Therapeutic area
Paediatrics
A specific kind of medicine, from premature babies to children
Paediatrics cannot be seen as a simple adaptation of adult medicine. Children have specific physiological, biological, developmental and psychological characteristics. Their weight, age, growth, metabolism, ability to take a treatment
and family environment all directly influence their care.
In developing and using paediatric medicines, several issues are particularly important: dose adjustment, pharmaceutical form, accuracy of administration, tolerability, acceptability of the treatment, adherence and safety in use.
These constraints are even greater for premature babies, newborns, infants and children with a rare disease, for whom there is often little room for adjustment and whose care pathways are highly specific and specialised.
Meeting these needs is essential to provide care suited to every stage of a child’s development.
Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is a rare chronic respiratory disease that mainly affects babies born very prematurely, particularly before 32 weeks of gestation. It is the most common lung complication of very premature birth.
BPD results from incomplete lung development and can cause prolonged breathing difficulties. It is diagnosed by the neonatologist, in particular on the basis of a persistent need for oxygen or respiratory support at 36 weeks’ postmenstrual age.
The disease can increase the risk of respiratory complications, especially during the first two years of life. In most cases, breathing gradually improves as the child grows, although some children may have longer-term lung weaknesses.
Source: heart.org
Heart failure can be one of the consequences of congenital heart disease, which covers abnormalities in the formation of the heart present from birth. These heart defects are the most common birth defects, affecting nearly 1% of live births.
They vary widely in severity: some mainly require monitoring, while others need specialist care from the first weeks of life.
Thanks to advances in diagnosis, surgery and long-term follow-up, most children born with congenital heart disease now live into adulthood.
Chronic heart failure nevertheless remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children and adolescents.
These conditions require specialised, coordinated care. The challenge is to adapt follow-up and treatment to the child’s age, growth, the severity of the defect and their care pathway.