ago, under the editorship of Milton I. Levine,
MD, who had served on the faculty of
Cornell University Medical College
since 1933 (also almost 40 years).
The first two issues were devoted
to neonatology in October and November 1972. Dr. Levine established
the policy that each issue of Pediatric
Annals “would devote itself to an upto-date discussion on one subject of
importance to pediatricians.” The field
of neonatology was truly in its infancy
(no pun) 40 years ago. I can recall as
a medical student and resident in the
mid-to-late 1960s what novelties the
few ventilators in the nursery were.
The titles of the papers in the first
issue of Pediatric Annals, entitled
“The Low Birth Weight Baby” were
PEDIATRIC ANNALS 40:1 | JANUARY 2011
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This stamp with a red EKG tracing honors
the synthesis of the beta-blocker class of
drugs for the management of cardiac arrhythmias and hypertension by Sir James
Black (1924-2010) in 1962.
Sir Alexander Fleming’s (1881-1955) wellknown discovery in 1928 of the antibacterial
effect of penicillin is honored by a 58-penny
stamp, for which he received the 1945 Nobel
in Physiology or Medicine.
“An Overview of LBW’s;” “Physiologic and Clinical Considerations of
Blood Disorders;” “Later Development and Follow-up;” and “Special
Care — the High Risk Newborn.”
They stand as a record of the state of
this field 40 years ago.
So I asked Robin Steinhorn, MD,
Chief of Neonatology at Children’s
Memorial Hospital in Chicago, what
she considers the most important advances in neonatology over the past 40
years. She cited the following:
1. Antenatal steroids and postnatal surfactant therapy,
leading to the routine survival
of extremely low birth weight
(ELBW) babies, with reduction
of neonatal mortality, respiratory
distress syndrome, and intraventricular hemorrhage. Antenatal
steroids induce maturation of
virtually all organ systems, leading to prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and
increasing survival. The tradeoff
related to antenatal steroids is
the risk of neurologic sequelae
among ELBW survivors.
Inhaled nitric oxide for the
treatment of neonatal respiratory failure by decreasing
pulmonary resistance and promoting pulmonary artery vasodilation and increasing oxygenation, thus preventing the need
for extracorporeal membrane
oxygenation (ECMO).
2.
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editorial
3.
Brain cooling for neuroprotection and minimizing consequences of neonatal encephalopathy
from asphyxia, with reduction in
adverse neurologic outcomes.
4. Fetal diagnostics, including
radiologic studies (fetal ultrasound, MRI, etc.), genetic
analysis (eg, cystic fibrosis and
many others), and fetoscopy. It
is now possible to establish prenatal diagnoses of many major
congenital anomalies and to
plan interventions as needed in
the prenatal period, during birth,
or immediately after delivery.
To accompany this column, we
are displaying a set of six recent
British stamps issued on September
16, 2010, which celebrate six scientists from the UK and their major
medical discoveries.
The dark stamp with the red
EKG tracing (see page 3) honors
the synthesis of the beta-blocker
class of drugs for the management
of cardiac arrhythmias and hypertension by Sir James Black (19242010) in 1962. Black was a Scottish
physician and pharmacologist who
received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1988 for this
discovery. He also developed cimetidine, the first H2-receptor antagonist for peptic ulcers.
Sir Alexander Fleming’s (18811955) well-known discovery in
1928 of the antibacterial effect of
penicillin is honored by the 58-penny stamp (see page 3), for which he
received the 1945 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine.
The 60-penny stamp shows a total hip replacement in recognition
of the research of Sir John Charn-
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4001Editorial.indd 4
This 60-penny stamp shows a total hip replacement in recognition of the research of Sir
John Charnley (1911-1982) to achieve the first
successful procedure of this kind in 1962.
On this 67-penny stamp, the eye represents
the first cataract intraocular lens implant, perfected by Sir Harold Ridley (1906-2001) in 1949
at St. Thomas’ Hospital, London
The apparently parasitized red blood cell on
this 88-penny stamp honors the discovery by
Sir Ronald Ross (1857-1932) that malaria was
transmitted by mosquitoes.
The invention of the CT scanner in 1971 by
Sir Godfrey Hounsfield (1919-2004) is honored by a 97-penny stamp that shows an
abdominal CT scan.
ley (1911-1982) to achieve the first
successful procedure of this kind in
1962. Charnley was an orthopedist
and innovative bioengineer whose
work opened the path to other joint
replacements, as well.
On the 67-penny stamp, the eye
represents the first cataract intraocular lens implant, perfected by Sir
Harold Ridley (1906-2001) in 1949
at St. Thomas’ Hospital, London.
The apparently parasitized red
blood cell on the 88-penny stamp
honors the discovery by Sir Ronald
Ross (1857-1932) that malaria was
transmitted by mosquitoes. This British bacteriologist won the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
for elucidating the malaria life cycle.
Finally, the invention of the CT
scanner in 1971 by Sir Godfrey
Hounsfield (1919-2004), an English
electrical engineer, is honored by the
97-penny stamp that shows an abdominal CT scan. Hounsfield shared
the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine with Allan M. Cormack
(1924-1998), a South African-born
American high energy physicist.
doi: 10.3928/00904481-20101221-01
PEDIATRIC ANNALS 40:1 | JANUARY 2011
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