Safety of rapid intravenous paracetamol infusion in paediatric patients

Purpose: Paracetamol is recommended as a first-line treatment for pain and fever in paediatric patients. Intravenous (IV) infusions are recommended to be administered as a 15-min infusion to minimize local tissue trauma and related pain. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that IV paracetamol could be administered during 5 ​min or less in paediatric patients without causing related adverse reactions. Methods: Prospective, observational safety study including children aged <18 years who received IV paracetamol. Pain scores before and after the paracetamol infusions were obtained using VAS, FLACC, COMFORT neo, or COMFORT behaviour scales with scores from 0 to 10 representing no pain to worst pain. Further, objective signs of inflammation at the infusion site were registered. Findings: We included 44 patients (median age 2.8 years, range 0.01–17.0 years) who received paracetamol in a peripheral venous catheter (n ​= ​22) or central venous catheter (n ​= ​22). In total, the 93 paracetamol infusions had a median infusion time of 3:00 ​min, range 0:40 to 5:00 ​min. After infusions, pain scores were lower, compared to before infusions (mean change −0.26, 95% confidence interval −0.45 to −0.07, P ​= ​0.007), and no objective signs of inflammation were reported. Implications: This safety study indicates that IV paracetamol can be administered in paediatric patients with a shorter infusion time than recommended without causing adverse reactions. The results may contribute to a more efficient workflow at paediatric departments

Personality in Adults Who Were Born Very Preterm.

<label>AIM</label>To investigate the personality in very preterm individuals (VPT; gestational age, GA, <32 weeks) at adult age in two cohorts born in 1974-76 and 1980-82, respectively, and to illuminate the effect of increased survival rates and the clinical implications of deviations in personality.<label>METHOD</label>Demographic data were extracted for all individuals born in Denmark in 1974-76 and 1980-82. From each period one index-group each comprising 150 individuals with the lowest gestational age was selected. Thereafter two control groups born at term were matched by gender, age and residential area. Personality was assessed with the short version of NEO PI-R, and psychiatric diagnoses were obtained from the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register.<label>RESULTS</label>Of all the individuals born <32 weeks of gestation in 1980-82 67% were alive in 2006 vs. 43% of those born in 1974-76 (p<0.0001). A total of 433 individuals participated in the study, 76% of the VPT groups (n = 227, mean GA = 27.9) and 69% of the control groups (n = 206). There were no significant differences on personality scores between the two VPT groups. Compared to the control groups, the combined VPT groups scored higher on neuroticism (p = 0.005) and agreeableness (p = 0.012), but lower on extraversion (p = 0.002). Psychiatric disorder was strongly associated with higher scores on neuroticism and lower scores on extraversion.<label>INTERPRETATION</label>Improved survival of VPT infants was not associated with increased deviances in the personality as adults. The personality traits in VPT individuals differ moderately from those of term born controls. High scores in neuroticism and low scores in extraversion were associated with increased risk psychiatric disorders. VPT adults also showed signs of positive adaptation in the form of an agreeable and confident attitude towards others.<label>WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS</label>The much improved survival rate in very preterm infants during the early years of active neonatology was not associated with increased risk of personality deviation. There are signs of positive adaptation in the form of increased agreeableness in young adults born very preterm

Mass spectrometry-based proteomics of cerebrospinal fluid in pediatric central nervous system malignancies: a systematic review with meta-analysis of individual patient data

Abstract Background The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteome could offer important insights into central nervous system (CNS) malignancies. To advance proteomic research in pediatric CNS cancer, the current study aims to (1) evaluate past mass spectrometry-based workflows and (2) synthesize previous CSF proteomic data, focusing on both qualitative summaries and quantitative re-analysis. Main In our analysis of 11 studies investigating the CSF proteome in pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) or primary brain tumors, we observed significant methodological variability. This variability negatively affects comparative analysis of the included studies, as per GRADE criteria for quality of evidence. The qualitative summaries covered 161 patients and 134 non-tumor controls, while the application of validation cohort varied among the studies. The quantitative re-analysis comprised 15 B-ALL vs 6 “healthy” controls and 15 medulloblastoma patients vs 22 non-tumor controls. Certain CSF proteins were identified as potential indicators of specific malignancies or stages of neurotoxicity during chemotherapy, yet definitive conclusions were impeded by inconsistent data. There were no proteins with statistically significant differences when comparing cases versus controls that were corroborated across studies where quantitative reanalysis was feasible. From a gene ontology enrichment, we observed that age disparities between unmatched case and controls may mislead to protein correlations more indicative of age-related CNS developmental stages rather than neuro-oncological disease. Despite efforts to batch correct (HarmonizR) and impute missing values, merging of dataset proved unfeasible and thereby limited meaningful data integration across different studies. Conclusion Infrequent publications on rare pediatric cancer entities, which often involve small sample sizes, are inherently prone to result in heterogeneous studies—particularly when conducted within a rapidly evolving field like proteomics. As a result, obtaining clear evidence, such as CSF proteome biomarkers for CNS dissemination or early-stage neurotoxicity, is currently impractical. Our general recommendations comprise the need for standardized methodologies, collaborative efforts, and improved data sharing in pediatric CNS malignancy research. We specifically emphasize the possible importance of considering natural age-related variations in CSF due to different CNS development stages when matching cases and controls in future studies