Case-based learning (CBL) is increasingly used across health professions education to promote clinical reasoning and professional competencies. In paediatric cardiology, rapid advances in diagnostics, interventions, and multidisciplinary care have intensified the need for educational approaches that integrate complex knowledge with real-world problem-solving.

This narrative review outlines the theoretical foundations of CBL and examines the available literature on its implementation and effectiveness in medical education generally and paediatric cardiology specifically. Emerging applications of CBL, including simulation, virtual reality, and international collaborative case conferences, were also reviewed. Key design principles for effective CBL were explored, including case selection, alignment with competency-based curricula, faculty development, and assessment strategies.

Evidence suggests that CBL enhances clinical reasoning, knowledge integration, learner engagement, and the development of professional competencies. In paediatric cardiology, CBL supports the application of complex diagnostic and management principles within authentic clinical contexts. Emerging technology-enhanced approaches and international collaborative learning initiatives further expand opportunities for interactive and multidisciplinary education. However, challenges remain, including significant time and resource requirements, digital inequities, and the need for more rigorous evaluation of educational outcomes.

Well-designed CBL appears to be a powerful educational strategy for preparing paediatric cardiology clinicians to deliver increasingly complex, team-based care. Future directions include greater integration of technology-enhanced learning, simulation-based approaches, and global educational networks to support trainees and practitioners across diverse practice settings while strengthening evidence for educational effectiveness.

A diagnosis code-based algorithm classifies outpatient antibiotic prescribing as almost always (Tier 1), sometimes (Tier 2), and almost never (Tier 3) appropriate. This algorithm has been leveraged to quantify antibiotic appropriateness and direct stewardship initiatives for adults and children, primarily based on Tier 3 encounters receiving antibiotics, but has not been validated.

To assess the performance of the algorithm for assessing antibiotic appropriateness in pediatric outpatients.

Using a pediatric care network of primary care, urgent care, and emergency departments from January 1–December 31, 2024, encounters were classified into tiers using the ICD10 algorithm. Manual chart review was performed on a stratified random sample of 300 (100 per setting) Tier 3 encounters with antibiotics using a structured protocol derived from local and national guidelines to determine antibiotic appropriateness overall and by location. Survey weights were applied to obtain estimates for all Tier 3 encounters with antibiotic prescriptions. The positive predictive value (PPV) for Tier 3 in identifying inappropriate antibiotic prescribing was calculated.

Of 272,698 encounters, 115,508 (42%) had an antibiotic prescription. The algorithm classified 10,370 (9%) as Tier 3. In the stratified manual validation sample, 170/300 were classified as appropriate, corresponding to a survey-weighted estimate of 58% appropriate (95% CI, 52%–64%) and a PPV of 42% for Tier 3 as a marker of inappropriate antibiotic use.

The established algorithm did not reliably predict antibiotic appropriateness in this pediatric outpatient population, demonstrating a need for pediatric-focused algorithms for measuring outpatient antibiotic stewardship.

To evaluate the effect of copper-coated high-touch surfaces on environmental microbial burden and healthcare-associated infection (HAI) rates.

Observational cohort study over 20 months.

Pediatric intensive care and oncology inpatient units in a tertiary care hospital.

All patients admitted to rooms with or without copper-coated surfaces.

Spray-on copper coating applied to high-touch surfaces in patient rooms.

Patients were admitted to rooms according to routine hospital practices. Demographic and clinical data were collected for a subset of patients admitted to rooms with copper-coated surfaces and matching control rooms. Environmental samples were collected from high-touch surfaces to quantify bacterial colony counts. HAIs were identified via a surveillance database and reported per 10,000 patient days. Poisson regression and negative binomial mixed-effects model were used for analysis.

Patients in copper-coated rooms were more likely to have an infection on admission (29.7% vs 2.9%; P = .003). Bacterial colony counts trended lower in copper-coated rooms (rate ratio (RR) 0.74, 95% CI 0.50–1.08; P = .11; absolute rate difference −12.25, 95% CI −26.12–2.10), with variability by surface type. HAI rates trended higher in copper-coated rooms compared to control rooms (48.2 vs 30.5 per 10,000 patient days; RR 1.58, 95% CI 0.78–3.20; P = .20).

Copper-coated surfaces were not associated with statistically significant reductions in microbial burden or HAI rates. Contributing factors may include low baseline microbial load, low baseline HAI rates, variable copper alloy efficacy, short study duration, and differences between patients in intervention and control rooms.

Although all patient deaths affect clinicians, it remains unclear how the impact of suicides differs from other deaths. Is the trauma of losing a patient by suicide qualitatively distinct, or are the emotional, professional and organisational consequences of suicidal and non-suicidal deaths more similar than assumed?

To investigate the impact of patient suicide compared with other patient deaths on clinicians’ psychological well-being, clinical practice and career. To explore clinicians’ perspectives on how current support systems do, or do not, meet their needs.

A mixed-methods approach was used. An online survey with two subsets of questions (one for suicidal and one for non-suicidal patient deaths) was circulated to clinicians across South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.

A total of 122 responses were collected: two-thirds of respondents had experienced a patient suicide, with 53% reporting moderate and 12% reporting severe impact versus 36.6% reporting moderate and 4.2% severe for non-suicidal deaths. Non-suicidal death was associated with significantly lower impact (odds ratio 0.14, 95% CI [0.05, 0.41], p < 0.001) and less disruption to clinical practice. Blame emerged as a key factor shaping clinicians’ responses: 98% of respondents rated suicide as <60% predictable in secondary care, and 69% rated the ‘zero-suicide’ policy as unachievable.

Patient suicide has a heavier impact on clinicians, qualitatively distinct from other patient deaths. Blame shapes defensive responses in suicides, and internal questioning in non-suicidal deaths. The low-risk paradox and perceived unachievability of zero-suicide policies call for re-evaluation. Acknowledging predictability limits and clinicians’ support needs can help systems navigate the complex impact of patient suicides.

Neurological soft signs (NSS) are frequent in schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD) and have been linked to structural alterations in basal ganglia-thalamic (BGT) regions. We hypothesized that SSD patients would show BGT volume differences compared to healthy controls (HC) and that NSS severity would relate to BGT volume and surface morphology in a replicable pattern.

Structural 3T T1-weighted MRI scans were obtained from 327 SSD patients and 134 matched HC in Mannheim (Germany) and Bern (Switzerland). NSS were assessed using the Heidelberg Scale and the Neurological Evaluation Scale (NES). BGT volumes were segmented using FSL-FIRST and compared across groups using general linear models adjusted for age, sex, intracranial volume, and daily antipsychotic medication. Associations with NSS scores were tested using regression analyses.

High-NSS compared to low-NSS SSD patients showed reduced left accumbens volume in both cohorts, with a significant main effect in the Mannheim cohort (β = −43.73, p = .002 uncorrected, p = .019 corrected) and a partial replication in the Bern cohort (β = −53.06, uncorrected p = .03, p > .05, corrected). In contrast, IF-related effects on left accumbens and bilateral thalamic volumes were cohort specific. Daily antipsychotic medication and illness duration did not mediate or moderate these associations.

This bicentric MRI study provides converging evidence that NSS severity in SSD is associated with BGT alterations, particularly reduced left nucleus accumbens volume. However, thalamic and surface-level findings were cohort specific, indicating partial rather than uniform reproducibility. Associations were not explained by daily dosage of antipsychotic medication or illness duration.