Adolescent medicine among pediatricians in Catalonia.

To ascertain if Catalan pediatricians were seeing adolescent patients, an anonymous self-administered questionnaire was mailed to 188 members of the Catalan Society of Pediatrics. The instrument included questions about training in adolescent medicine, type of practice, office and clinical practices pertinent to adolescents, and opinions and perceptions regarding adolescent care. Of 188 physicians, 69 (36.7%) responded. Respondents see an average of 12 patients (mean age of 16 years) in a 5-hr office day. The reported mean duration of a first visit for an adolescent was longer than for a child (39.7 +/- 15.4 min versus 33.5 +/- 11.3, respectively; p less than 0.001), but there were no differences in length of time spent for follow-up visits. Only 20% of the pediatricians had different schedules for adolescents than for children, and 16% provided a separate waiting room; 29% preferred dealing with infants, 4.3% with children, 4.3% with adolescents, and 52.2% had no preference. Most (74%) believe that the pediatrician is the physician of choice to treat adolescent patients. Major-perceived obstacles to providing comprehensive care to teens include not having different schedules or waiting rooms, confidentiality, and the patient's perception of them as a "children's doctor." One-third think that they have the skills needed to give medical advice, 14.5% that they can offer comprehensive care, 1.5% are not interested in treating adolescents, and 43.4% would like to improve their knowledge and skills.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

[Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS): identification of infants at risk and their home monitoring. Apropos of 25 cases]. / El síndrome de la muerte súbita del lactante (SMSL): identificación de lactantes de riesgo y su monitorización domiciliaria. A propósito de 25 casos.

The SIDS problem is an important medicosocial question therefore it is necessary to identify the high risk infants in order to try to avoid it. We discuss our two years experience in a Home Apnea Monitoring Program. This article includes the first 25 children on home monitoring: 13 infants. 4 preterms and 8 SIDS siblings. We explain the apnea presentation form, the differential diagnosis methods and the diagnosis protocol for the different high risk groups. We speak about the different information obtained through the Pneumocardiogram (PNG), pH metric, the polysomnogram (PSG).... and the indications for Home Apnea Monitoring and the family role in this program. At the end we indicate that it is necessary to have more information and investigation about SIDS in our country.

[Syphilitic nephropathy. Apropos of 3 cases]. / Nefropatía luética. A propósito de tres casos.

Three cases of luetic nephropathy are presented. The authors review the literature on the subject stressing the current clinical and etiopathogenic concepts. They also emphasize, as a conclusion, the need for an early diagnosis and treatment and the consideration of this entity in the differential diagnosis of the nephrotic syndrome of the infant.