Survey on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in Italy

This study aims to investigate the incidence and the relative risk factors of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and posterior-ROP (P-ROP): ROP in Zone I and posterior Zone II, as well as to analyze the occurrence of surgical treatment of ROP and to evaluate the short term outcome of the disease in Italy

Micro-albuminuria in obese subjects: relationship among body fat distribution, blood pressure and left ventricular structure and function.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the relationships among micro-albuminuria, blood pressure and measurements of left ventricular structure and function in centrally and peripherally obese subjects compared with members of a lean control group. METHODS: Centrally obese subjects were subdivided according to whether they had levels of micro-albuminuria higher than 30 mg/24 h (micro-albuminuric group) or lower than or equal to 30 mg/24 h (normo-albuminuric group). For all the subjects we measured heart rate, casual mean blood pressure (MBP), 24 h MBP, total cholesterol level, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, lipoprotein (a) level, fasting immunoreactive insulin level, plasma renin activity, plasma aldosterone level and micro-albminuria (UAE) by current methods. Left ventricular mass indexed for body height, left ventricular diastolic and systolic diameters, interventricular septal thickness and left ventricular ejection fraction were measured by echocardiography. Peak filling rate was also calculated by radionuclide study. Family history of cardiovascular disease was evaluated for all the obese subjects.RESULTS: Lipoprotein (a) level, total cholesterol level, 24 h MBP and interventricular septal thickness were significantly (P < 0.05) greater for micro-albuminuric than they were for normo-albuminuric centrally obese subjects, whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level and left ventricular ejection fraction were significantly (P < 0.05 lower. In addition, UAE levels of centrally obese subjects were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than those of peripherally obese subjects. UAE of all the centrally obese subjects was correlated directly to lipoprotein (a) level (r = 0.33, P < 0.009), 24 h MBP (r = 0.41, P < 0.002), interventricular septal thickness (= 0.36, P < 0.005) and family history of cardiovascular disease (r = 0.33, P < 0.007). Multiple regression analysis indicated that UAE was independently related to 24 h MBP and family history of cardiovascular disease. CONCLUSION: Our data indicated that measurement of micro-albuminuria is useful for evaluating cardiovascular risk profiles of obese subjects with a central fat distributio

Survey of neonatal respiratory care and surfactant administration in very preterm infants in the Italian Neonatal Network.

INTRODUCTION: Variation of respiratory care is described between centers around the world. The Italian Neonatal Network (INN), as a national group of the Vermont-Oxford Network (VON) allows to perform a wide analysis of respiratory care in very low birth weight infants. METHODS: We analyzed the dataset of infants enrolled in the INN in 2009 and 2010 and, for surfactant administration only, from 2006 to 2010 from 83 participating centers. All definitions are those of the (VON). A questionnaire analysis was also performed with a questionnaire on centers practices. RESULTS: We report data for 8297 infants. Data on ventilator practices and outcomes are outlined. Variation for both practices and outcome is found. Trend in surfactant administration is also analyzed. CONCLUSIONS. The great variation across hospitals in all the surveyed techniques points to the possibility of implementing potentially better practices with the aim of reducing unwanted variation. These data also show the power of large neonatal networks in identifying areas for potential improvement

Survey of neonatal respiratory care and surfactant administration in very preterm infants in the Italian neonatal network.

Introduction: Variation of respiratory care is described between centers around the world.The Italian Neonatal Network (INN), as a national group of the Vermont-Oxford Network (VON) allows to perform a wide analysis of respiratory care in very low birth weight infants. Methods:We analyzed the dataset of infants enrolled in the INN in 2009 and 2010 and, for surfactant administration only, from 2006 to 2010 from 83 participating centers. All definitions are those of the (VON). A questionnaire analysis was also performed with a questionnaire on centers practices. Results: We report data for 8297 infants. Data on ventilator practices and outcomes are outlined. Variation for both practices and outcome is found. Trend in surfactant administration is also analyzed. Conclusions. The great variation across hospitals in all the surveyed techniques points to the possibility of implementing potentially better practices with the aim of reducing unwanted variation. These data also show the power of large neonatal networks in identifying areas for potential improvement