Acute onset of bilateral visual loss during sildenafil therapy in a young infant with congenital heart disease

We report a case of posterior non-arteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION) causing bilateral visual loss in a 7-month-old female infant, after a therapeutic course with sildenafil, a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (PDE5i). The patient was affected by a complex cyanotic congenital heart defect and had undergone cavopulmonary anastomosis (Glenn operation) 3 months ago. After 2 months of recurring chylothorax, a course of oral sildenafil was administered, with the hypothesis that pulmonary vascular resistances were increased. Approximately 4 weeks later the acute onset of visual worsening and poor pupillary light reflex prompted the diagnosis of posterior NAION. Despite a rapid cessation of PDE5i and systemic treatment with corticosteroids, no visual recovery was noticed at 2-year follow-up. NAION has been associated with PDE5i therapy in adults, but to the best of our knowledge it is almost unheard of in children. We suggest close monitoring of visual function in children undergoing treatment with sildenafil

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

Verso le Supergrid: il caso irlandese

Gli obiettivi di politica energetica dell’UE al 2050 impongono la necessità di sfruttare siti di generazione da fonte rinnovabile caratterizzati da elevata potenza disponibile ma distanti dai centri di carico. Ciò pone nuove sfide per la realizzazione di “autostrade” per l’energia elettrica, le Super Grid

Correlations and dissociations between superoxide production and adhesion function of human neutrophils

The investigation of the mechanisms that regulate neutrophil functions may take advantage of methods that simultaneously evaluate multiple responses to various cell agonists and antagonists. The results here reported indicate that superoxide production is not directly linked to adhesion on serum-coated microplates and that there is a modulating response involving CD18 integrins