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Physical activity (PA) is a crucial factor in preventing and treating obesity and related complications. In this one-arm pre–post longitudinal prospective study, we evaluated the effects of a 12-week online supervised training program on cardiac morphology, function and blood pressure (BP) in children with obesity. The training program consisted of three sessions per week, each lasting 60 min. Advanced echocardiographic imaging (tissue Doppler and longitudinal strain analysis) was used to detect subclinical changes in heart function. Categorical variables were described as counts and percentages; quantitative variables as the mean and standard deviation (SD) as they were normally distributed (Shapiro–Wilks test). Pre–post comparisons were made with a paired t-test. A total of 27/38 (71%) enrolled patients (18M/9F, 11 ± 2 years) completed the training protocol and were considered in the analysis. At baseline, no hypertensive patient was noted; all echocardiographic variables were within the normal range. After training, we observed a significant reduction in BP parameters, including systolic BP values and Z-score, diastolic BP values, centiles and Z-score, and mean arterial pressure (all p < 0.05). Significant variations in echocardiographic interventricular septum (IVSd) thickness (p = 0.011), IVSd Z-score (p = 0.001), left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic diameter (p = 0.045), LV posterior wall thickness Z-score (p = 0.017), and LV global longitudinal strain (p = 0.016) were detected. No differences in LV diastolic function and right ventricular strain were noted. PA plays a decisive role in improving BP control and has benefits on left ventricle systolic function, representing a strategic approach to limit CV risk. Online exercise could be an excellent method of training in children with obesity.

A reduced nephron number may play a role in the pathogenesis of arterial hypertension (AH), and it is well recognized that individual nephron endowment is widely variable. However, nephrons count is technically impossible in vivo. Based on the observation that subjects with a reduced nephron mass exhibit an increase in renal functional biomarkers during acute dehydration, we hypothesized that cystatin C concentration during neonatal physiological dehydration could identify subjects with reduced nephron endowment. This is a prospective, observational, cohort study enrolling healthy, caucasian, term neonates born after an uneventful pregnancy. Two groups of newborns were compared: neonates born to fathers on antihypertensive treatment (HF) versus those born to proven normotensive fathers older than 40 years of age (NF). Enrolled newborns underwent cystatin C determination at the time of newborn screening. Forty newborns with HF and 80 with NF were enrolled. No differences in baseline characteristics were observed between the two groups except for the number of hypertensive grandparents higher among newborns to HF (47.8% vs. 21.1%; p: 0.001). Cystatin C was significantly higher in newborns with HF (1.62 ± 0.30 mg/L vs 1.41 ± 0.27 mg/L; p

Sodium intake is known to contribute to the development of hypertension, thus intake reduction is a cornerstone in the prevention and management of hypertension. The increase in renal sodium excretion might represent a further potential preventive and/or therapeutic opportunity.To explore the working hypothesis that an increased fluid intake can improve renal sodium handling towards a decrease in blood pressure.The SPA Project is a multicenter, observational, cross-sectional, cohort study investigating healthy children, aged 5-8 years as to sodium and fluid intake by means of urinary sodium and creatinine from multiple samples taken in different days in order to characterize them in lower/higher sodium and lower/higher fluid intake. Both SBP and DBP (by multiple office blood pressure measurements) were used as outcome measures.Three hundred and thirty-nine healthy, nonoverweight children (51.6% boys) with a median age of 5.7 years old (IQR: 5.3-6.2) participated in the study but only 223 could be analyzed. Among children with higher sodium intake, those introducing more fluids, showed a significantly lower blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) compared with those with lower fluid intake: systolic 86.0 ± 8.5 vs. 90.0 ± 8.1 mmHg; P = 0.014 and diastolic: 53.8 ± 4.9 vs. 58.6 ± 6.6 mmHg; P 0.0001.An increased fluid intake is associated with a reduced blood pressure possibly by increasing renal sodium excretion. We speculate that this simple, highly acceptable, inexpensive, and harmless measure might have a role in preventing and/or minimizing the epidemics of hypertension and of its related morbidities both in children and in adults.

A reduced nephron number may play a role in the pathogenesis of arterial hypertension (AH), and it is well recognized that individual nephron endowment is widely variable. However, nephrons count is technically impossible in vivo. Based on the observation that subjects with a reduced nephron mass exhibit an increase in renal functional biomarkers during acute dehydration, we hypothesized that cystatin C concentration during neonatal physiological dehydration could identify subjects with reduced nephron endowment. This is a prospective, observational, cohort study enrolling healthy, caucasian, term neonates born after an uneventful pregnancy. Two groups of newborns were compared: neonates born to fathers on antihypertensive treatment (HF) versus those born to proven normotensive fathers older than 40 years of age (NF). Enrolled newborns underwent cystatin C determination at the time of newborn screening. Forty newborns with HF and 80 with NF were enrolled. No differences in baseline characteristics were observed between the two groups except for the number of hypertensive grandparents higher among newborns to HF (47.8% vs. 21.1%; p: 0.001). Cystatin C was significantly higher in newborns with HF (1.62 ± 0.30 mg/L vs 1.41 ± 0.27 mg/L; p 0.001). Linear regression analysis corrected for confounders confirmed that paternal hypertension was the only variable significantly associated with high cystatin C level during post-natal dehydration. Besides offering new insights on the pathogenesis of familial hypertension, our results support the specific role of nephron endowment and suggest the possibility of identifying subjects at risk for reduced nephron endowment as early as at birth.

Background: Sodium intake is known to contribute to the development of hypertension. The reduction of sodium intake is currently a cornerstone in the prevention and management of hypertension. Inducing an increase in renal sodium excretion might represent a further potential preventive and/or therapeutic opportunity .Methods: The SPA Project is a multicenter, observational, cohort study aimed at investigating blood pressure in relation to fluid and sodium intake with the working hypothesis that an increased fluid intake can improve renal sodium handling towards a decreased blood pressure. Children were investigated as to their sodium and fluid intake by means of urinary sodium and creatinine from 4 samples of urine taken in different days in order to characterize them in low/high sodium and low/high fluid intake groups. Both systolic and diastolic blood pressure (by multiple office blood pressure measurements) were used as outcome measures.Findings: Three hundred and thirty-nine healthy, non-overweight children (51.6% boys) with a median age of 5.7 years old (IQR: 5.3-6.2) participated in the study. Among children with higher sodium intake, those introducing more fluids, showed a significantly lower blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) compared to those with lower fluid intake: systolic 86.0 + 8.5 vs 90.0 + 8.1 mmHg; p: 0.014 and diastolic: 53.8 + 4.9 vs 58.6 + 6.6 mmHg; p

This contribution aims to report and analyze a novel approach for office blood pressure measurement in children. Healthy children 5 to 8 years of age were eligible. After 5 minutes rest, 10 unattended blood pressure readings were taken at 3-minute intervals using a validated automated oscillometric device. After discarding outlier values ( 95th percentile of the recorded values), the coefficient of variation and the mean of the 10 readings were calculated. The single readings #1 to #10 were compared with this elaborated average of the 10 measurements. Two hundred eighty-one healthy, non-obese children (137 females, 49%), median age 5.7 (IQR 5.3–6.1) years, were analyzed. The median coefficients of variation were 7% (IQR 5–9) for systolic and 4% (IQR 3–6) for diastolic blood pressure. The first 3 measurements were significantly different from the average, while the readings #4 to #10 were not. Based on the average, only nine subjects had a systolic or diastolic blood pressure > 90th centile (n = 3 > 95th percentile). Although most guidelines advise three blood pressure readings, these findings suggest that in children, office blood pressure measurement might be improved by including ten measurements. In situations of time constraints, the fourth blood pressure reading might be used as a reliable approximation.

Background and objectives Information on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) in children is scarce. While in adults office BP (OBP) is higher than ABP and the difference increases as OBP increases, information in children suggests that at this young age ABP is no lower and often higher than OBP. This study was aimed at describing OBP-ABP differences in a cohort of children of different ages and BPs, and investigating whether OBP-ABP differences are dependent on age or OBP level. Methods We retrospectively compared OBP and 24-h, daytime and night-time ABP in 433 children and adolescents aged 4-18 years, referred to our hospital clinic. Results OBP was found to be significantly lower than 24-h and daytime ABP in the low age tertile (4-10 years) but not in the medium and high tertiles. OBP was also lower than ABP in normotensive patients (n = 182), but higher than ABP in untreated hypertensive patients (n = 92) despite similar ages. Continuous analyses showed a weak correlation of OBP-ABP differences with age, and a much stronger correlation with OBP so that 24-h ABP was higher than OBP at OBP values less than 117/73 mmHg and lower than OBP at higher OBP values. Logistic regression analysis indicates that also in children OBP accounts for most of the OBP-ABP difference. Conclusion There is a common relation both in children and adults between OBP and ABP. It is only because high OBP is common in the elderly, and the lowest OBP is usually found in young children that large positive OBP-ABP differences have been associated with old age, and negative differences with childhood. OBP-ABP differences, often defined as white-coat effect, can have different directions and are likely to be largely due to regression to the mean.

Background Although the most frequent extra-pulmonary manifestations of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection involve the cardiovascular system, no data regarding heart function in infants with bronchiolitis associated with RSV infection have yet been systematically collected. The aim of this study was to verify the real frequency of heart involvement in patients with bronchiolitis associated with RSV infection, and whether infants with mild or moderate disease also risk heart malfunction. Methods A total of 69 otherwise healthy infants aged 1-12 months with bronchiolitis hospitalised in standard wards were enrolled. Pernasal flocked swabs were performed to collect specimens for the detection of RSV by real-time polymerase chain reaction, and a blood sample was drawn to assess troponin I concentrations. On the day of admission, all of the infants underwent 24-hour Holter ECG monitoring and a complete heart evaluation with echocardiography. Patients were re-evaluated by investigators blinded to the etiological and cardiac findings four weeks after enrolment. Results Regardless of their clinical presentation, sinoatrial blocks were identified in 26/34 RSV-positive patients (76.5%) and 1/35 RSV-negative patients (2.9%) (p < 0.0001). The blocks recurred more than three times over 24 hours in 25/26 RSV-positive patients (96.2%) and none of the RSV-negative infants. Mean and maximum heart rates were significantly higher in the RSV-positive infants (p < 0.05), as was low-frequency power and the low and high-frequency power ratio (p < 0.05). The blocks were significantly more frequent in the children with an RSV load of ≥100,000 copies/mL than in those with a lower viral load (p < 0.0001). Holter ECG after 28 ± 3 days showed the complete regression of the heart abnormalities. Conclusions RSV seems associated with sinoatrial blocks and transient rhythm alterations even when the related respiratory problems are mild or moderate. Further studies are needed to clarify the mechanisms of these rhythm problems and whether they remain asymptomatic and transient even in presence of severe respiratory involvement or chronic underlying disease.

A simplified antihypertensive drug regimen does not ameliorate control of childhood hypertension