Impact of Sex and Obesity on Echocardiographic Parameters in Children and Adolescents.

Subclinical alterations in left ventricular structure and function are detectable in adolescents with hypertension or obesity. However, data on early echocardiographic abnormalities in seemingly healthy children are lacking. Sex differences in cardiac structure and function have been previously reported, but sex-specific reference values are not available.

Use of Strategies to Improve Door-to-Needle Times With Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator in Acute Ischemic Stroke in Clinical Practice: Findings from Target: Stroke.

Background: The implementation of Target: Stroke Phase I, the first stage of the American Heart Association's national quality improvement initiative to accelerate door-to-needle (DTN) times, was associated with an average 15-minute reduction in DTN times.

Target: Stroke phase II was launched in April 2014 with a goal of promoting further reduction in treatment times for tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) administration.

Methods And Results: We conducted a second survey of Get With The Guidelines-Stroke hospitals regarding strategies used to reduce delays after Target: Stroke and quantify their association with DTN times.