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It has been reported that the incidence of thrombotic events can display a gender disparity. In particular, a lower thrombotic risk has been described in female gender. The mechanisms underlying this disparity are still poorly understood. Of great interest is the hypothesis that hormones, estrogen in particular, could play a key role. In fact, the possibility that some hormonal factors could protect women from thrombotic events appears well documented in literature. For instance, several studies aimed at the analysis of the impact of estrogen and estrogen receptors in thrombogenesis claim for the implication of these hormones either in megakaryocyte differentiation or, more intriguingly, directly affecting platelet integrity and function. In consideration of the absence of the nucleus, platelet susceptibility appears quite striking and probably due to the non-nuclear estrogen receptor function. In this review we briefly summarize our knowledge as concerns the role of estrogen and estrogen receptors in determining megakaryocyte/platelet functions and thrombogenicity.

stroke with patent foramen ovale. N Engl J Med 2012;366:991–9. [14] Carroll JD, Saver JL, Thaler DE, et al. Closure of patent foramen ovale versusmedical therapy after cryptogenic stroke. N Engl J Med 2013;368:1092–100. [15] Meier B, Kalesan B, Mattle HP, et al. Percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale in cryptogenic embolism. N Engl J Med 2013;368:1083–91. [16] Hornung M, Bertog SC, Franke J, et al. Long-term results of a randomized trial comparing three different devices for percutaneous closure of a patent foramen ovale. Eur Heart J 2013;34:3362–9. [17] Rutten-Jacobs LC, Arntz RM, Maaijwee NA, et al. Long-term mortality after stroke among adults aged 18 to 50 years. JAMA 2013;309:1136–44.

Kawasaki disease (KD) is a rare systemic vasculitis typical of theearly childhood. It is characterized by small- and medium-sized bloodvessel inflammation that can also lead to coronary artery weakening,aneurysmformation,andmyocardialinfarction.Therapywithimmuno-globulinandaspirinaimstoreducecoronaryarteryinflammation.How-ever, it has been hypothesized that, notwithstanding the efficacy of thepharmacological therapy, patients with regressed KD are at increasedrisk to develop atherosclerosis after the acute illness.In this work, the case of a 17-month-old child with KD was studied.The patient was recruited from the Bambino Gesu Hospital of Rome(Italy). Diagnosis of KD was based on the standard clinical criteria [1].The study was conducted at admission of the patient (naive patient)and at follow-up. Five age-matched healthy donors (HD) were usedforeachtimepointascontrols.Informedconsentbyparentswasobtain-ed.This study was approved from theInstitutional Review Board of the“Bambino Gesu” Hospital of Rome, Italy.At admission, the patient reported fever since 5 days, and hadurticar-ial, a non-purulent conjunctivitis, cheilitis and a hyper-echogenicity ofcoronary arteries without dilatation. Laboratory analyses showed: redblood cell (RBC) and platelet counts in the normal range (4.26 · 10