Mariateresa Pucci

Diabetes Mellitus and Ischemic Heart Disease: The Role of Ion Channels

Diabetes mellitus is one the strongest risk factors for cardiovascular disease and, in particular, for ischemic heart disease (IHD). The pathophysiology of myocardial ischemia in diabetic patients is complex and not fully understood: some diabetic patients have mainly coronary stenosis obstructing blood flow to the myocardium; others present with coronary microvascular disease with an absence of plaques in the epicardial vessels. Ion channels acting in the cross-talk between the myocardial energy state and coronary blood flow may play a role in the pathophysiology of IHD in diabetic patients. In particular, some genetic variants for ATP-dependent potassium channels seem to be involved in the determinism of IHD.

EKG ABNORMALITIES DISTRIBUTION BETWEEN COMPETITIVE ATHLETES, NON COMPETITIVE ATHLETES AND NON ATHLETES IN A POPULATION OF 12,000 YOUNG ITALIAN STUDENTS

Introduction: The European Society of Cardiology recommends cardiovascular screening to competitive athletes. In young population the execution of 12-lead ECG screening is still controversial. Hypothesis: The aim of our study is to evaluate the distribution of ECG abnormalities between competitive athletes, non competitive athletes and non athletes. Methods: From October 2010 to October 2015, we evaluated prospectively 11916 high school students (age 17.2 ± 2.4 years old; 45.9% male): 4533 (38.04 %) non athletes (G-A), 4936 (41.42 %) non competitive athletes (G-B) and 2447 (20.54%) competitive athletes (G-C). They were screened using 12-lead ECG. The statistical difference was considered significant only for p-value l this suggest that an ECG screening is recommended also in non athletes.