The use of coronary artery calcium (CAC) score to guide the primary prevention of atherosclerosis and its manifestations has grown in popularity in recent years. Its advantages over the current paradigm of risk-factor-based calculators include better discrimination and greater predictive power, with the promise of better treatment decisions and timely implementation of personalized preventive measures.– CAC results are usually expressed as an absolute value and as a percentile among individuals of the same age and sex. Importantly, conveying this information […]

Arterial hypertension (AH) affects approximately 30% of adults in Brazil. A previously rare condition in children and adolescents, this situation has been changing given the obesity pandemic currently occurring in this age group. Primary AH is a complex disease, as its appearance depends on genetic predisposition and factors linked to lifestyle. There is still no robust and easily obtainable genetic score to be used clinically as a predictor of AH. The same does not occur with the lifestyle factors, as […]

Resting heart rate (RHR) is an accessible measure that may reflect the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. Elevated RHR levels are associated with cardiovascular events in adults and cardiovascular risk factors, such as overweight, abdominal obesity and high blood pressure have been associated with high RHR. Therefore, obtaining a cutoff point for the RHR in children and adolescents is essential for better screening and subsequent clinical follow-up. Furthermore, the early identification and screening of cardiovascular changes and […]

We appraise in this publication the article “Microvascular Reactivity in Hypertensive Patients with High Body Adiposity”, by D’El-Rei et al. This is a complex investigation, assessing patients with Arterial Hypertension undergoing treatment, with the inclusion of several models for obesity assessment and several hemodynamic and circulatory parameters, which are studied in this scenario. Microvascular reactivity was evaluated using the Laser Speckle Contrast Image method in combination with Post-occlusive Reactive Hyperemia, therefore studying the endothelial function in this patient population. Endothelial […]

Some things are strong, robust. In imaging in general, those are based on solid principles of physics that can resist the inequities of daily use. In computed tomography (CT), the main tissue densities are solid, measured in Hounsfield Units (HU), and some are really strong, calcium-strong, so to speak. Contrast resolution is an issue in CT imaging in general, mainly in the wide range of structures inside the water density spectrum. But the densities on both ends of the whole […]

Some things are strong, robust. In imaging in general, those are based on solid principles of physics that can resist the inequities of daily use. In computed tomography (CT), the main tissue densities are solid, measured in Hounsfield Units (HU), and some are really strong, calcium-strong, so to speak. Contrast resolution is an issue in CT imaging in general, mainly in the wide range of structures inside the water density spectrum. But the densities on both ends of the whole […]