Hot Topics, Guidelines & Standards: December 2007

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has released the following policy statements:

• “Late-preterm” infants: A population at risk
• Patient safety in the pediatric emergency care setting
• Recognizing and responding to medical neglect
• Recommendations for preventive pediatric health care
• Role of schools in combating illicit substance abuse
• Technical report: Diagnosis of HIV-1 infection in children younger than 18 months in the United States

The American College of Physicians (ACP) has released a position paper in Annals of Internal Medicine, (4 Dec 2007), 147(11):792-794 on pay-for-performance principles that promote patient-centered care.

The American Heart Association (AHA) has published a new statement in Circulation, 116(24):2878, on the safety of magnetic resonance imaging in patients with cardiovascular devices.

The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) has updated their guidelines on the role of endoscopy in dyspepsia.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has recently published the following:

• Update of recommendations for the use of tumor markers in breast cancer
• Clinical practice guideline on the use of epoetin and darbepoetin
• Recommendations for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis and treatment of patients with cancer
• Cancer Care Ontario and American Society of Clinical Oncology adjuvant chemotherapy and adjuvant radiation therapy for stages I-IIIA resectable non-small-cell lung cancer guideline

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has updated the following:

• Guidelines for the use of antiretroviral agents in HIV-1-infected adults and adolescents
• Recommendations for use of quadrivalent meningococcal vaccine (MCV4) in children 2-10 years
• Updated information regarding antiretroviral agents used as HIV postexposure prophylaxis for occupational HIV exposures

United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has updated the following recommendations:

• Screening for carotid artery stenosis
• Screening for high blood pressure

Excerpted and edited, from ECRI Institute, HCS Update. http://hcs.ecri.org/news/

ECRI Institute's Healthcare Standards Directory is available at the Rudolph Matas Medical Library, Ready Reference , W 22 AA1 H42 2007.

World AIDS Day - December 1, 2007

December 1, 2007 marked the 20th observance of World AIDS Day. The World Health Organization established World AIDS Day in 1988. World AIDS Day provides governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations, and individuals with an opportunity to raise awareness and focus attention on the global AIDS epidemic. In 2007, the estimated number of persons living with HIV worldwide was 33.2 million and there were 2.1 million AIDS deaths.


Additional information regarding World AIDS Day and HIV prevention is available:

• www.who.int/hiv : World Health Organization (WHO) and HIV AIDS
• www.cdc.gov/hiv: Centers for Disease Control (CDC) HIV site
• http://www.aids.gov/: a gateway to all Federal domestic information on HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, treatment, research, policies and resources.
• http://www.pepfar.gov/: President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
• http://www.hivtest.org/: HIV testing resources. Enter your zip code to find an HIV testing site near you!

http://www.worldaidsday.org/: brochures and information about international events.