Table of contents

Original research

• Assessing the optimal time interval between growth measurements using a combined data set of weights and heights from 5948 infants (14 September, 2021)

  Charlotte Margaret Wright, Caroline Haig, Ulla Harjunmaa, Harshine Sivakanthan, Tim J Cole

  Using routinely collected weight and length measurements of young infants, authors report measurement intervals 4 to 8 weeks apart likely reflect true growth, rather than noise from measurement error or short-term variation. After 6 months of age, measurements two weeks or less apart should be treated with caution when assessing growth faltering.

• Categorising high-cost high-need children and young people (17 September, 2021)

  Nikita Punjabi, Kathryn Marszalek, Thomas Beaney, Rakhee Shah, Dasha Nicholls, Sarah Deeny, Dougal Hargreaves

  A retrospective observational clinical database study shows the top 5% of CYP (high-cost high-need patients) account for more than half of our annual spending for CYP, largely driven by inpatients. The most common diagnoses are mental health, metabolic, respiratory, neurological conditions.

• Haemoglobin and red blood cell reference intervals during infancy (21 October, 2021)

  Sara Marie Larsson, Lena Hellström-Westas, Andreas Hillarp, Pia Karlsland Åkeson, Magnus Domellöf, Ulrica Askelöf, Cecilia Götherström, Ola Andersson

  Anaemia in childhood is a global health problem, however the WHO thresholds for haemoglobin levels & definition of anaemia during infancy are based on data from over 60 years ago and an update is long overdue. This review, by Larsson et al, of haemoglobin levels and reference intervals in Swedish infants reveals much narrower red blood cell reference intervals during infancy, highlighting the necessity of age definitions when presenting reference intervals.

• Factors associated with severe respiratory syncytial virus disease in hospitalised children: a retrospective analysis (15 September, 2021)

  Jeremy Anderson, Michelle Oeum, Eva Verkolf, Paul V Licciardi, Kim Mulholland, Cattram Nguyen, Kim Chow, Gregory Waller, Anna-Maria Costa, Andrew Daley, Nigel W Crawford, Franz E Babl, Trevor Duke, Lien Anh Ha Do, Danielle Wurzel

  Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease places a large burden on healthcare systems. Early recognition of children at risk of severe RSV disease may be useful. This study finds younger age (<2 months) and prematurity are associated with increased severity of RSV disease. An association between Para-influenza virus type 3/RSV co-detection and severe disease may warrant further investigation.

• Use of home parenteral nutrition in severely neurologically impaired children (22 September, 2021)

  Francisco Ribeiro-Mourão, Sophie Bertaud, Joe Brierley, Renee McCulloch, Jutta Köglmeier, Susan M Hill

  This case series explores the decision making around home parenteral nutrition (HPN) for a group of five children with a combination of severe neurodisability and intestinal failure, the involvement of a clinical ethics team and subsequent outcomes. The authors conclude that HPN can help relieve difficult symptoms and be justified as part of good palliative care. The importance of thorough assessment before committing to long term treatment is emphasised.

• M-ficolin: a valuable biomarker to identify leukaemia from juvenile idiopathic arthritis (22 October, 2021)

  Ninna Brix, Mia Glerup, Steffen Thiel, Clara Elbæk Mistegaard, Regitze Gyldenholm Skals, Lillemor Berntson, Anders Fasth, Susan Mary Nielsen, Ellen Nordal, Marite Rygg, Henrik Hasle, Birgitte Klug Albertsen, Troels Herlin

  It is well recognised that ALL can present in a proportion as inflammatory arthritis.The authors present the role of a potential biomarker which may help in discriminating between leukemia and juvenile idiopathic arthritis.