0000000000867675

AUTHOR

Claudia Cusimano

Multiple organ failure as onset of Mediterranean spotted fever: a review based on a case

Mediterranean spotted fever (MSF) is an infectious disease endemic in the southern regions of Italy, with an incidence of about 400 cases/year. The bacteria responsible of the disease is <em>Rickettsia conorii</em>, transmitted to humans by <em>Rhipicephalus sanguineus</em>, the common dog tick. The infection usually manifests with a characteristic symptomatologic triad: fever, exanthema and the so called <em>tache noire</em>, which is the typical eschar at the site of the tick bite. Immunoglobulin M (IgM) and IgG enzymelinked immunosorbent assay and the gold standard micro-immunofluorescent assay, allow serological diagnosis. We report the case of a man …

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SERUM URIC ACID IS INCREASED IN NORMOTENSIVE OBESE CHILDREN WITH A PARENTAL HYSTORY OF HYPERTENSION

Introduction: Increased uric acid levels are associated with new-onset hypertension in children. Nevertheless, controversy remains concerning a direct causative role of serum uric acid (SUA) in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension (EH). Aim: To determine if normotensive obese children and adolescent offspring of adults with EH show SUA levels different than those of paediatric subjects in whom there is no family history of EH. Methods: Fifty-nine obese normotensive children and adolescents, aged between 8 and 17 years, attending for metabolic assessment the Paediatric Diabetes Unit, Children’s Hospital ‘‘G. Di Cristina’’, and for cardiovascular evaluation the ESH Hypertension excellen…

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AORTIC STIFFNESS IS INCREASED IN NORMOTENSIVE PATIENTS WITH SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS Abstracts from the 17th National Congress of the Italian Society of Cardiovascular Prevention (SIPREC), Naples, 21-23 March 2019

Introduction: Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) have an increased risk of developing cardiovascular (CV) events. A marker of early vascular aging (EVA) is aortic pulse wave velocity (aPWV) which is a measure of arterial stiffness. Aim: To evaluate aPWV and the prevalence of EVA in a group of normotensive patients with SLE and to compare these values with those obtained in age- and gender-matched control subjects. Method: Aortic PWV was measured by a validated oscillometric device (Arteriograph). EVA was identified when the age-adjusted z-score of aPWV exceeded ? 1.96 (EVA1). The aPWV z-score was calculated using the ratio ‘‘Observed PWV–Predicted PWV/SD Predicted’’ and we obt…

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