Impact of Ethnicity on the Prevalence of Early Repolarization Pattern in Children: Comparison Between Caucasian and African Populations.

The patterns and prevalence of early repolarization pattern (ER) in pediatric populations from ethnic backgrounds other than Caucasian have not been determined. Black African children (ages 4-12) from north-west Madagascar were prospectively recruited and their ECGs compared with those of age- and sex-matched Caucasian ethnicity individuals. ER was defined by ≥ 0.

Influence of gender and malnutrition on QT dispersion in a north-Malagasy children population.

Background: Children malnutrition involves simultaneous deficiency of nutrients, leading to cardiac morphological and functional alterations. In this complex condition repolarization abnormalities can evolve. Also, sexual dimorphism is a well-established phenomenon, but its influence on ventricular repolarization varies tremendously among races.

Bipolar sealing devices in video-assisted thoracic surgery.

Intraoperative bleeding is one of the main severe complications in complete video-assisted thoracic surgery (c-VATS) and post-operative air-leaks prevention still represents an important challenge. Usually, hemostasis is often difficult and unsafe when the VATS approach is performed and the potential role of bipolar sealing devices is still undefined, as proven by limited experiences reported in the literature. By introducing endostaplers in VATS surgery, it was possible to perform safe thoracoscopic resections of lung.

Beneficial therapeutic effects of vitamin C on recurrent respiratory tract infections in children: preliminary data.

Background: The aim of this study was to demonstrate whether supplementation of vitamin C has a beneficial effect in the prevention of recurrent respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in children. Moreover, we evaluate the main risk factors that predispose to the development of this disease.

Methods: Sixty children have been enrolled in the study and randomized into two groups: the control group (G1 N.

ECG is an inefficient screening-tool for left ventricular hypertrophy in normotensive African children population.

Background: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a marker of pediatric hypertension and predicts development of cardiovascular events. Electrocardiography (ECG) screening is used in pediatrics to detect LVH thanks to major accessibility, reproducibility and easy to use compared to transthoracic echocardiography (TTE), that remains the standard technique. Several diseases were previously investigated, but no data exists regarding our study population.

Effects of Malnutrition on Left Ventricular Mass in a North-Malagasy Children Population.

Background: Malnutrition among children population of less developed countries is a major health problem. Inadequate food intake and infectious diseases are combined to increase further the prevalence. Malnourishment brings to muscle cells loss with development of cardiac complications, like arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy and sudden death.

Association among nocturnal enuresis, body weight and obstructive sleep apnea in children of south Italy: an observational study.

Background: To evaluate the rate of nocturnal enuresis (NE), body weight and obstructive sleep apnea in children 5 to 10 years of age in South Italy and the possible association among these disorders.

Methods: We have administered 1100 validated questionnaires, in Italian language, to parents and we have analyzed data with a logistic regression.

Results: Forty-two percent of children had a BMI≥85th (group 1) vs 58.