Numerous studies on perinatal long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid nutrition have clarified the influence of dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) on central nervous system PUFA concentrations. In humans, omnivorous primates, and piglets, DHA and ARA plasma and red blood cells concentrations rise with dietary preformed DHA and ARA. Brain and retina DHA are responsive to diet while ARA is not. DHA is at highest concentration cells and tissues associated with high energy consumption, consistent with high DHA levels in mitochondria and synaptosomes. DHA is a substrate for docosanoids, signaling compounds of intense current interest. The high concentration in tissues with high rates of oxidative metabolism may be explained by a critical role related to oxidative metabolism.Neural tissue contains the highest concentrations of the most highly unsaturated fatty acids found in mammals. The aggressive increase in specific CNS long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCP) starting about 25 weeks of gestation lead to studies of the perinatal ontogeny of LCP in the CNS [1][2][3], and to studies of consequences of abnormal supply of LCP [4,5]. These in turn led to concerns for CNS development in the smallest preterm infants [6,7], who do not benefit from placental transfer of LCP, particularly docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA), during the third trimester of gestation and until recently were fed on diets devoid of LCP. Though several tracer studies showed that even the smallest preterm infants synthesize DHA and ARA (e.g., [8]), and that primates synthesize DHA in utero [9], the capacity to synthesize DHA appears to be very low in humans at all life stages [10]. Studies of autopsy samples of infants dying due to non-neurological events showed that the concentration of CNS DHA is 10-30% lower in bottle fed term infants than in breastfed infants, depending on the region of the CNS [11,12]. These studies were performed prior to the era when DHA was a component of infant formula, and were widely interpreted as suggestive of the hypothesis that dietary DHA promotes CNS DHA status. These studies along with early animal studies prompted intense interest as to whether DHA enhances functional development in human infants.

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Phimosis is a physiological condition in neonates due to natural adhesion between the foreskin and the glans. Chronic infection due to poor hygiene is responsible for most cases of childhood phimosis. Circumcision is the traditional treatment of choice for phimosis or unretractable foreskin, although it is not always desired by parents or surgeons. Topical steroid cream is an easy, safe and nonsurgical alternative for phimosis. However, boys with a buried penis are not good candidates for steroid treatment.

US is a noninvasive, readily available, and highly accurate (95%) method for evaluating the presence of inguinal hernia in children at risk, especially when the clinical findings are equivocal or normal. US can provide an objective measure in determining the advisability of exploratory inguinal surgery in such cases.