A new study from Boston Children's Hospital found that annual prescription rates increased nonlinearly as children's underlying level of medical complexity increased. Frequent antibiotic use has associated risks, including an increased likelihood of antibiotic-related complications (e.g., C. difficile), as well as the development of antibiotic resistance.

Preliminary findings from a national birth cohort suggest strong associations between exposure to fathers' depression in pre-adolescence and poor educational outcomes among males, but not females. The findings suggest a strong need to identify and support fathers with depressive symptoms and their sons to promote positive educational attainment. The research will be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2026 Meeting, taking place April 24–27 in Boston.

Combining medications with behavioral therapy to treat chronic insomnia might not be best for all patients, a new practice guideline says. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) works best on its own, but can be combined with sleep meds for some patients, according to the guideline published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Critical congenital heart diseases, or CCHDs, are a group of life-threatening structural heart defects present at birth. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in four babies born with a heart defect has a CCHD, and treatment—medication and/or surgery—must take place within the first year of life.

Less than half of pregnant women with opioid use disorder (OUD) receive medications for OUD (MOUD) during pregnancy, according to a study published online April 22 in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.

New evidence on cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIED) lead management and the burgeoning development of new CIED technologies have contributed to the field's rapid evolution in the last decade. The new "2026 HRS/AHA/APHRS/EHRA/IDSA/LAHRS/PACES/STS Expert Consensus Statement Update on Cardiovascular Implantable Electronic Device Lead Management and Extraction" in Heart Rhythm, details the latest recommendations aimed at guiding clinicians and patients in choosing the right device and managing it over time to reduce complications and support better quality of life.

A new treatment for patients with life-threatening infectious diseases is being pioneered in Melbourne by researchers at The Alfred and Monash University. VICPhage, a clinical partnership between The Alfred and Monash, is one of the first in Australia to offer end-to-end capacity in phage therapy to treat some of the most challenging infections.

Firearm violence is the leading cause of death among U.S. youth. A new study from Boston Children's Hospital found that youth-perpetrated firearm homicides increased by 41% between 2018 and 2022. Stronger firearm laws were associated with lower homicide rates, with states in the strongest law quintile having a 66% lower homicide rate compared with those in the weakest quintile.

A protein long understood to drive inflammation by producing nitric oxide has a second, previously unknown role—it physically binds to another key protein inside cells to directly modulate the immune response. The discovery, published in Nature Metabolism, could open new routes to treating conditions such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis, Crohn's and other inflammatory diseases.

A novel detection algorithm spotted moderate-to-severe aortic stenosis (AS) with a sensitivity of 90.5% of all patients and 100% of African American patients. Researchers presented the late-breaking data at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) 2026 Scientific Sessions & Canadian Association of Interventional Cardiology/Association Canadienne de cardiologie d'intervention (CAIC-ACCI) Summit in Montreal.