2019 January

Pediatricians at Norton Children’s Medical Associates practices are using customized iPhones to detect serious eye problems, including amblyopia – lazy eye – and some types of eye cancer, such as retinoblastoma, in children age 6 and younger. “Detecting these issues in young kids has always been tough, because children don’t want to stay still and can’t communicate vision problems,” said April R. Mattingly, M.D., pediatrician at Norton Children’s Medical Associates – Crestwood. “Some of these issues keep kids from seeing well in the classroom, but others can lead to surgery or vision loss if not caught early enough.”

Some new parents find themselves grappling with unanticipated complications after their baby is born. If the baby has to spend time in the hospital, he or she likely will be in the neonatal intensive care unit, or NICU. That’s when parents may wonder what a NICU is and what’s the difference between levels of NICUs. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) developed standards for NICU designations to outline the type of care newborns can receive in a facility. Level 1 and 2 NICUs are designed to provide basic care for newborns with conditions that are expected to resolve without need for subspecialty care.