Children with Cerebral Palsy can imagine actions like their normally developed peers.

The present study aimed at assessing whether children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) can imagine object directed actions similarly to their normally developed peers. We asked children with CP (n = 12) and paired healthy controls (n = 12) to imagine in first person perspective eight daily actions, after observing them through videoclips presented on a computer screen. During motor imagery (MI) children were interrupted at a specific timepoint (e.g., at 2.5 s) from the start. Two frames extracted from the videoclips were then presented on the screen. One of the two depicted the correct timepoint at which the imagined action was interrupted, while the other represented an earlier or later timepoint. Children had to respond by pressing the key associated to the correct frame. Children also underwent VMIQ-2 questionnaire. Both groups performed similarly in the questionnaire and in the requested task, where they showed the same error rate. Errors mainly concerned the later frame, suggesting a similar strategy to solve the task in the two groups. The results support the view that children with CP can imagine actions similarly to their normally developed peers. This encourages the use of MI as a rehabilitative tool in children with motor impairment.

Evaluation of Cardiovascular Risk in Patient with Primary Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.

INTRODUCTION: The study aimed to investigate, in patients with primary non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), the presence of possible relationships between the degree of steatosis or fibrosis and the individual cardiovascular risk and possibly whether a difference between those various methods exists. METHODS: Thirty-four adult patients with primary NAFLD were included in this study. Clinical evaluation included an ultrasonographic examination for the determination of the severity of steatosis. Two different clinical indirect indexes of the severity of hepatic fibrosis were used: the FIB-4 score and the NAFLD fibrosis score. Then, the individual cardiovascular 10-years risk according to 5 different scores: "Progetto Cuore" of the Italian Institute of Health, Framingham score 2004-ATP III, Framingham risk score 2008, ACC/AHA ASCVD risk score 2013, ACC/AHA ASCV risk score new model score 2 were estimated. RESULTS: The severity of steatosis evaluated by ultrasonography was significantly correlated only with ACC/AHA ASCVD RISK 2013, ACC/AHA ASCVD New Model 2 2018 and Framingham 2008 risk scores. The severity of fibrosis evaluated by the FIB-4 score or with NAFLD fibrosis score was significantly correlated only with cardiovascular risk evaluated with ACC/AHA ASCVD 2013, ACC/AHA ASCVD New Model 2 2018 and Framingham risk score 2008. CONCLUSIONS: Some of the methods for the estimation of cardiovascular risk (ACC/AHA ASCVD 2013, new model 2 2018, and, also Framingham score 2008) have a clear advantage over Framingham score 2004 and "Progetto Cuore" of the Italian Institute of Health in terms of correlation with the severity of NAFLD. They are, therefore, more clinically useful.