Neonatal abstinence syndrome occurs in 30% of neonates exposed to SSRIs in utero. These neonates should be monitored for at least 48 hours after birth. The long-term effects of prolonged exposure to SSRIs, particularly in neonates who develop severe symptoms, have yet to be determined.

Objective: To assess the long-term neurodevelopment of children exposed in utero to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that developed a neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS).Study Design: Neurodevelopmental evaluation was performed at the age of 2 to 6 years. Children who developed NAS were compared with those who did not using univariate and logistic regression analyses.Result: Thirty children with NAS and 52 without NAS participated in the study. Both groups were similar in mean cognitive ability (106.9 ± 14.0 vs 100.5±14.6, P ¼ 0.12) and developmental scores (98.9±11.4 vs 95.7 ± 9.9, P ¼ 0.21). However, there was a trend towards small head circumference in the NAS group (20 vs 6%, P ¼ 0.068). NAS was associated with an increased risk of social-behavior abnormalities (odds ratio (OR) 3.03, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07 to 8.60, P ¼ 0.04) and advanced maternal age (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.00 to 1.25, P ¼ 0.04). Conclusion:Infants who developed NAS had normal cognitive ability, but were at an increased risk for social-behavioral abnormalities. Followup evaluation of symptomatic neonates should be considered.

Our findings suggest that when CD is suspected, biopsies should be taken from both locations (bulb and second part) as mucosal changes may emerge only at one site. Nevertheless, the presence of characteristic histology on duodenal bulb biopsies might be sufficient for the diagnosis of CD.

Background: Recent studies suggest that the prevalence of celiac disease is rising. We previously established the prevalence of celiac disease in healthy blood donors in 2002. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine whether the prevalence of celiac disease and celiac disease autoimmunity has changed over time by performing a similar prospective study. Methods: Healthy blood donors (n ¼ 1908) were tested for tissue transglutaminase antibodies and for anti-endomysial antibodies when positive. Further evaluation followed accepted criteria for diagnosis. Results: Overall, 32 donors had abnormal tissue transglutaminase antibodies (1.68%). Eight donors had tissue transglutaminase antibodies >3 Â upper limit of normal (0.42%), two of them with tissue transglutaminase antibodies >10 Â upper limit of normal, while 24 donors had tissue transglutaminase antibodies <3 Â upper limit of normal (1.26%). Most of the donors with positive tissue transglutaminase antibodies <3 Â upper limit of normal had negative tissue transglutaminase antibodies levels on repeated testing (18/19). Celiac disease was diagnosed in four donors with positive tissue transglutaminase antibodies, establishing a prevalence of 1.68% (95% confidence interval 1.15-2.3) for celiac disease autoimmunity and 0.21% for celiac disease (95% confidence interval 0.07-0.5%). Conclusion: The prevalence of celiac disease in blood donors in Israel did not rise in the last 15 years, suggesting that the increased prevalence of diagnosed celiac disease is mainly due to increased awareness. As most of the donors with elevated tissue transglutaminase antibodies <3 Â upper limit of normal were endomysial antibody negative and had a negative tissue transglutaminase antibodies result upon re-testing, repeated tissue transglutaminase antibodies testing is required when screening asymptomatic populations for celiac disease.

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