Death In Early Childhood Research Articles

The Concept of Death in Early Childhood

The Concept of Death in Early Childhood

Malignant transformation in giant congenital pigmented nevus. Death in early childhood

Malignant transformation in giant congenital pigmented nevus. Death in early childhood

Intramural fibroma of the heart∗

A case of intramural fibroma of the heart, diagnosed by left ventricular cineangiography, confirmed by biopsy and followed-up for one and a half years after thoracotomy is presented.This case is of special interest inasmuch as in all previous cases except one, the diagnosis was not established before death. The intramural fibroma is a rare cardiac lesion, this case being only the twenty-ninth reported.Intramural fibromas of the heart are probably congenital, benign, slow-growing tumors, often leading to sudden death in infancy or early childhood, but also compatible with long life expectancy.Symptoms, physical findings, chest roentgenograms and electrocardiograms may mimic various forms of congenital or acquired heart disease, particularly hypertrophic subaortic stenosis, endocardial fibroelastosis and anomalous coronary arteries.Angiography is the definitive diagnostic procedure and may reveal a mass in the ventricular wall. The vectorcardiogram reported here for the first time reveals a focal loss of myocardial tissue and may be a valuable asset in the diagnosis of intramural fibroma.

Deaths in childhood due to infection.

Considerable attention has recently been paid to the group of sudden deaths in early childhood des cribed as cot deaths. Whereas Banks (1958) attributed most of the cases in his series to acute bacterial or viral infection, Valdes-Dapena and Hummeler (1963) and Cooke and Welch (1964) were able to elucidate only approximately one-quarter of their cases. However, where definite diagnoses could be made, infection predominated. This was also the experience of Coe and Hartman (1960). In contrast, relatively little attention is now paid to the role of infection in the general mortality of childhood. Yet throughout this period, infection remains not only the principal source of morbidity but is also a leading cause of death. From Table I it can be seen that in Scotland, while the total number of deaths in the adult group aged 15 to 55 years has almost halved over the past 30 years, there has been an 11-fold drop in the number of deaths which can be ascribed to infection, so that these now represent only 7 per cent, of the total mortality. Among infants aged 3 months to 1 year the total mortality is now less than one-sixth of its former level and there has been a 10-fold drop in infective deaths, yet more than 50 per cent, of all

CAUSE AND CONTROL OF FATAL, INFANTILE DIARRHEAL DISEASES.

The United Nations Conference on the Application of Science and Technology for the Benefit of the Less Developed Areas is concerned with the practical means by which “science and technology can best serve the needs of the less developed countries.” The problem of fatal, infantile diarrheal diseases is being considered in this connection, because they are a major or principal cause of death in infancy and early childhood among the economically underprivileged populations of the world. According to Hardy and Schliessmann, consultants of the World Health Organization, the acute diarrheal diseases are estimated to account for about 5 million deaths of infants and children each year throughout the world. Among the economically more privileged populations, these diseases disappeared as an important cause of death only after the achievement of high living standards, which include improved nutrition, better housing supplied with safe, abundant water, sanitary disposal of excreta and facilities for proper refrigeration and storage of food, sanitary control of processing, storage and distribution of milk and other food products, control of feces-transmitting insects, increased availability of good medical care, and last but not least a markedly increased level of education.

Infant and early childhood death rates over the last hundred years in the Negro population of Antigua, British West Indies.

Antigua, an island of 108 square miles in the West Indies, has a population mainly of pure African descent, with less than 10 per cent, of mixed blood. In this paper all data about the small white section of the community have been excluded. The economy is an agricultural one, but the diet has always been very unbalanced, especially in the case of infants, who are given an excess of carbohydrates almost from birth with little protein. Periodic droughts every 3 or 4 years result in an increased incidence of malnutrition in the young which is a major factor in reducing the child's resistance to the main killing diseases at ages under 5 years?gastro-enteritis and respiratory infections. The standard of living is low, and there is great ignorance about the most elemen tary matters of family and home life, hygiene and sanitation, made worse by the general fecklessness of the people. Fortunately, overcrowding is not a serious problem. Marriage is the exception, 66 per cent, of all births being illegitimate. The father is often not an important element in family life; he may or may not live with it or contribute to its expenses. With such a family structure the grand mother is the most important factor; the mother often goes out to work on the land 4 to 6 weeks after the birth of her child.

Endocardial fibroelastosis; angiocardiographic studies.

Endocardial fibroelastosis is an important cause of congestive heart failure and death in infancy and early childhood. Four cases of this entity are described, with particular attention to the unique angiocardiographic features. This graphic portrayal of the functional derangement may be of great help in the clinical diagnosis of fibroelastosis.

On the Cause of Familial Deaths in Early Childhood, with Particular Reference to Some Uncommon Conditions

SummaryThe writer mentions a number of diseases which may cause familial deaths in early childhood and reports the cases ‐ a total of 10 ‐ observed in the Pediatric Department of the State Hospital, Copenhagen, in the course of the last 3 years.At the end of the paper the writer sets out in tabular form all the diseases which he has found described in the literature as causes of early familial deaths.RésuméL'auteur mentionne un nombre de maladies qui peuvent causer la mort familiale dans la prime enfance, il rapporte les cas ‐ au total de 10 ‐ observés à la section de Pédiatrie de l'Hǒpital de l'Etat à Copenhague au cours des 3 derniéres années. A la fin de l'article donne sous forme de tableau toutes les maladies qu'il a trouvé décrites dans la littérature comme causes de mort familiale prématurée.ZusammenfassungDer Verfasser erwähnt eine Anzahl Krankheiten, Welche familienweise Todesfälle in früther Kindheit verursachen können und berichtet die Fälle ‐ im GAnzen 10 ‐ die in der pädiatrischen Abteilng des staatlichen Hospitals Kopenhagen in den letzten 3 Jahren beobachtet wurden. Zum Schluss stellt er in Tabbellenform alle Krankheiten zusammen, die er in der Literatur als Ursache familiärer frühzeitiger Todesfälle beschrieben fand.ResumenEl autor describe cierto nümero de enfermedades que en la primera infancia pueden eacusar fallecimientos dentro de una misma familia e informa sobre los casos ‐ en total diez ‐ obser vados en la Sección Pediátrica del Hospital del Estado en Copenhagen durante los últimos tres afios. Al final del informe el autor expone en un cuadro todas las enfermedades que ha encontrado en la literatura médica como causantes de fallecimientos en la primera infancia y dentrro de una misma familia.

The Chinese urban death rate in Hongkong

1. (1) The standardized death rate of males living under urban conditions in Hongkong has varied between 1897 and 1931 from 33·2 to 42·3 per 1,000 living, of females from 32·4 to 54·9, and of persons from 33·0 and 46·7. Without a radical change in the conditions prevailing in the city as described in this paper, one cannot expect any great lowering of this high rate. 2. (2) Owing to deficiencies in registration the infantile and early childhood death rates cannot be calculated with accuracy. Mortality at ages 0–4 appears to be in the neighbourhood of 170 per 1,000 living or at least eight times the rate in England and Wales. 3. (3) There appears to be a higher death rate for females than for males up to the age of 20, while beyond this age, and especially after age 35, the rates of males are the greater. 4. (4) In every age group the death rate in Hongkong in 1931 is considerably greater than the rate in England and Wales in the same year, being never less than two to three times as high. 5. (5) In 1931, 49·8 per cent. of all male deaths and 63·6 per cent. of all female deaths occurred in the first quinquennium of life. 6. (6) A larger proportion of deaths occurs in the five months, May to September, than at other times of the year.