Parental Perception of Children's Mental Health During the Pandemic: Insights From an Italian Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: This study explores the impact of the pandemic on children's mental health. It examined the understanding of parents regarding their children's mental condition and their ability to identify issues, 2 years post the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, 507 Italian parents reported on their youngest child aged between 2 and 17, totaling 507 children.

Differential effect of ramadan fasting on intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in diabetes mellitus and non-diabetes mellitus patients.

Background: The month of Ramadan is a holy month for Muslims. During this month, Muslims do not eat, drink, or smoke from sunrise to sunset. Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) will also fast from dawn to dusk, creating a unique opportunity to study the effects of dietary changes during fasting period.

[End-of-life care and hospital medicine. A field experience.].

A large number of elderly patients end their life in general wards, where they hardly find appropriate for their specific needs. Physicians and nurses, irrespective of their specialization, should be able to provide the dying patients with end-of-life care (EOL-care) to meet their right to die well. Purposely tailored clinical paths, inspired to the comfort care, should be constructed and disseminated.

Carotid plaque morphology and cerebrovascular events.

Aim: Beside the degree of stenosis, plaque morphology obtained by the B mode ultrasound technique has been considered to define the plaque at risk for cerebrovascular events, and a subset of patients who deserve more strict surveillance. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between plaque morphology, progression of stenosis, and the development of new cerebrovascular events.

Methods: We followed up by carotid duplex scan 230 asymptomatic patients, evaluating the degree and progression of internal carotid (ICA) stenoses and plaque morphology of the atherosclerotic lesions.

Percutaneous excimer laser angioplasty of lower limb vessels: results of a prospective 24-month follow-up.

The aim of this prospective study was to assess the effectiveness and the long-term patency effect of excimer laser angioplasty in peripheral arterial obstructive disease. Seventy-eight patients referred for excimer laser angioplasty of lower limbs have been followed up for up to 24 months. Ankle/brachial systolic pressure index, color Doppler mapping, and arterial digital subtraction angiography were performed.

[Prevalence of clinically silent pulmonary embolism in deep venous thrombosis of the legs].

Background: Thromboembolic venous disease is a possible lethal condition which is very often present in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of clinically occult pulmonary embolism (PE) in a group of patients with recent proximal deep venous thrombosis (DVT), and the relationship between prevalence of PE and DVT extension, echographic features of the thrombi, anticoagulant therapy administered.

Materials And Methods: The study enrolled 93 patients with DVT of the proximal lower extremities, without clinical symptoms and signs of PE.

The characteristics of the thrombi of the lower limbs, as detected by ultrasonic scanning, do not predict pulmonary embolism.

Objective: To evaluate whether pulmonary embolism (PE), as detected by perfusion lung scan, could be predicted by the ultrasonic (US) characteristics of the thrombi in patients with deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of the lower limbs.

Patients: Ninety-three consecutive patients with DVT and no symptoms of lung involvement (52 men, 41 women; mean age, 67 +/- 17 years).

Measurements And Results: The degree of thrombotic involvement of the lower limbs was assessed using a US score system ranging from 1 (indicating a subsegmental, nonocclusive thrombus) to 16 (massive, occlusive).

[The prevalence of carotid and coronary diseases in asymptomatic patients at high risk for atherosclerosis].

To evaluate the prevalence of carotid lesions and silent coronary artery disease in asymptomatic patients, we studied 31 subjects with one or more risk factors for atherosclerosis. All patients have been studied by means of non invasive cardiologic evaluations and carotid echo color Doppler. The prevalence of carotid and or coronary artery disease was 80%.

Intimal medial thickening of common carotid artery as indicator of coronary artery disease.

The authors investigated the relation between coronary atherosclerosis, angiographically detected, and intimal-medial (I-M) thickening of the common carotid artery (CCA), as measured by high-resolution B-mode ultrasound system. They studied 31 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and 23 healthy control subjects. I-M thickening of CCAs and atheromatous plaques at the carotid bifurcation were evaluated.

Wall thickening of common carotid arteries in patients affected by noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: relationship to microvascular complications.

This study evaluates the wall thickness of common carotid arteries and the atherosclerotic involvement of the carotid bifurcations in patients with noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), with and without microvascular complications. Seventy subjects affected by NIDDM, and 17 healthy controls were evaluated by means of high-resolution echo-Doppler scan. Twenty-six diabetics (Group A) and complications (overnight proteinuria > 500 mg, background retinopathy, sensory neuropathy), while 44 (Group B) had no complications.

Prevalence, clinical features, and acute course of atypical myocardial infarction.

Ninety-four consecutive patients (60 men and 34 women; mean age 68.5 +/- 11.5 years) with acute myocardial infarction (MI) were investigated retrospectively, in order to evaluate the prevalence, clinical features, and short-term course of the atypical forms (symptoms other than chest pain).

Arterial mapping with color flow duplex imaging of the lower extremities after excimer-laser-assisted angioplasty.

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the role of color flow duplex imaging (CFDI) in the follow-up of patients who have undergone excimer-laser-assisted angioplasty of peripheral arteries. Sixty-one patients (40 men and 21 women) were studied (mean age +/- SD sixty-three +/- nine years). All patients were affected by peripheral vascular disease and, for this reason, underwent percutaneous excimer-laser-assisted angioplasty.

Clustering of risk factors in hypertensive insulin-dependent diabetics with high sodium-lithium countertransport.

Diabetic nephropathy is more common in patients with a positive family history of hypertension and with elevated red blood cell sodium-lithium countertransport, a marker of risk for essential hypertension. To evaluate whether there is a relationship between this cation transport system and indicators of risk of renal and cardiovascular complications in diabetic patients before the development of clinical proteinuria, we studied 31 type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients with arterial hypertension, without clinical proteinuria and 12 normotensive normoalbuminuric diabetic patients. Sodium-lithium countertransport activity was significantly higher in hypertensive patients (0.

Erythrocyte Li+/Na+ and Na+/H+ exchange, cardiac anatomy and function in insulin-dependent diabetics.

It has been proposed that an increased activity of cell membrane Na+/H+ exchange, mirrored by increased erythrocyte Li+/Na+ exchange, may facilitate cell hypertrophy and hyperplasia. Patients with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus may develop a specific cardiomyopathy with systolic and diastolic abnormalities and increased thickness of the left ventricle. Therefore, we have investigated the relationships between erythrocyte Li+/Na+ and Na+/H+ exchange and echocardiographic parameters in 31 male insulin-dependent diabetics (aged 17-68), in good metabolic control.

Carbohydrate and lipid metabolism in patients with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus: effects of a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet vs a diet high in monounsaturated fatty acids.

Nineteen patients affected by non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), in good glycemic control (fasting plasma glucose 7.2 +/- 0.3 mmol/L, glycosylated hemoglobin 6.

Sodium-lithium countertransport and cardiorenal abnormalities in essential hypertension.

The rate of red blood cell sodium-lithium countertransport is elevated only in a subgroup of patients with essential hypertension. We have therefore compared renal and cardiac function and morphology in two groups of hypertensive patients with high (n = 23) or normal (n = 22) sodium-lithium countertransport (mean +/- SEM: 0.61 +/- 0.

Clinical follow-up and progression of carotid atherosclerosis determined by duplex scanning in patients suffering from TIA.

We investigated the clinical outcomes and the progression of the internal carotid arterial lesions of a group of patients presenting with hemispheric TIAs. The cumulative frequency of TIAs during a mean follow-up period of 40 +/- 14 months was 14%, and no relationship was found between new TIAs and the presence of known cardiovascular risk factors or plaque characteristics as determined by duplex scanning. With the exception of one patient who died of stroke, none of the patients developed a permanent neurologic deficit.

Noninvasive study of arterial hypertension and carotid atherosclerosis.

We noninvasively evaluated the prevalence and severity of atherosclerotic lesions of the internal carotid artery in 146 nonobese, nondiabetic hypertensive patients who were free of cardiovascular symptoms. We found internal carotid artery disease in 63 patients (43%), 26 (18%) with unilateral disease and the other 37 (25%) with bilateral disease. Disease severity was correlated with age but not duration of hypertension, cholesterol level, or current smoking habit.

Therapeutic, hemodynamic, and metabolic effects of hyperbaric oxygenation in peripheral vascular disease.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBT) consists of inhaling 100% oxygen under pressure exceeding atmospheric pressure. Patients with various degrees of peripheral vascular disease (stages II, III, and IV according to Fontaine's classification) were treated with HBT. Clinical symptoms improved in 70%.

Immunoscintigraphic detection of venous thrombosis of the lower extremities by means of human antifibrin monoclonal antibodies labeled with 111In.

A new monoclonal antibody specific for the beta-chain of human fibrin (C22A) and labeled with 111In has been obtained and successfully used in rabbits and dogs for the in vivo detection of venous thrombosis. Studies in humans are currently ongoing. In order to assess the diagnostic value of 111In-antifibrin for the detection of venous thrombosis of the lower extremities, the authors investigated 25 consecutive patients.

Specific features of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive obese women. An echocardiographic study.

The echocardiographic features of the left ventricle of 37 obese women (body mass index above 30) and 37 lean controls, matched for sex, age, height and blood pressure levels, were studied. Twenty-six patients in each group were hypertensive. The normotensive obese patients did not show any differences, comparing to the normotensive controls; on the contrary, the hypertensive obese patients had higher left ventricular mass (LVM), stroke volume and cardiac output (CO), and lower total peripheral resistance (TPR) than the hypertensive controls.

Transcutaneous oxygen tension (TcPO2) measurement as a diagnostic tool in patients with peripheral vascular disease.

Transcutaneous oxygen tension (TcPO2) was measured through Clark's electrode at the dorsum of the foot in 52 healthy controls whose ages ranged from twenty to sixty-five years (mean 45.05 +/- 14.09) and 36 nondiabetic patients with peripheral vascular disease (PVD) (5 stage I, 16 stage II, 4 stage III, 11 stage IV), under standardized conditions at rest and during recovery from limb ischemia obtained with pneumatic cuff compression for 3 minutes.