The persistent sciatic artery.

Background: A persistent sciatic artery (PSA) is a rare vascular anomaly with an estimated incidence of 0.03-0.06%.

Beneficial effect from a cognitive training programme on children with acquired brain injuries demonstrated in a controlled study.

Primary Objective: To test the effectiveness of a cognitive training programme in children and adolescents with attention and memory deficits after acquired brain injury (ABI).

Research Design: Randomized controlled study.

Participants: Thirty-eight children with ABI, 9-16 years of age.

Cardiovascular response to physical stress in offspring of hypertensive parents: Dutch Hypertension and Offspring Study.

Blood pressure (BP) regulatory mechanisms were studied in youngsters with contrasting risks for hypertension, based on parental history, during physical stress. As a static exercise, an isometric handgrip task (22% of maximal force during 5 min) was used and a dynamic exercise task was performed on a bicycle ergometer. At rest and during stress, BP and heart rate were recorded.

Calcium metabolism and familial risk of hypertension.

There is circumstantial evidence that disturbances of calcium metabolism are implicated in primary hypertension. From a large number of observational epidemiological studies, data have shown that a low dietary calcium intake increases the risk for high blood pressure. There is no general sensitivity for the effects of inadequate calcium intake, but subgroups of hypertensive patients have been described characterized by reduced serum ionized calcium levels, increased urinary excretion of calcium, raised intracellular calcium levels, reduced cellular membrane calcium binding, and other indicators of a relative calcium need.

Cardiovascular response to mental stress in offspring of hypertensive parents: the Dutch Hypertension and Offspring Study.

Objective: To compare blood pressure-regulating mechanisms during mental stress in two groups of offspring with contrasting risk for hypertension.

Design: Cardiovascular reactivity to two different types of mental stressors was studied in adolescents and young adults with two hypertensive or two normotensive parents. The two tasks used were intended to evoke either a predominantly adrenergic cardiac response (a memory search task) or a predominantly vascular response (a reaction-time task with visual search and tone avoidance).