Principles of Child Neurology in Infancy Course

About the course

Principles of Child Neurology in Infancy sets out in a succinct format the description of basic definitions used in classification of paediatric neurologic diseases, principles of working with families, of clinical assessment, of screening, vaccination, use of investigations and treatments, and of evidence-based medicine. Topics, written by experts in the field, set out:

• Description of basic definitions used in the classification of paediatric neurological diseases
• Principles of working with families
• Assessment of normal and abnormal development from a neurological perspective
• Overview of the investigations relevant for diagnosis in children with suspected neurological disease and their treatment options
• Application of evidence basic medicine to paediatric neurology
• Includes topics covering the most recent developments in the field including genetic testing and neuroimaging pattern recognition

Contents

1 Terms, definitions, and concepts
• The basis of medical practice
• The precautionary principle in the context of neurological problems in infancy
• Ecologies of care and categories of illness
• The International Classification of Diseases
• Relevant terms and definitions
• Evidence-based medicine
2 Inter-professional working: user and carer involvement
• The holistic approach to childhood development
• User and carer involvement
• Family needs and the needs of the child
• The contribution of healthcare professionals
• Teamwork in caring for children with developmental disabilities
• The life trajectory of the child with a developmental disorder
3 Clinical epidemiology and evidence-based medicine
• Some basic concepts in clinical epidemiology
• Study design
• Some myths
• Approaches to EBM
4 Promoting child development
• Brain development
• Factors that affect the development of the child and his/her brain
• The right to ‘live happily ever after’
5 The neonatal examination and neurodevelopmental assessment
• Main features of typical neurological development
• Typical developmental milestones
• Structured neurodevelopmental scales
• Main items of clinical neurological examination
• Complementary approaches to neurological evaluation in the first year of life
• Practical conclusions
6 Neurological examination beyond the neonatal period
• Approaches to neurological assessment in infancy
• The role of the history
• Neurological examination of the infant
• Neurological examination of the infant with impaired conscious level
7 Prevention, vaccination, and screening
• Primary prevention, screening, and health promotion
• Antenatal screening
• Neonatal screening
• Infant screening and health promotion after the neonatal period
• Infant diet and iron deficiency anaemia
• Vaccination
• Screening for hearing loss
• Hearing impairment
• Vision impairment
8 Cranial imaging
• Neuroimaging principles
• Neuroimaging in clinical settings
• Imaging appearances of disease
9 Neurophysiology
• Prerequisites
• Normal EEG
• Abnormal EEG
• Amplitude integrated EEG or cerebral function monitoring
• When to do EEG or aEEG?
• When not to do EEG
10 Biochemical and haematological testing
• Biochemical analyses in blood, cerebrospinal fluid and urine.
• Anaemias
• Haemostasis
• Haemoglobinopathies
11 Genetic testing
• Inheritance patterns
• Types of genetic mutations
• Types of genetic testing
• A guide in common clinical situations where genetic testing can be of use
12 Drug treatments: drugs, vitamins, and minerals
• Drug metabolism
• Vitamins and minerals
• Application of evidence-based medicine to drug use in infancy
13 Non-pharmacological treatment
• Protocol for follow-up
• What to do when development is atypical
• Evidence-based therapies
• The role of technical equipment/aids
• Novel treatment methods require evidence of safety and efficacy

Ilona Autti-Rämö

Adjunct Professor, Division of Child Neurology, University of Helsinki Children’s Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

Peter Baxter

Paediatric Neurologist, Sheffield Childrens Hospital, Sheffield, UK

Vittorio Belmonti

Child Neuropsychiatrist, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy

Gian Paolo Chiaffoni

Head, Department of Pediatrics, Conegliano and Vittorio Veneto Hospital, Conegliano, Italy

Richard FM Chin

Professor in Paediatric Neurosciences and Honorary Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, The University of Edinburgh and Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, UK

Imti Choonara

Emeritus Professor in Child Health, University of Nottingham, Derby, UK

Giovanni Cioni

University Professor and Head, Department of Developmental Neuroscience, Stella Maris Scientific Institute and University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

J Helen Cross

The Prince of Wales’s Chair of Childhood Epilepsy, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health; Honorary Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, London, UK

Leena Haataja

Professor in Pediatric Neurology, University of Helsinki; Consultant in Pediatric Neurology, Helsinki University Hospital, Children’s Hospital, and Pediatric Research Center, Helsinki, Finland

Hans Hartmann

Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Hannover Medical School, Clinic for Paediatric Kidney-, Liver[1]and Metabolic Diseases, and Child Neurology, Hannover, Germany

Florian Heinen

Professor of Paediatrics and Head of Department, Paediatric Neurology and Developmental Medicine, University of Munich, Hauner Children’s Hospital, Center for International Health (CIH), LMU, Munich, Germany

Helgi Hjartarson

Pediatric Neurologist, MD, Department of Neuropediatrics, Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Varsine Jaladyan

Doctor, Child Neurology, ‘Arabkir’ Medical Centre & Institute of Child and Adolescent Health, Yerevan, Armenia

Harriet Joy

Consultant Neuroradiologist, Wessex Neurological Centre, University Hospital Southampton, Southampton, UK

Colin Kennedy

Professor in Neurology and Paediatrics, University of Southampton; Honorary Consultant in Paediatric Neurology, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, Southampton, UK

Fenella Kirkham

Professor of Paediatric Neurology, Developmental Neurosciences Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK

Rachel Kneen

Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, UK

Rael Laugesaar

Faculty of Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

Andrew L Lux

Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Bristol Royal Hospital for Children; Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer in Clinical Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

Vlatka Mejaški-Bošnjak

Pediatric Neurologist, Children’s Hospital Medical School, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Tuuli Metsvaht

Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

Mary Morgan

Consultant Paediatric Haematologist − retired 2016, University Hospital, Southampton, UK

Alla Nechay

Doctor, Neurology Department, Kyiv City Paediatric Hospital, Kyiv, Ukraine

Charles Newton

Professor, Centre for Geographic Medicine Research (Coast), Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kilifi Kenya; Department of Psychiatry, Oxford University, Oxford, UK Richard W Newton Honorary Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Manchester, UK

Catarina Olimpio

Speciality Registrar in Clinical Genetics, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK

E Juulia Paavonen

Deputy Chief Physician, Child Psychiatry, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki Uusimaa Hospital District; Research Manager, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

Alasdair PJ Parker

Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Addenbrooke’s Hospital; Associate Lecturer, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Barbara Plecko

University Professor; Doctor; Head of the Clinical Department of General Paediatrics, University Clinic for Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Graz, Austria

Audrone Prasauskiene

Child Neurologist, Director at the Children’s Rehabilitation Hospital affiliated to the University Hospital; Professor at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Kaunas, Lithuania

Kaija Puura

Professor of Child Psychiatry Tampere University; Chief Child Psychiatrist, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Outi Saarenpää-Heikkilä

Deputy Chief of the Unit of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Bernhard Schmitt

Professor of Paediatric Neurology (retired), University Children’s Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland

Maryze Schoneveld van der Linde

Owner, Patient Centered Solutions, Varsseveld, the Netherlands

Thomas Sejersen

Professor, Pediatric Neurologist, Department of Neuropediatrics, Astrid Lindgren Children’s Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

John BP Stephenson

Honorary Professor of Paediatric Neurology, University of Glasgow and Retired Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Fraser of Allander Neurosciences Unit, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

Inga Talvik

Head of the Department of Neurology and Neurorehabilitation, Tallinn Children’s Hospital, Tallinn, Estonia Tiina Talvik Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia

Meral Topcu

Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatric Neurologist, Division of Paediatric Neurology, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

Daniele Trevisanuto

Associate Professor of Pediatrics, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

Brigitte Vollmer

Associate Professor of Neonatal and Paediatric Neurology, Clinical Neurosciences, Clinical and Experimental Science, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton; Honorary Consultant Paediatric Neurologist, Southampton Children’s Hospital, Southampton, UK

Valerie Walker

Honorary Consultant Chemical Pathologist, University Hospital, Southampton, UK

Jane Williams

Consultant Paediatrician, Neurodisability and Child Health, Nottingham Children’s Hospital, Nottingham University Hospital NHS Trust, Nottingham, UK

Geoffrey Woods

Professor of Medical Genetics, The Clinical Medical School, University of Cambridge, UK Honorary Consultant in Clinical Genetics, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK

Dilek Yalnizoglu

Professor of Paediatrics, Division of Paediatric Neurology, Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

Accessed online and hosted on a Moodle learning platform, the course is open for you to work through at your own pace for 12 months with possible renewal.

• Complements your clinical training to improve knowledge and clinical practice
• Summaries of each topic highlight key messages, common errors and when to worry
• Interact with the material by answering reflective activities to create a digital workbook
• Test your knowledge with a Multiple Choice Questionnaire
• Read further with references and free access to videos and seven classic paediatric neurology text books
• Receive a PDF certificate on completion with EPNS endorsement. 
• Estimated time to complete: 11.5 hours

Who will find this course useful?

This course will be very useful for paediatric neurologists in training or medical professionals who would like to acquire a neurological perspective on the application in the first two years of life of clinical assessment, investigation, support of care-givers, promotion of normal development, and prevention and clinical management of neurological or neurodevelopmental problems. This course is also suitable for paediatric neurologists, paediatricians and neonatologists in senior positions, child psychiatrists in training, developmental specialists, rehabilitation specialists, paediatric neurosurgeons, physiotherapists, and specialist nurse practitioners.