Respiratory diseases in pediatric triage: a comparison between a general emergency department and a pediatric emergency department.

Objective: In this study, the authors have compared data concerning the pediatric triage that is carried out in 2 large emergency departments (EDs) in Rome, one located in a university pediatric clinic with qualified staff and the other one in a general hospital with a high flow of users and pediatric admissions.

Methods: A total of 324 children were selected (162 per hospital) with ages between 0 and 3 years who went to the ED in the period from October to December 2009 for respiratory pathologic findings at the lower respiratory tracts' expense. We took and compared the following data: assignation of the color code, congruity of the color code, and realization of the reevaluation.

Pollen-induced allergic rhinitis in 1360 Italian children: comorbidities and determinants of severity.

Background: Pollen-induced allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (AR) is highly prevalent and rapidly evolving during childhood. General practitioners may not be fully aware of the nature and severity of symptoms experienced by patients and might underestimate the prevalence of moderate or severe disease. Thus, the relevance of early diagnosis and intervention may be overlooked.

[Congenital heart diseases in women].

Are there gender differences in prevalence, surgical results and long-term survival of patients with congenital heart disease? Available literature data allow us to state what follows. At birth there is a mild but significant prevalence of congenital heart disease in females. The most severe congenital heart diseases are less frequent in girls, but when they are present in females, they are linked to a higher surgical mortality rate, due perhaps to lower weight at birth and to the prevalence of extracardiac malformations and/or of associated genetic syndromes.