Prothrombotic risk factors in infants of diabetic mothers.

BACKGROUND: Infants of diabetic mothers (IDMs) are at an increased risk for thromboembolic disease. The mechanism(s) to explain this association is unclear. We hypothesized that the pathophysiology of thrombosis in IDMs is multifactorial and likely involves interactions among genetic and acquired factors affecting the procoagulant, anticoagulant and fibrinolytic pathways. OBJECTIVE: To compare the prevalence of common prothrombotic risk factors in a cohort of IDMs to a matched control group. PATIENTS/METHODS: Full-term infants born to mothers with diet controlled (A1-IDM) (N=17), insulin requiring diabetes (ID-IDM) (N=20) and healthy term infants (controls) (N=20) matched for mode of delivery had cord blood collected at delivery. Samples were analyzed for the following: factor V Leiden (FVL), prothrombin 20210A (P20210A), methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase C677 T (MTHFR), Factor VIII (FVIII), Protein C (PC), Lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). RESULTS: None of the infants had a clinically apparent thrombotic event. IDM mothers and their infants were clinically similar to controls except for a higher prevalence of hypoglycemia (30 vs 0%; p=0.005). There was no significant difference in the prevalence of the common genetic risk factors (FVL, P20210A, MTHFR) FVIII, or PAI-1 levels. Elevated Lp(a) levels were seen more frequently in IDMs than Controls (40 vs 20%) but this difference was not statistically significant. The PC activity (%) was significantly decreased in the IDM group compared to controls, 35+/-12 vs 44+/-9 (p CONCLUSIONS: PC deficiency is likely one mechanism to explain thrombosis in IDMs

Organizational Culture, Job Satisfaction, and Clinician Turnover in Primary Care

The purpose of this study is to examine how organizational culture and job satisfaction affect clinician turnover in primary care pediatric practices. One hundred thirty clinicians from 36 primary care pediatric practices completed the Primary Care Organizational Questionnaire (PCOQ), which evaluates interactions among members of the practice and job-related attributes measuring 8 organizational factors, along with a separate 3-item instrument measuring job satisfaction. Random effects logistic models were used to assess the associations between job satisfaction, the organizational factors from the PCOQ, and clinician turnover over the subsequent year. All 8 measured organizational factors from the PCOQ, particularly perceived effectiveness, were associated with job satisfaction. Five of the 8 organizational factors were also associated with clinician turnover. The effects of the organizational factors on turnover were substantially reduced in a model that included job satisfaction; only 1 organizational factor, communication between clinicians and nonclinicians, remained significant ( P = .05). This suggests that organizational culture affects subsequent clinician turnover primarily through its effect on job satisfaction. Organizational culture, in particular perceived effectiveness and communication, affects job satisfaction, which in turn affects clinician turnover in primary care pediatric practices. Strategies to improve job satisfaction through changes in organizational culture could potentially reduce clinician turnover

Effect of surgical subspecialty training on patent ductus arteriosus ligation outcomes

Purpose: Surgical outcomes data for patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) ligation come primarily from single institution case series. The purpose of this study was to evaluate national PDA ligation trends, and to compare outcomes between pediatric general (GEN) and pediatric cardiothoracic (CT) surgeons. Methods: The Pediatric Health Information System database was queried to identify neonates who underwent PDA ligation from 2006 through 2009. Outcomes evaluated included surgical morbidity, in-hospital mortality, length of stay, and total charges. Outcomes were compared between pediatric general and pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons. Results: The records of 1,482 neonates who underwent PDA ligation were identified and analyzed. Overall mean gestational age was 26 ± 3 weeks and birth weight was 888 ± 428 g. The majority of patients among both surgeons had birth weights of B1,000 g (77.2 %) and were born at B27-week gestation (81.5 %). Most of the PDA ligations were performed by pediatric CT surgeons (n = 1,196, 80.7 %). The mortality rate did not differ by surgeon subspecialty training (GEN = 5.2 %, CT 7.9 %, p = 0.16). Neonates in the cardiothoracic surgeon cohort showed lower length of stay (p\0.001–0.05) and total hospital charges (p\0.05) among patients with birth weight B1,200 g. Proxy measures of surgical morbidity— gastrostomy, fundoplication, and tracheostomy—showed no significant differences between the two surgical subspecialists overall or across birth weight subgroups (p[0.05). Conclusion: These data provide a contemporary snapshot of PDA ligation outcomes at American children’s hospitals. Pediatric general surgeons achieve comparable outcomes performing PDA ligation compared to pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons

Concomitant Use of Immunomodulators Affects the Durability of Infliximab Therapy in Children With Crohn\u27s Disease

BACKGROUND & AIMS: It is important to determine the effects of immunomodulators on the ability of children to remain on infliximab therapy for Crohn\u27s disease (durability of therapy), given the potential benefits and risks of concomitant therapy-especially with thiopurines in male patients. We investigated how immunomodulatory treatment affects the durability of infliximab therapy. METHODS: We collected data from the Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease Collaborative Research Group Registry, from January 2002 through August 2014, on 502 children with Crohn\u27s disease who participated in a prospective multicenter study. Data were collected from patients who received at least a 3-dose induction regimen of infliximab, and their concomitant use of immunomodulators: no thiopurine or methotrexate treatment, treatment for 6 months or less during infliximab therapy, or treatment for more than 6 months during infliximab therapy. RESULTS: The probabilities (± standard error) that children remained on infliximab therapy for 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years after the treatment began were 0.84 ± 0.02, 0.69 ± 0.03, and 0.60 ± 0.03, respectively. Age, sex, and disease extent or location did not affect the durability of infliximab therapy. Greater length of concomitant use of immunomodulators was associated with increased time of infliximab therapy. The probability that patients with more than 6 months of immunomodulator use remained on infliximab therapy for 5 years was 0.70 ± 0.04, compared with 0.48 ± 0.08 for patients who did not receive immunomodulators and 0.55 ± 0.06 for patients who received immunomodulators for 6 months or less (P \u3c .001). In boys who received immunomodulators for 6 months or more after starting infliximab, the overall durability of infliximab therapy was greater among patients receiving methotrexate than thiopurine (P \u3c .01); the probabilities that they remained on infliximab therapy for 5 years were 0.97 ± 0.03 vs 0.58 ± 0.08, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In children with Crohn\u27s disease, concomitant treatment with an immunomodulator for more than 6 months after starting infliximab therapy increases the chances that patients will remain on infliximab. In boys, methotrexate appears to increase the durability of infliximab therapy compared with thiopurine