Outbreak of Acute Fulminant Myocarditis in Children in Campania Region, Italy: A Case Series.

Acute fulminant myocarditis is a rare event in children, accounting for about 10% of all cases of acute myocarditis. Its lack of specific onset patterns and unpredictable evolution make diagnosis and prompt treatment challenging. We observed six cases of fulminant myocarditis admitted to our Pediatric Emergency Unit (Campania region, Sothern Italy) within a very short timeframe (50 days, from July to September 2024).

The diagnostic and therapeutic challenge of atrial flutter in children: a case report.

Background: Palpitations represent a common cause for consultation in the pediatric Emergency Department (ED). Unlike adults, palpitations in children are less frequently dependent from the heart, recognizing other causes.

Case Presentation: A 11-year-old male came to our pediatric ED for epigastric pain, vomiting and palpitations.

Cardiac Function Evaluation after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA Vaccination in Children and Adolescents: A Prospective Speckle-Tracking Echocardiography Study.

Background: Possible cardiac impairment after SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccination is a common driver of parental vaccine hesitancy. We performed a comprehensive echocardiographic evaluation of biventricular function in vaccinated children with or without previous COVID-19 compared to healthy controls.

Methods: We conducted a single-center, prospective, case-control study enrolling children and adolescents aged 5-18 years attending the pediatric clinic of the University Hospital of Padua from April to June 2022.

Evolution of congenital anomalies of urinary tract in children with and without solitary kidney.

Background: We hypothesized that children with congenital solitary functioning kidney (CSFK) present forms of congenital urinary tract anomalies (CUTA) with higher chance of spontaneous resolution compared with patients with two kidneys.

Methods: We retrospectively selected 75 consecutive children with CUTA of the CSFK and 75 matched patients with unilateral CUTA but without CSFK (controls) with prenatal suspicion of unilateral CUTA and early evaluation. We compared the spontaneous CUTA resolution and the prevalence of kidney injury between groups at last follow-up.

Pediatric Obesity and the Immune System.

Obesity has reached pandemic proportion and represents a major risk for several comorbidities. In addition to metabolic and cardiovascular obesity-related diseases, recent evidence suggested that obesity might affect immune system function. Adipose tissue is considered an endocrine organ that actively secretes cytokines also referred to as "adipokines.