Health emigration: a challenge in paediatric oncology.

For the past 10 years European states have experienced an increasing flow of emigrating families from developing countries seeking better medical care for their sick children. For Italian paediatricians this has become a new challenge, considering the cultural differences in customs regarding the illness. The onset of a life-threatening disease has a strong impact on the family. The natural bond between the patient and the family must be preserved and strengthened; parents should be encouraged to entertain their child during hospitalization. The inclusion of art therapy may facilitate communication, especially for children of a different language and culture. This approach can help medical staff to understand better both the child's and the parents' anxieties and feelings. This article discusses facets of the now well-known phenomenon of ;health emigration', that is, when a family searches abroad in the hope of finding the most advanced medical treatment possible for their sick child.

Young siblings of children with cancer deserve care and a personalized approach.

The youngest siblings may be both emotionally vulnerable and often neglected members of the family of a childhood cancer patient. The prompt identification of signs of distress in these subjects allows trained caregivers to intervene with personalized, age-appropriate, attention, and care. A narrative approach, based on personalized listening, writings, and spontaneous drawings, can provide the means to elicit markers of psychological maladjustment in even the youngest of siblings. Two exemplary cases are reported to illustrate this approach.

A prospective evaluation of the effect of simvastatin on heart rate variability in non-ischemic cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: Modulation of sympathetic tone may contribute to statin-mediated reduction in sudden cardiac death. We examined the effect of simvastatin on heart rate variability (HRV) in patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy to evaluate for an antisympathetic effect of statins independent of anti-ischemic properties. METHODS: The study was a prospective, open-label, self-controlled trial. Frequency domain analysis of HRV was assessed in 25 patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy at baseline and after a 6-week course of simvastatin. The primary end point was the change in 5-minute sitting total spectral power (TSP) as a composite measurement of autonomic nervous system modulation. Secondary end points included the change in respiratory frequency area (RFa) with deep breathing (parasympathetic stress) and in low-frequency area (LFa) with Valsalva (sympathetic stress). RESULTS: Simvastatin had no effect on 5-minute sitting TSP (baseline 1932 +/- 1165 vs posttreatment 2570 +/- 1877 square milliseconds, P = .770), RFa with deep breathing (baseline 19 +/- 7 vs posttreatment 14 +/- 4 [beat/min]2, P = .31), or LFa with Valsalva (baseline 26 +/- 6 vs posttreatment 32 +/- 8 [beat/min]2, P = .342). Bivariate analysis demonstrated no correlation between low-density lipoprotein (LDL) change and change in TSP or RFa, but did demonstrate an inverse relationship between change in LDL and change in LFa with Valsalva stress (r = -0.45 and P = .041). CONCLUSION: Although simvastatin did not change baseline HRV, a modest relationship exists between the extent of LDL reduction and sympathetic responsiveness to stress.

Randomization, informed consent and physicians' communication skills in pediatric oncology: a delicate balance.

Parents asked to consent to a child's randomization in a pediatric cancer clinical trial are often unprepared to grasp the implications of this scientifically crucial but seemingly unfair process. Physicians must adopt specific communication skills to engage families in open dialogue from the outset in order to elicit truly shared informed consent. Starting from the case of a family with an only child affected by disseminated neuroblastoma, we wish to comment on the problems surfacing in the informed consent process for treatment and research in pediatric oncology that implicate an understanding of bioethical issues and psychological principles. Although the outcome of childhood cancer has improved dramatically over the last 30 years, with overall survival rates now exceeding 70%, there are regretfully still types and stages of cancer carrying a very high risk of death that urgently require new clinical strategies. The response to this need has been the design of experimental protocols that often entail randomized controlled trials (RCT). A large number of these trials concern stage IV neuroblastoma, acute leukemia, rhabdomyosarcoma, and other types of childhood cancers presenting great heterogeneity both in terms of localization and responsiveness to therapy. Most trials for disease relapses also include one or more randomizations. The scientific motivation justifying an RCT is the need to compare and evaluate an innovative protocol (or part thereof) with reference treatment modalities. Nevertheless, the process brings to bear the ethical dilemma of having to weigh the needs of the single afflicted child against the benefit which may ensue for a much larger patient community.

From informed consent to shared consent: a developing process in paediatric oncology.

Little research has been done on consent in clinical management of cancer in children. Many parents think that the informed-consent process is helpful but often confusing; discussions regularly prove more helpful. It can be difficult for parents to understand the notion of randomisation, not to mention the request for consent to this procedure. In this essay, we discuss the clinical problems that arise in the informed-consent process for treatment and research in paediatric oncology and that need an understanding of bioethical issues and psychological principles. We suggest that the process of informed consent is managed as a negotiated shared-consent process, using the problem-based learning method as a guide. Our model provides appropriate and honest information to children and adolescents through easy-to-understand dialogues with the doctor and we propose that medical students and doctors receive specific skills instruction in communications, relational behaviour, and ethics.