Evaluation of Facial Aesthetic Changes in Growing Class II Patients Treated with Herbst or Elastodontics: A Retrospective Study.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the facial profile changes of patients treated for class II skeletal malocclusions with an elastodontic appliance compared to those treated with the Herbst appliance and a control group. Forty class II patients were treated using an elastodontic appliance (Group EA) and were compared to 40 patients treated with the Herbst appliance (Group H) and to 40 untreated class II children (Group C). Aesthetic profile variables were analysed using Arnett's analysis.

Cost/effectiveness analysis of treatment options for the rehabilitation of the total edentulous mandible.

Background: Several solutions are available for the rehabilitation of edentulous jaws. Each treatment option is characterised by specific advantages and drawbacks.

Objective: The aim of this research was to perform a cost-effectiveness (CE) analysis of the main rehabilitative solutions of totally edentulous mandibles.

Endothelial dysfunction: its clinical value and methods of assessment.

Endothelial dysfunction (ED) is a systemic disorder characterized by reduced production of nitric oxide. This pathologic condition, which impairs vascular homeostasis, leads to the loss of protective properties of endothelial cells and is related to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases. ED may affect every vascular bed, accounting for several clinical implications, particularly when the coronary bed is affected.

Effects of physical activity on endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs).

Physical activity has a therapeutic role in cardiovascular disease (CVD), through its beneficial effects on endothelial function and cardiovascular system. Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are bone marrow (BM) derived cells that represent a novel therapeutic target in CVD patients, because of their ability to home to sites of ischemic injury and repair the damaged vessels. Several studies show that physical activity results in a significant increase in circulating EPCs, and, in particular, there are some evidence of the beneficial exercise-induced effects on EPCs activity in CVD settings, including coronary artery disease (CAD), heart failure (HF), and peripheral artery disease (PAD).

[Adipokines and coronary artery disease].

Adipose tissue, besides being an important energetic storage, is also a source of cytokines and hormones which act in a paracrine, autocrine and especially endocrine manner, influencing the cardiometabolic axis. Adipokines are a group of mediators with pleiotropic function, that are involved in many physiological processes, so that a disregulation in their secretion can lead to multiple pathological conditions. In this review our aim was to clarify the role of adipokines in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, especially in coronary artery disease, and based on current scientific evidence, to analyze the therapeutic and behavioral strategies that are so far available.

β2-Adrenergic receptor stimulation improves endothelial progenitor cell-mediated ischemic neoangiogenesis.

Rationale: Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are present in the systemic circulation and home to sites of ischemic injury where they promote neoangiogenesis. β2-Adrenergic receptor (β2AR) plays a critical role in vascular tone regulation and neoangiogenesis.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the role of β2AR on EPCs' function.

Effects of antihypertensive therapy on glucose, insulin metabolism, left ventricular diastolic dysfunction and renin system in overweight and obese hypertensives.

Background: We attempted to test the hypothesis that the direct renin inhibitor aliskiren can improve diastolic dysfunction, glucose, and insulin metabolism (GIM) in overweight and obese hypertensive patients.

Methods And Results: Seventy-eight hypertensive patients were divided into two groups: 38 treated with aliskiren for six months, and 40 treated without aliskiren but with only traditional anti-hypertensive therapy, as controls. Doppler mitral flow velocity patterns were assessed before and after aliskiren during a six-month period.

Prevalence of hypoechoic carotid plaques in coronary artery disease: relationship with coexistent peripheral arterial disease and leukocyte number.

In coronary artery disease (CAD), a concomitant peripheral arterial disease (PAD) entails a more severe coronary atherosclerosis. We hypothesized that the severity of carotid artery disease is greater in CAD+PAD than in CAD alone. In 90 CAD and 79 CAD+PAD patients, carotid plaque echolucency was measured by gray-scale median (GSM), and the degree of carotid stenosis by routine Doppler criteria.

Echolucent femoral plaques entail higher risk of echolucent carotid plaques and a more severe inflammatory profile in peripheral arterial disease.

Objective: Plaque instability is recognized as a multivessel phenomenon related to inflammation. This study examined if the morphology of femoral plaques was related to that of carotid plaques.

Methods: The echogenicity of femoral and carotid plaques of 102 patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) was studied and classified as echolucent or echorich according to the gray-scale median (GSM) value, which was 53.