The New Parent Checklist: A Tool to Promote Parental Reflection.

Purpose: To design and establish content and face validity of an evidence-informed tool that promotes parental self-reflection during the transition to parenthood.

Study Design And Methods: The New Parent Checklist was developed using a three-phase sequential approach: Phase 1 a scoping review and expert consultation to develop and refine a prototype tool; Phase 2 content analysis of parent focus groups; and Phase 3 assessment of utility in a cross-sectional sample of parents completing the New Parent Checklist and a questionnaire.

Results: The initial version of the checklist was considered by experts to contain key information.

Malignant melanoma transformation within a nevus of Ito.

The mongolian spot, nevus of Ota, and nevus of Ito are the most common morphologic forms of the dermal melanocytoses, a group of benign pigmented lesions histologically characterized by the presence of melanocytes within the dermis. Nevus of Ito is clinically distinct, presenting with unilateral, bluish gray, patchy discolorations in the skin within the distributions of the posterior supraclavicular and lateral cutaneous brachial nerves. Although all dermal melanocytoses are generally considered benign, rare cases of malignant transformation associated with nevus of Ota have been described.

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome from central nervous system insult: 4 cases and a novel treatment strategy. Clinical article.

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a potentially life-threatening entity characterized by hyperthermia, autonomic deregulation, decreased mental status, increased muscle tone, and, frequently, by renal failure due to rhabdomyolysis. Classically, it follows administration of antipsychotic medication. The authors report on 4 patients (2 children and 2 adults) in whom NMS was diagnosed after a CNS insult.

A pregnancy wellness guide to enhance care through self-assessment, personal reflection, and self-referral.

Objective: To develop a tool and evaluate its content validity and utility. The tool was designed to be used by women to assess lifestyle and psychosocial factors that could impact their pregnancies and unborn babies. It also provided resources for self-help.

Concurrent use of a lumboperitoneal shunt with programmable valve and ventricular access device in the treatment of pseudotumor cerebri: review of 40 cases.

Object: The authors evaluated the efficacy of treating patients with pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) and headaches due to increased intracranial pressure (ICP) by using a lumboperitoneal (LP) shunt with a programmable valve and ventricular access device (VAD).

Methods: Forty patients in whom PTC was diagnosed were treated using LP shunts with programmable valves and wand-guided placement of a VAD. All patients had papilledema and high opening pressure during spinal tap.

The importance of the cortical subarachnoid space in understanding hydrocephalus.

Object: In this paper the authors define the role of the cortical subarachnoid space (CSAS) in poorly understood forms of hydrocephalus to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics to improve understanding of the importance of the CSAS and its role in selecting patients for endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV). The secondary purpose of this work was to define testable hypotheses to explain enigmatic disorders of CSF dynamics and to suggest how these concepts could be tested.

Methods: The magnitude of the contribution of the CSAS is explored using the solid geometry of concentric spheres.

Evaluation of the Bayer microalbumin/creatinine urinalysis dipstick.

Background: The objective of this study was to evaluate the utility of the Bayer microalbumin/creatinine urine reagent strip compared to established laboratory methods.

Methods: Random urine specimens from low and high risk pregnancy clinics as well as a random cohort from the community were analyzed for microalbumin and creatinine using both the reagent strip and the Roche Integra 700, according to manufacturers' specifications. Sensitivity and specificity were then calculated.

Severe intracranial hypertension in slit ventricle syndrome managed using a cisterna magna-ventricle-peritoneum shunt.

Object: Severely increased intracranial pressure (ICP) can be life threatening in patients who had previously undergone shunt treatment but who do not experience ventricular enlargement. The authors analyzed the utility of placing shunts into the cisterna magna concurrently with ventricular shunts in patients who were not candidates for lumboperitoneal (LP) shunt placement.

Methods: Ten patients treated with cisterna magna-ventricle-peritoneum (CMVP) shunts for complex problems of shunt function were reviewed retrospectively.

Resolution of pseudotumor cerebri after bariatric surgery for related obesity. Case report.

Two obese women, both of whom were 42 years of age, were examined for pseudotumor cerebri. Intracranial venography revealed increased pressure in the dural venous sinuses and the right atrium. The increased right atrial pressure was attributable to the patients' obesity.

Iron deficiency during pregnancy affects postnatal blood pressure in the rat.

Iron (Fe) deficiency anaemia during pregnancy results in an increased risk of perinatal mortality and morbidity and is a significant factor for increased risk of disease in later life. Consequently we have developed a rat model to study the relationship between maternal Fe deficiency and postnatal growth and blood pressure in the offspring. Weanlings were fed a control or Fe-deficient diet prior to and throughout pregnancy.

Lumboperitoneal shunts in children.

Objective: To determine the safety and efficacy of lumboperitoneal (LP) shunts in carefully selected children with abnormalities of the absorption of cerebrospinal fluid.

Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging studies, indications for treatment and pre- and postoperative symptoms of 25 patients (mean age 9.6 years) who had undergone LP shunting in the past 10 years in a single pediatric neurosurgical practice were analyzed retrospectively.