DMCN 2017 highlights: advances in cerebral palsy, encephalitis, paediatric stroke, and more

Abstract

During the past year, we have refined the editorial processes of Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, in part by optimizing statistical reviews and by setting up a group of systematic review advisors in collaboration with the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine. Indeed, we have strengthened links with all the societies for which DMCN is the official journal (see our front cover for details) and were happy in 2017 to welcome the Australasian Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine into the fold. We have also enhanced journal content in various ways. Abstracts of all our articles are now provided in Spanish and Portuguese translations, courtesy of the Latin-American Academy of Child Development and Disabilities (ALDID). Our YouTube video channel hosts a growing collection of author and editor podcasts with contributions from eminent experts including Aaron Ciechanower, Nobel prizewinner in Chemistry. Interactivity with the journal's readership has been strengthened through social media and Letters to the Editor are now posted on our website to foster debate and discussion. This year has been marked by clarification of the practical implications of physical activity, participation (which was the topic of a Virtual Issue), the validation of various outcome measures, delineation of the neurophysiological and neuroimaging signature of several neurodevelopmental conditions, refinements in genotype–phenotype associations (‘comorbid’ attention-deficit–hyperactivity disorder and autistic features were critically documented in a number of conditions), and more evidence for efficacy and safety for specific modalities of immunotherapy or tone-modulating agents. Alongside excellent original articles and critical commentaries, we have had systematic reviews on a wide range of important topics from immunoglobulins in neurological disorders, to taping procedures and outcome of scoliosis surgery in cerebral palsy. We have also had state-of-the-art reviews on such promising approaches to disability as stem cell treatment and videogame-based therapy. My Editor's Choice for the first issue of the year was a study demonstrating that following a paediatric stroke protocol improves timeliness of accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.1 Other papers in the 2017 volume have presented and discussed new sets of paediatric stroke guidelines and documented various outcome aspects. Assessment and classification of hand function has been another guiding thread throughout the year. One work I particularly liked for its topic, methodology, and useful result – another Editor's Choice – developed a patient-reported outcome measure assessing upper limb function related to real-life activities of individuals with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.2 This measure should usefully document the individual's self-reported evolution and evaluate the efficacy of interventions. The value of several functional classification systems has been established for children in addition to the groups addressed in the original validations, including a Mini-Manual Ability Classification System for hand function in children with cerebral palsy under 4 years and the Communication Function Classification System for communication in preschool children with speech and language disorders. Stability of the Gross Motor Function Classification System over time has been confirmed3 and the validity of the concept of cerebral palsy has also been reaffirmed. An important contribution to the debate on paediatric traumatic brain injury was provided by Minns et al.'s study of the relationship between raised intracranial pressure and retinal haemorrhage,4 and the ensuing discussion. The review on anti-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor encephalitis following herpes simplex encephalitis5 clarifies the biphasic course of the condition with a parainfectious immune-mediated disorder amenable to immunomodulatory treatment. Looking at the novel findings and advances in the fields of paediatric neurology and neurodisability that made up the fabric of DMCN in 2017, we can foresee further important developments in 2018 and beyond.