Editorial

Welcome to the second decade of the Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine (JPRM), first published in 2008. Dr. Jacob “Jay” Neufeld founded this well-received journal for worldwide dissemination of peer-reviewed information in order to help children and adolescents with physical challenges and complex medical needs. Sadly, we lost our dear friend and colleague Dr. Jay on September 29, 2017. Dr. Jay’s Professional and Personal Tributes can be found in Volume 10, Issue 3-4. As the founder of JPRM, he will be an ongoing inspiration.

Since the end of September 2017 Birgit Bogler, JPRM’s managing editor, has been instrumental in running all aspects of the journal. Ms. Bogler queried the appropriate peer reviewers to critique the submissions, made sure the journal met publication deadlines, and kept the journal’s day-to-day business running smoothly ensuring that Dr. Jay’s legacy would continue. We are very fortunate to work with someone of her caliber, expertise and drive.

Reading through a decade of JPRM articles and editorials I am struck by the magnitude of the contributions by so many of our colleagues and the myriad specialists from around the world who served as peer reviewers. In 2011 JPRM became indexed with the U.S. National Library of Medicine. At the end of this editorial, I chronicle highlights from our first decade of publication.

JPRM’s Volume 11, issue 1 has much exciting content. Starting off this issue, the caregiver report by Stacy Suskauer and her co-authors reveals both typical and unique symptoms following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a small clinical sample of preschool-aged children. This report is followed by Tracy Fabri and colleagues’ look at the neuropsychological profile from a rehabilitation perspective in order to inform best clinical practices. For example, developing appropriate treatment pathways as well as supporting clients and families following TBI and stroke in their transition from an inpatient rehabilitation program to home, back to school, and to their community. Next, Sarah Wittry and group evaluate the “clinic walk” and how it is associated with community walking in those who are ambulatory and living with cerebral palsy. The correlation between the “clinic walk” and community ambulation is evaluated in detail. The pilot study by Donna Koller and co-authors looks at Snoezelen, which is an environment that provides controlled sensory stimulation while placing minimal cognitive demands on the individual receiving this treatment. There is very little research that has examined Snoezelen intervention with children who require complex continuing care in a hospital setting. Our next article from Ivana Olivieri and team looks at Computer-Assisted REhabilitation (CARE) Lab in a pilot study utilizing many aspects of technology to provide tailored rehabilitation care specific to those with congenital hemiparesis. The article by Supriya Shah and Philip Bryant presents a case study on the acute onset of fibrocartilaginous emboli, and a summary of the condition and the intensive inpatient rehabilitation course. We conclude this issue with Virginia “Ginny” Paleg and co-author’s systematic review that is the basis for the American Academy of Cerebral Palsy’s care pathway for hypotonia.

Each of our articles this quarter contributes to new ideas in our field. Recently, I read Malcolm Gladwell’s editorial in the January 2018 Journal of Ophthalmology about research on first year medical students’ increased ability to describe the detail of the eye exam after taking a weekly class at an art museum. How novel would that be to require an art class along with the typical curriculum for all first year medical students? I also read Mr. Gladwell’s book David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, wherein he references Emil “Jay” Freireich’s unstoppable determination and successful cure of childhood leukemia. Dr. Freireich was ridiculed and heckled and received many threats to his medical career for proposing that low platelet counts were responsible for bleeding in leukemia and that multi-drug treatment was important to cure what at that time was an almost uniformly fatal disease. Dr. Freireich was able to endure his naysayers and was instrumental in changing childhood leukemia from being almost always fatal to being the most curable cancer in children. Mr. Gladwell points out throughout his book that in order to make progress and support change, we cannot continue with the status quo.

In 2016’s Volume 9 Issue 4, Dr Jay’s editorial was about how systems struggle with change. Ignaz Semmelweis, an obstetrician at the Vienna General Hospital in the mid 1800’s, had his medical team wash their hands and instruments. These interventions reduced the death rate from childbirth in his hospital from 18% to 2%. Unfortunately, his views were considered outlandish and Dr. Semmelweis was committed to an asylum, where he died. He is known for the Semmelweis Effect—the tendency to reject new evidence that contradicts established norms. Hungary’s Semmelweis School of Medicine in Budapest is named in his honor.

The profound contributions of Drs. Freireich and Semmelweis lead me to ask the following questions: What if the cure for the conditions that we treat in pediatric rehabilitation is as seemingly simple as washing our hands or making sure platelets are within the normal range? If someone does find that cure, will we subject that individual to treatment similar to that experienced by either Ignaz Semmelweis or Emil “Jay” Freireich?

Thank you to all our contributors, peer reviewers and readers. I am honored to have been selected as JPRM’s new Editor-in-Chief. We receive a steady stream of manuscripts and invite you to participate in peer review or authorship. Please look at the overview for the first decade of JPRM that follows, and contact us with your areas of interest. Topics that have and have not been covered thus far are welcome. In the next decade of JPRM we want to expand this important source of communication of peer-reviewed pediatric rehabilitation information around the globe.

Sincerely yours

Elaine L. Pico, MD, MA Education, FAAP,

FAAPM & R

Editor-in-Chief