Spotlight on islands: on the origin and diversification of an ancient lineage of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus in the western Pontine Islands.

Groups of proximate continental islands may conceal more tangled phylogeographic patterns than oceanic archipelagos as a consequence of repeated sea level changes, which allow populations to experience gene flow during periods of low sea level stands and isolation by vicariant mechanisms during periods of high sea level stands. Here, we describe for the first time an ancient and diverging lineage of the Italian wall lizard Podarcis siculus from the western Pontine Islands. We used nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences of 156 individuals with the aim of unraveling their phylogenetic position, while microsatellite loci were used to test several a priori insular biogeographic models of migration with empirical data.

Validation of the 3-lead tele-ECG versus the 12-lead tele-ECG and the conventional 12-lead ECG method in older people.

We compared the diagnostic accuracy of 3-lead tele-ECGs to both 12-lead tele-ECGs and a conventional 12-lead ECG device (the gold standard). The subjects were older people (n = 107) with a mean age of 66 years. The overall agreement between two cardiologists on interpreting the 3-lead tele-ECG recordings was 97% (kappa = 0.

[The role of molecular biology in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases].

The aim of this review is to emphasize the role of molecular biology in the diagnosis and therapy of major cardiomyopathies and cardiovascular risk factors. Therefore, we have underlined the genes responsible for or associated with these diseases while highlighting a role in the response to therapy (pharmacogenomics). Cardiovascular diseases and its related risk factors were divided into monogenic and polygenic forms.

Tako-tsubo-like syndrome with atypical clinical presentation: case report and literature review.

A 78-year-old woman presented herself at emergency for the appearance of severe dyspnea. An electrocardiogram showed signs of inferior and anterior necrosis, and laboratory tests showed a small increase of myocardial cytonecrosis enzymes. An echocardiogram detected a reduction of global systolic function (ejection fraction [EF] approximately 40%) as well as akinesia of the apex, interventricular septum middle segments, and anterior and anterolateral walls, with basal segments showing compensatory hyperkinesia.

Myocardial bridging: A 'forgotten' cause of acute coronary syndrome - a case report.

During a stress test, an asymptomatic 40-year-old man showed an ST depression above 4 mm and a horizontal ST depression above 2 mm in the V3 to V6 precordial leads during the recovery phase, without symptoms related to myocardial ischemia. After several days, he experienced recurrent episodes of oppressive retrosternal pain with radiation to the interscapular region, associated with stress dyspnea. Stress myocardial scintigraphy using technetium sestamibi was performed, which showed a modest push-pull deficit of perfusion in the septal-anterior basal area associated with a small deficit of perfusion in the apical region.