Lung Ultrasound-Implemented Diagnosis of Acute Decompensated Heart Failure in the ED: A SIMEU Multicenter Study.

Background: Lung ultrasonography (LUS) has emerged as a noninvasive tool for the differential diagnosis of pulmonary diseases. However, its use for the diagnosis of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) still raises some concerns. We tested the hypothesis that an integrated approach implementing LUS with clinical assessment would have higher diagnostic accuracy than a standard workup in differentiating ADHF from noncardiogenic dyspnea in the ED.

Assessment of cardiac autonomic modulation during adolescent obesity.

Objective: To investigate the cardiovascular autonomic function in pediatric obesity of different duration by using standard time domain, spectral heart rate variability (HRV), and nonlinear methods.

Research Methods And Procedures: Fifty obese children (13.9 +/- 1.

Circadian blood pressure patterns and life stress.

Background: Scarce data are available on the influence of psychological aspects on 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure patterns either in normotensive or hypertensive subjects. This study was designed to evaluate the relationship between psychological profile and changes in daytime/nighttime blood pressure rhythm.

Methods: Nocturnal dipping was defined as the night/day ratio of ambulatory mean systolic and/or diastolic blood pressure < or =0.

Assessing resting heart rate in adolescents: determinants and correlates.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the distribution of resting heart rate and its biological and environmental determinants in adolescents. The study was cross- sectional and the population consisted of 2230 children and adolescents, age range 12-18 years, enrolled randomly from state schools in Turin, Italy. In all participants the following parameters were evaluated: heart rate, blood pressure (BP), weight, height, degree of sexual development, physical activity, parental socio-cultural level.

alpha1-adrenergic receptor subtypes in human peripheral blood lymphocytes.

We investigated the expression of alpha1-adrenergic receptor subtypes in intact human peripheral blood lymphocytes using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and radioligand binding assay techniques combined with antibodies against the three subtypes of alpha1-adrenergic receptors (alpha1A, alpha1B, and alpha1D). RT-PCR amplified in peripheral blood lymphocytes a 348-bp alpha1A-adrenergic receptor fragment, a 689-bp alpha1B-adrenergic receptor fragment, and a 540-bp alpha1D-adrenergic receptor fragment. Radioligand binding assay with [3H]prazosin as radioligand revealed a high-affinity binding with a dissociation constant value of 0.