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S Pesenti

Publications and source records attributed to S Pesenti.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Callosal transfer in different subtypes of developmental dyslexia.

Sixteen controls (age 6-13) and 20 native Italian children with developmental dyslexia (age 7-15) received a test of callosal transfer of tactile information. Among the dyslexic children, 7 had a diagnosis of L-type, 7 of P-type and 6 of M-type dyslexia according to Bakker's classification. Both control children and children with dyslexia made a significantly larger number of errors in the crossed localization condition (implying callosal transfer of tactile information) vs. the uncrossed condition. In the same condition, children with dyslexia made a significantly larger number of errors than controls. In the crossed localization condition L-types and M-types made a significantly larger number of errors than P-types and controls, while there was no significant difference in performance between P-types and controls. These findings are discussed in terms of defective callosal transfer or deficient somatosensory representation in children with L- and M-dyslexia.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Depressive symptoms as measured by the CDI in a population of northern Italian children.

The aim of this study was to evaluate some Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) psychometric properties and the prevalence of depressive symptoms in an unselected Italian sample of two hundred and eighty-four children aged 8 years. The CDI internal consistency was adequate (Cronbach's alpha:.80). The mean and standard deviation of CDI and the percentage of children at risk of depression (10.6%) in this sample are consistent with the figures reported by other studies carried out in northern Europe and North America. There were differences in gender and socioeconomic level in that boys scored higher than girls, and in the lower socioeconomic level there were more children at risk of depression. Ten items best discriminated children at risk for depression with 94% of correct classification. Most of these items consisted of observable signs. It is suggested that the CDI has noteworthy consistency across samples of relatively different cultures, that it can reliably be employed in the assessment of young children, and that observable signs outnumber internalizing symptoms of depression among children at risk

Catchment Area, Health↗
PubMed2000

A cultural effect on brain function.

We present behavioral and anatomical evidence for a multi-component reading system in which different components are differentially weighted depending on culture-specific demands of orthography. Italian orthography is consistent, enabling reliable conversion of graphemes to phonemes to yield correct pronunciation of the word. English orthography is inconsistent, complicating mapping of letters to word sounds. In behavioral studies, Italian students showed faster word and non-word reading than English students. In two PET studies, Italians showed greater activation in left superior temporal regions associated with phoneme processing. In contrast, English readers showed greater activations, particularly for non-words, in left posterior inferior temporal gyrus and anterior inferior frontal gyrus, areas associated with word retrieval during both reading and naming tasks.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

[Does an early heart attack in a parent indicate increased cardiovascular risk in the offspring?].

In a 5-year period analyzed were cardiovascular risk factors in 55 patients suffering from premature coronary accidents (below the age of 45) and in their 97 offsprings, aged 3-26 years. In 50 of these children (51.6%), 22 girls and 28 boys, in addition to the obvious positive family history, detected were other cardiovascular risk factors. The most common among them was hypercholesterolemia (in 45.0%), followed by arterial hypertension (40.0%), obesity (32.0%) and smoking (24.0%). Majority of these offsprings (64.0%) had only one additional risk factor. The average blood pressure, relative weight and cholesterol levels were significantly higher in these very children than in all the coronary offsprings (p < 0.05), and even more so (p < 0.01) than in the matching control sample.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1995

Peculiarities of myocardial infarction at young age in Southern Croatia.

The aim of this study was to assess whether acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in younger patients (< 45 years) differs from that in the older individuals (> 45 years). We have studied the records of all patients admitted to the Department of Medicine, Clinical Hospital of Split, Croatia, because of AMI from January 1st, 1987 to December 31st, 1991. The study group consisted of 1406 patients, 130 (9.2%) below, and 1276 (90.8%) above the age of 45. In the ¿young¿ subgroup there were only 9 females (6.9%), significantly less than in the ¿old¿ one (399 out of 1276 or 31.3%, p < 0.001). There were many more smokers among the younger (100 out of 130 or 76.9%) than among the older patients (524 out of 1276 or 41.1%, p < 0.001). The location of myocardial necrosis was also different: inferior infarction occurred in 65 out of 130 or 50% young patients and in 442 out of 1276 or 34.6% old patients; p < 0.001). Finally, the hospital mortality rate among the younger AMI patients was quite low (8 out of 130 or 6.2%) when compared to that of the older patients (282 out of 1276 or 22.1%, p < 0.001). In conclusion, AMI in younger individuals shows relevant peculiarities: the background of such patients almost invariably includes cigarette smoking; the female gender is about five times less affected, the diaphragmatic location is nearly two times more frequent, and the hospital mortality rate of these patients is almost four times lower than that of older patients.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The impact of war upon the pupils' growth in southern Croatia.

In order to assess the influence of war calamities on the pupils' growth rate, the height, weight, and relative weight of children from Split at the time of entering two major elementary schools (age about 6.5 years) and some 10 months later, during the two pre-war years (i.e. 1988/1989 and 1989/1990) and the two years of the war against Croatia (i.e. 1990/1991 and 1991/1992) were compared. A notable increase in body weight, ranging from 12.24 to 14.50% (compared with 8.57-11.93%; t = 1.23, P > 0.05), but not in height was observed in the first, and a significant acceleration in the longitudinal growth (4.53-4.73% as compared with 3.38-4.24%; t = 4.01, P < 0.01) but not in weight gain was noted in the second war year. These unexpected findings lead to a conclusion that the war atrocities may affect the children's growth rate differently, depending on the amount and quality of the consumed food, on the level of energy expenditure, and possibly on the variable impact of emotional stress.

Anthropometry↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Familial cardiovascular risk factors].

In a 16 per cent systematic sample of the fifth grade elementary school pupils from Split, Yugoslavia (198 boys and 250 girls, aged 11.3 +/- 0.4 years; mean +/- SD), 116 children (25,9% of the sample; 61 girls and 55 boys) were found at risk for cardiovascular diseases, having the values of one or more of the recognized risk factors above the 90th percentile of distribution for age and sex, e.g. serum cholesterol greater than 5.6 mmol/l. After the 3-year follow-up period the parents and the available relatives of these children were checked for the same risk factors in order to evaluate the magnitude of family aggregation. The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was 3-5 times higher for the parents of the children at risk than for the control parents (e.g. 57.1 vs 11.8 per cent in boys; p less than 0.001). The observed parent-child agreement was highest for serum cholesterol and triglycerides (range 30.0-37.5%; p less than 0.01). The family clustering of risk factors was prominent in the second generation (e.g. grandparents, p less than 0.01) as well, and even among the other relatives (p less than 0.05). It is concluded that the probability of adverse cardiovascular outcome increases not only with the individual level of aberration and with the mutual enhancement of risk factors, but with positive history and family aggregation as well: these phenomena have important influence on the process of physicians' decision making, with obvious practical implications.

Cardiovascular Diseases↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Characteristics of patients with acute myocardial infarction treated in Split 1982-1992].

Three thousand three hundred and fifty-two patients (70% males and 28% females) were hospitalized and treated in Split for acute myocardial infarction (hospital mortality 20%) between 1982-1992. The number of these admissions has been constantly rising from 226 in 1982 to 397 in 1992. Over 45 years of age were 3043 (90.8%) of the patients (70% males and 30% females), while 309 of them (9.2%) were under 45 (93% males, 7% females). The lethality rate was 21% in the first and 8% in the second subgroup. In patients over 45 inferior myocardial infarction was found in 35%, and in patients under 45 in 49%. In the older group there were 40% smokers, 42% hypertensives and 39% hypercholesterolemics, while there were 75% smokers, 35% hypertensives and 33% hypercholesterolemic patients in the younger age group. The results show that the number of patients treated for acute myocardial infarction in the Split region is constantly increasing (p < 0.001). In patients under 45 years of age there is significantly higher inferior infarction prevalence (p < 0.001); a larger percentage of males (p < 0.001) and smokers (p < 0.001), and lower percentage of hypertensives (p < 0.001) and hypercholesterolemic patients (p < 0.05) was observed, as well as lower hospital mortality rate (p < 0.001).

Croatia↗