Issue Highlights

A survey of child and adolescent primary care in 42 European countries showed that 28.6% used paediatrician-led models in 2024 [1]. A further 26.2% were led by general practitioners and 45.2% used combined models. Karara et al. found that eight countries had changed their models since 2010 and most had made the transition to combined care. Paediatricians became less involved as children got older and general practitioners were more involved. Only 35.9% of the countries had achieved fully interoperable electronic health records. There were still major disparities regarding adolescents, digital infrastructure and training quality, despite progress in care integration and digital uptake. Intellectual disability seemed to increase in children with cerebral palsy (CP) as they got older [2]. Selvén et al.'s population-based study covered all 141 boys and 123 girls born with CP between 1999 and 2006 in a region of Western Sweden. At 7 years of age, 40% were diagnosed with intellectual disability, compared with 50% at 12 years and 54% at 18 years. More than half (55%) of the 171 children assessed more than once showed a slower pace of intellectual development over time, which was associated with epilepsy, grey matter brain injuries and impaired communication and fine motor function. A study by El Radaf et al. showed that planned Caesarean births were associated with lower odds of neonatal acidaemia, but a higher need for respiratory support than planned vaginal births [3]. This large, retrospective population-based study covered 97 886 neonates born in southern Sweden from 1995 to 2015. Other serious neonatal outcomes did not differ between the planned birth modes. The authors concluded that decisions should balance these specific differences with individual clinical circumstances. A systematic review by Nunez et al. summarised the impact of button battery ingestion on infants under 1 year of age and presents key clinical characteristics, symptom progression and complications [4]. The authors also compared outcomes between infants and those aged 1 and 18 years. This showed that infants who ingested button batteries faced a greater risk of vocal cord paralysis, tracheooesophageal fistula and death than older children. Young adults born very preterm self-reported similar levels of social functioning as their full term-born peers [5], in spite of poorer social information processing and lower social activity participation. Thompson et al. assessed the social functioning of 123 Australian individuals born before 32 weeks of gestation and 47 born between 37 and 41 weeks. There was little evidence that gender had any impact on social functioning between the two groups. Figures: 1: Karara et al (1), 2–5: istockphoto.