Does Oxygen Content Play a Role in Spontaneous Closure of Perimembranous Ventricular Septal Defects?

(1) Background: the impact of a series of laboratory parameters (haemoglobin, haematocrit, foetal haemoglobin, peripheral oxygen saturation, iron, transferrin, ferritin, and albumin) on perimembranous ventricular septal defects spontaneous healing was tested. (2) Methods: one hundred and seven patients were enrolled in the study (57% males; mean age 2.1 ± 0.

Atrial fibrillation in a preterm newborn with structurally normal heart.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a really uncommon arrhythmia in newborns. Here, we report the case of a 1-day-old infant who was recovered in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for a twin-to-twin transfusion. The appearance of an unexpected AF was registered at his continuous electrocardiographic monitoring.

About the need to use specific population references in estimating paediatric hypertension: Sardinian blood pressure standards (age 11-14 years).

Background: Previous Italian paediatric blood pressure (BP) tables overestimated the prevalence of hypertension in adolescents of specific geographic areas, such as Sardinia, an island in the Mediterranean Sea. This is probably due to a not very homogeneous distribution of the subjects studied, most from Middle and Northern Italy, and the long period from the survey.

Methods: BPs were repeatedly measured over a period of 3 years in 839 children (52.

Ventricular septal defect in a child with Alport syndrome: a case report.

Background: Alport syndrome (AS) is a rare inherited disorder characterized by an inflammation of the kidneys and damage to the glomerular capillaries, ultimately leading to renal failure at an early age. To date, rare reports of cardiac involvement in AS have been described, due in the majority of cases to the higher risk of heart conduction abnormalities in these patients, at times requiring implantation of a transcutaneous pacemaker. An increased risk of hypertension is likewise commonly featured.

Increased arterial rigidity in children affected by Cushing's syndrome after successful surgical cure.

Background: Complications, such as secondary hypertension, probably related to the loss of arterial elasticity, frequently arise in Cushing's syndrome, and may persist even beyond cure. This study aimed at demonstrating that arterial compliance, evaluated by automated recording of the QKd interval, was lower in children after a successful surgery for Cushing's syndrome than in a control group of healthy subjects.

Methods: In all, 23 young girls aged between 11 and 18 years who had undergone a surgical cure for Cushing syndrome - 18 with a pituitary adenoma, three with a primary adrenal disease, and two suffering from ectopic adrenocorticotrope hormone secretion - were enrolled.

[Pediatric hypertension in Sardinia: prevalence, regional distribution, risk factors].

Background: Adulthood antecedents of hypertension may be early detected since childhood. The aims of our research were: a) to identify the prevalence of pediatric hypertension (blood pressure >95th percentile according to previous Italian standards) in Sardinia and its local distribution (urban areas vs rural lands), and b) to detect the risk factors of high blood pressure.

Methods: 839 adolescents were enrolled and their blood pressure, height, and weight were measured repeatedly over a 3-year period.

The prevalence of paediatric hypertension, emphasising the need to use specific population references: the Sardinian Hypertensive Adolescents Research Programme Study.

The Sardinian Hypertensive Adolescents Research Programme Study, which for the sake of simplicity we will describe as SHARP, was aimed at detecting the prevalence of hypertension in a number of Southern Italian students, using a process of longitudinal screening lasting 3 years, hoping to answer the question whether it is better to use tables charting values established in the United States of America, or to use charts specific for the Italian population.In all, we studied 839 children, of whom 52.6% were male.

The relationship of longitudinal screening of blood pressure in school-aged children in Sardinia with excessive weight.

Our aim in this part of the Sardinian Hypertensive Adolescents Research Programme, also known as the SHARP study, was to use longitudinal screening over a period of 3 years to search for any relationship between hypertension and excessive weight in a number of Southern Italian students. We also sought to establish if this correlation can change according to the criterion used to define children considered to be overweight.We studied 839 children, of whom 52.

The influence of different surgical approaches on arterial rigidity in children after aortic coarctation repair.

Complications, such as recoarctation or secondary hypertension, probably related to the loss of arterial elasticity, frequently occur after aortic coarctation surgery. This study aimed to investigate arterial compliance as evaluated by automated recording of the QKd interval in patients who underwent repair of coarctation by construction of a subclavian flap compared with those who underwent resection of the narrowed aortic segment with end-to-end anastomosis. Thirty-nine children who underwent surgical repair of aortic coarctation by subclavian flap (n = 19) and by end-to-end anastomosis (n = 20) were enrolled.

[Partial anomalous pulmonary venous drainage: early diagnosis and complications after surgical repair of a rare pathology difficult to identify].

Partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection is a rare congenital heart defect and it is usually difficult to identify by transthoracic echocardiography alone. Here we report a case in a newborn, identified by echocardiographic imaging techniques with subcostal views, to detect the anomalous venous return. Our case is an uncommon one, as regards both its anatomy and early diagnosis.