Use of Static Cutoffs of Hypertension to Determine High cIMT in Children and Adolescents: An International Collaboration Study.

Background: Pediatric hypertension is typically defined as blood pressure ≥ sex-, age-, and height-specific 95th percentile (high) cutoffs. Given the number of strata, there are hundreds of cutoffs for defining elevated and high blood pressure that make it cumbersome to use in clinical practice. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of the static cutoffs for pediatric hypertension (120/80 mm Hg for children and 130/80 mm Hg for adolescents) in determining high carotid intimamedia thickness (cIMT) in children and adolescents.

Metabolic syndrome, clustering of cardiovascular risk factors and high carotid intima-media thickness in children and adolescents.

Objective: The clinical utility of screening for pediatric metabolic syndrome (MetS) in children and adolescents is still controversial. We examined the performance of pediatric MetS vs. clustering of cardiovascular risk factors (which are the components of MetS) for predicting high carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in children and adolescents.

Metabolically Healthy Obesity and High Carotid Intima-Media Thickness in Children and Adolescents: International Childhood Vascular Structure Evaluation Consortium.

Objective: It has been argued that metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) does not increase cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. This study examines the association of MHO with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT), a proxy of CVD risk, in children and adolescents.

Research Design And Methods: Data were available for 3,497 children and adolescents aged 6-17 years from five population-based cross-sectional studies in Brazil, China, Greece, Italy, and Spain.

Association of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and cardiometabolic risk factors with early atherosclerosis in an adult population in Southern Italy.

Aim: The prevalence of risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases was investigated in an adult population of the city of Cittanova, Southern Italy.

Methods: The study was conducted among 992 randomly selected adults aged 18-75 years, between April 2009 and January 2011.

Results: Prevalence rates of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), overweight, obesity, and metabolic syndrome (MS) were 24.

Body mass index, cardiovascular risk factors, and carotid intima-media thickness in a pediatric population in southern Italy.

Objectives: Obesity and exposure to cardiovascular risk factors during adolescence may be associated with the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases later in life. The objective of the study was to investigate whether any excess body weight, including moderate overweight, is associated with a more severe cardiovascular risk profile and signs of early atherosclerosis in a pediatric population.

Patients And Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 646 adolescents ages 11 to 13 years from several primary schools of Reggio Calabria, Italy.

Cardiovascular risk factors, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and carotid artery intima-media thickness in an adolescent population in southern Italy.

The objective of this study was to determine, in an adolescent population, the prevalence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the association of NAFLD and cardiovascular risk factors with carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT), a marker of subclinical atherosclerosis. The authors conducted a population-based study among 642 randomly selected adolescents aged 11-13 years in Reggio Calabria, southern Italy, between November 2007 and October 2008. Prevalences of overweight and obesity were 30.

Prevalence and etiology of altered liver tests: a population-based survey in a Mediterranean town.

Serum biochemical liver tests (LTs) (ALT, AST, GGT) and platelet counts are often used to screen for chronic liver disease. Population-based data on abnormal LTs in Mediterranean areas are lacking. The prevalence and etiology of abnormal LTs were assessed from 2002 to 2003 in a 1 in 5 systematic random sample of the general population who were 12 years of age or older in Cittanova, a southern Italian town with 10,600 inhabitants.