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ObjectiveEnsure access to perinatal palliative care (PnPC) to all eligible fetuses/infants/parents.DesignDuring 12 meetings in 2016, a multidisciplinary work-group (WG) performed literature review (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) method was applied), including the ethical and legal references, in order to propose shared care pathway.SettingMaternal-Infant Department of Padua’s University Hospital.PatientsPnPC eligible population has been divided into three main groups: extremely preterm newborns (first group), newborns with prenatal/postnatal diagnosis of life-limiting and/or life-threatening disease and poor prognosis (second group) and newborns for whom a shift to PnPC is appropriate after the initial intensive care (third group).InterventionsThe multidisciplinary WG has shared care pathway for these three groups and defined roles and responsibilities.Main outcome measuresPrenatal and postnatal management, symptom’s treatment, end-of-life care.ResultsThe best care setting and the best practice for PnPC have been defined, as well as the indications for family support, corpse management and postmortem counselling, as well suggestion for conflicts’ mediation.ConclusionsPnPC represents an emerging field within the paediatric palliative care and calls for the development of dedicated shared pathways, in order to ensure accessibility and quality of care to this specific population of newborns.

The prevalence of children on long-term ventilation (LTV) at home has increased in many countries. In Italy, there are 4.3/100,000 population younger than 18 years. Pediatric palliative care (PPC) network provides high-level care for these patients. In December 2003, in the northeast region of Italy, the regional authority promoted and developed a regional network for PPC, a regional network dedicated to the management of pediatric patients with life-limiting and life-threatening diseases. Characterization of LTV children population and description of care offered to them by a regional PPC network, based on the experience of the Veneto region were collected in a regional database. The regional database and evaluation of families' satisfaction, by means of a questionnaire, were longitudinally analyzed. We studied 56 children on LTV. The main involved diseases were neuromuscular diseases and myopathy. All patients had major comorbidities. Mean age was 4.5 years. The median age of starting ventilation was 3.9 years. The initial type of ventilation was invasive mechanical ventilation in 31 patients and noninvasive ventilation in 25 of them. The overall average frequency of hospitalizations for acute episodes was 0.7 admissions per year and the median duration of staying was 6 days. The median duration of staying in the intensive care unit (ICU) was significantly reduced after the opening of a residential solution (the pediatric hospice) (5 vs. 39 days). PPC network can offer global care to children on LTV. The availability of a residential structure into the PPC network seems to reduce the number and duration of hospital stays, especially in ICU, of this population, with likely cost savings. Further studies are necessary to confirm this hypothesis.

In recent years, the diagnostic-therapeutic developments in fetal and neonatal medicine have profoundly changed the medical and ethical context in which pediatric healthcare professionals work.

Children with intellectual disability frequently undergo needle-related procedures for diagnosis or treatment. Nevertheless, only a few studies deal with pain and distress management during the procedure in this population of children. This study aimed to investigate the number of anxiety and pain management techniques performed during needle procedure in children with intellectual disability (cases) compared to a population of children without intellectual disability (controls). This multicenter cohort study was performed from July 2016 to January 2018 in the pediatric ward of four urban hospitals in Italy. Eligible subjects were children with and without intellectual disability, from 4 to 17 years old, who needed venipuncture or intravenous cannulation for diagnosis or treatment. Use of topical anesthesia, distraction techniques, and physical or verbal comfort during procedures were recorded. Pain and anxiety scores were also recorded. Forty-seven cases and 94 controls were recruited. Three pain- and anxiety-relieving techniques were performed during the procedure in 12 (25%) cases and in 10 controls (11%); two techniques were performed in 23 (50%) cases and in 26 (28%) controls; 12 (25%) cases and 52 (55%) controls received only one.Conclusion: In this series, children with intellectual disability received significantly more relieving techniques, but experienced more pain and anxiety when compared to children without intellectual disability. What is Known: • Children with intellectual disability experience more episodes of pain than cognitively healthy ones, and almost 10% of these episodes are due to medical procedures. What is New: • Children with intellectual disability despite receiving more relieving techniques during a needle-related procedure experienced more pain and anxiety when compared to healthy children.

Perinatal palliative care (PnPC) is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary model of care with the aim of offering specific, personalised responses while guaranteeing that the child and family receive global care from the time of diagnosis until end of life.1 Italy lacks a national consensus to guide healthcare professionals involved in PnPC,2 and the choice to initiate neonatal resuscitation at the limit of viability or to interrupt intensive treatment in cases of poor outcomes is left to doctors and families. By sending an online 19-item, multiple-choice questionnaire to all centres contributing to …

Background: The prevalence of children receiving long-term mechanical ventilation at home (LTMV-H) is rising in many countries as advances in technology and medicine extend the survival of such patients. In Italy, the prevalence is 4.2 per 100,000 pediatric patients. It becomes essential to thoroughly assess these patients’ needs, and of the quality and adequacy of their home care. Pediatric palliative care (PPC) may be an appropriate strategy for the global care and quality of life of children needing LTMV-H and their families. Objective: To characterize children on LTMV-H in the Veneto Region (north-east Italy) based on the experience of the Veneto Regional Center for PPC and Pain Control (VRCPPC). Subjects: Children and adolescents (0-18 years of age) receiving invasive and noninvasive LTMV-H in the care of the VRCPPC from 01/09/2008 to 31/12/2013. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional analysis conducted by developing a regional database of children on LTMV-H. Results: 56 children were on LTMV-H (mean age 4.5 years, 55% male), during the period considered. At the time of the survey, 38 of them were still in the care of the VRCPPC, 10 had died and 8 had been discharged. The children on LTMV-H accounted for 50% of all patients in the care of the VRCPPC (38/76 patients). They suffered mainly from neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) (17 patients), myopathy (11 pts), congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) (7 pts), or nervous system disorders (7 pts). All patients had severe comorbidities. Their mean age when LTMV-H was started was 3.9 years. Ventilation was invasive (IMV) in 31 cases and noninvasive (NIV) in 25. Its initiation was mandatory in 39 cases (and in the intensive care setting for 36 of these children) and elective in 17 (and 15 of these children were in hospice care). Ventilation was provided for a mean 17.5 hours a days (14 for NIV; 18 for IMV). Median 9-year survival was 61%, but varied considerably by type of patient, being longer for NMDs, myopathy, CCHS, nervous system disorders (over 11 years in 78% of cases). Conclusion: This population has complex life-long needs and numerous comorbidities that demand appropriate, continuous and qualified care. PPC could be an efficient strategy for meeting health goals and optimizing treatment planning.

Pediatric palliative care represents the ideal response to life-limiting and life-threatening diseases and requires a specific and multidisciplinary training. This study aims at evaluating in Italy the training programs offered in pain therapy and pediatric palliative care, the exposure, and the personal experience concerning end-of-life care management. The data have been obtained through a survey addressed to all the residents specializing in pediatrics in Italy. Three hundred forty-eight of 1,200 residents from 33 of the 41 schools of pediatrics existing in Italy responded to the questionnaire. One hundred seventy-four of them (50 %) declared they received training in end-of-life care at least once: 146 during their graduation course of medicine, 84 during the pediatric residency, and 54 in both occasions. Sixty percent of respondents were present at one death at least, with an increasing percentage in the last years of residency (91.5 % in the fifth year) but only 12 % were directly involved in the management (36.2 % in the fifth year); 5.7 % managed at least one communication of death; 12.6 % followed sedo-analgesia protocols. Only 11 % of residents felt ready to face end-of-life care management. Conclusion: The training in end-of-life care in Italy is not currently satisfactory. Further efforts are therefore required to create a comprehensive and multidisciplinary training.

Brachytelephalangic chondrodysplasia punctata (CDPX1) is an X-linked recessive disorder caused by mutations in the arylsulfatase E (ARSE) gene, characterized by the presence of stippled epiphyses on radiograms in infancy and early childhood. Other features include hypoplasia of the midface and of the nasal bone, short stature, brachytelephalangy, and ectopic calcifications. Patients display marked clinical variability and there is no clear genotype-phenotype correlation. We report on a 14-month-old boy who presented with respiratory stridor due to tracheal calcifications. He had mild midface hypoplasia and brachytelephalangy, but lacked other features of CDPX1, such as short stature and epiphyseal stippling. Analysis of ARSE detected a deletion involving exons 7-10. His maternal grandfather harbored the same defect but lacked any clinical manifestation. These findings underscore two important points. First, the absence of stippled epiphyses on radiograms should not be considered an exclusion criteria for ARSE mutation screening in patients with other features of the disease, especially after the neonatal period. Second, counseling to parents of affected children should be cautious because although the theoretical risk of inheriting the ARSE mutation is 50% for every male child of a carrier mother, it is not possible to determine whether he will develop features of CDPX1 and the eventual severity of symptoms. The actual risk of developing the disease is probably lower than 50%. Conversely, normal prenatal sonography does not rule out potentially severe complications such as tracheal stenosis.