Dawn Davies

Methadone analgesia for children with advanced cancer

Methadone is frequently used in the treatment of adults with advanced cancer. A criticism of relevant research is the use of single or fixed doses, which does not reflect use in clinical practice. Literature about use of methadone in the treatment of pediatric patients is limited to case reports. The objective of this study is to describe methadone use as primary opioid analgesic for advanced pediatric cancer over a 6.5‐year period.

Miller-dieker syndrome associated with congenital lobar emphysema.

Miller–Dieker syndrome (MDS) is a rare genetic syndrome associated with lissencephaly, developmental delay, and high mortality. We describe a patient who was diagnosed postnatally with both MDS and congenital lobar emphysema. We believe that this is the first reported case of the two conditions presenting in the same patient.

Octreotide infusion for malignant duodenal obstruction in a 12-year-old girl with metastatic peripheral nerve sheath tumor.

Malignant bowel obstruction is a common complication of some adult malignancies. In childhood cancer, malignant bowel obstruction is relatively rare. Octreotide, an analogue of the hormone somatostatin, has been shown to be an effective treatment for this condition in adults. However, explicit description of its use for this indication in children was not discovered in the pediatric literature by this group of authors. The following report is that of a 12-year-old female who had copious bilious emesis secondary to malignant obstruction of the distal duodenum, which abated after treatment with a continuous intravenous octreotide infusion.

Postnatal Diagnosis of a Baby With Multiple Rare Congenital Anomalies Including Syngnathia, Brain Dysmorphism, and Skin Pigmentation

Syngnathia is a rare congenital disorder of jaw fusion with a paucity of literature from developed countries. We present a case of an infant noted to have multiple anomalies at birth including syngnathia, microcephaly with a variant of brain abnormality between holoprosencephaly and syntelencephaly, optic nerve hypoplasia, ear canal anomalies, hemi-vertebrae, and suspected hypomelanosis of Ito. To our knowledge, this patient with syngnathia and multiple anomalies is the first to be reported, but whether they are a coincidence, a pathogenetic association, or a new syndrome remains unknown. This case is discussed with a brief review of the literature.