Giornale italiano di cardiologia : organo ufficiale della Federazione italiana di cardiologia : organo ufficiale della Società italiana di chirurgia cardiaca
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In the recent years lung sonography has overcome his pioneer phase with the contribution of significant data from authors of different disciplines. Today there is therefore a strong evidence that this diagnostic method could have an important impact for the diagnosis of cardiothoracic symptoms, mainly dyspnea, in emergency or in ambulatory medicine. Since the cardiologist already uses ultrasound for the study of the heart, he or she could consider the integrated cardiopulmonary sonography extremely attractive in this specific context. In this review the authors describe the anatomical, biophysical and clinical basis of lung ultrasonography in a cardiological setting.
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G Ital Cardiol (Rome) · Mar 2007
Review[Risk factors for cardiovascular diseases: what is the role for homocysteine?].
Cardiovascular diseases are commonly related to classical risk factors, but other risk markers have been identified, including homocysteine. Homocysteine is a sulphurated amino acid which derives from methionine. ⋯ A number of clinical and laboratory trials exist regarding the association between homocysteine levels and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the lack of homogeneity in the data, together with the high number of factors capable of influencing homocysteine plasma levels, and the disappointing results of therapeutic trials do not permit us at present to consider homocysteine as an independent and major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.