Down's syndrome

Interesting research on Down's syndrome

http://m.guardian.co.uk/science/2013/jul/17/downs-syndrome-cells-fixed-chromosome-therapy

Cot death

This article has some interesting local statistics and some helpful tips from the Malta Paediatric Association.

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-07-16/news/sharing-bed-with-babies-could-lead-to-cot-death-2086535169/

Malta Paediatric Association website - link here

Jelly fish safe bays

Prevention is better than cure...

http://www.maltaweathersite.com/jellymap.asp

Early to bed...

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise...

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23223751

Interview with Dr Steve M. Cordina

Dr Steve Cordina is a gozitan doctor who was in the news recently for performing life saving brain surgery on an 8 month old baby in the United States, full story here. I asked him a few questions on his career and on this particular operation.

 

How long ago did you leave Malta? 9 years ago

What is your specialty and what attracted you to it? I am a stroke and interventional neurologist – which give me the ability to perform radiological procedures on patients with neurovascular disease. I was always attracted to interventional radiology as well as neurology and this was for me an ideal way to combine the two.

What made you choose the US for your studies? The US is at the forefront of medical research, and it made sense for me to go there.

Was it hard settling in a new country? Very. We had to start afresh.  The distances to family meant that we were physically isolated. Having young children, with no outside help makes you really appreciate the support families provide.

Can you describe the procedure you carried out on Carley and what difficulties it posed? It can be best described as transarterial embolization. The feeder arteries to the vein of Galen malformation were accessed individually by microcatheter using transfemoral access. Once each feeder was accessed, the flow was stopped using a combination of detachable platinum coils and liquid embolic material (Onyx).

How common is this condition? It is rare, comprising 30% of the paediatric vascular and 1% of all paediatric congenital anomalies.

Are there any signs one can look out for to detect the condition early? Usually it is diagnosed by foetal ultrasound before birth. Undetected, it leads to developmental disability and multiple organ dysfunction due to the high flow state that it creates.

Finally, what advice would you give to any of our readers who might want to choose a career path similar to yours? Do not be discouraged by the long training period that it involves. It is worth it in the end.