BEAT-IT: A de-novo cardiac screening programme in Maltese adolescents.

Aims: Sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young individuals is often unexpected, provoking substantial emotional stress for family and friends of the deceased. Cardiac screening may identify individuals who harbour disorders linked to SCD. The feasibility and diagnostic yield of a nationwide cardiac screening programme in adolescents has never been explored.

The juvenile ECG pattern in adolescent athletes and non-athletes in a national cardiac screening program (BEAT-IT).

Background: Anterior T wave inversion (TWI) is frequent in healthy adolescent individuals (juvenile ECG pattern), normalising after puberty. Its clinical implications are uncertain.

Aim: This study assessed a) national prevalence of anterior TWI, b) ST segment morphology, c) proportion of individuals with a juvenile ECG pattern whose ECG normalises and d) factors predicting TWI persistence >16 years.

Dyspnoea in lupus.

A 32-year-old woman suffering from systemic lupus erythematosus presented with a 6-week history of progressive dyspnoea and pleuritic chest pain. Examination was normal apart from reduced air entry at the lung bases.Arterial blood gases showed hypoxaemia and chest X-ray revealed raised hemidiaphragms without any pleural effusions.