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Background: Over the past decades, assisted reproductive technologies (ART) have gained remarkable influence in the treatment of infertility and account for more than 2 % of births in European countries nowadays. Accumulating evidence suggests ART to cause cardiovascular alterations, including left ventricular (LV) dysfunctions, within its offspring. The aim of this study was to assess LV systolic function in subjects conceived through ART in comparison to spontaneously conceived peers., Methods: For the assessment of LV morphology and LV function, M-Mode echocardiography, pulsed wave Doppler and two-dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography (2DSTE) were applied. LV ejection fraction (EF) and fractional shortening (FS) were assessed in M-Mode and calculated by Teichholz formula. EF was additionally assessed semiautomatically through 2DSTE., Results: In total, 64 ART subjects and 83 spontaneously conceived controls with no significant differences in age (12.52 ± 5.64 years vs. 13.20 ± 5.95 years, p  = 0.486) and sex were included in the analysis. In the ART cohort, significantly lower values were observed for M-Mode assessed EF (63.63 ± 5.17 % vs. 65.35 ± 5.10 %, p  = 0.046) and FS (34.26 ± 3.87 % vs. 35.60 ± 3.84 %, p  = 0.038). However, after the adjustment for birth weight percentile and gestational age, M-Mode assessed EF and FS displayed no significant differences between both groups. LV morphology and remaining systolic function parameters, such as mitral annular plane systolic excursion, aortic velocity time integral, global peak longitudinal strain and 2DSTE measured EF, were comparable between both groups., Conclusion: This study suggests a lower LV systolic function in ART subjects, visualized by significantly lower values for M-Mode assessed EF and FS, compared to spontaneously conceived peers. The clinical relevance of these findings has to be investigated as the above-mentioned parameters were in normal reference range. In addition, LV systolic function parameters evaluated by other echocardiographic imaging modalities were comparable between both groups. Therefore, further studies will be required to evaluate the influence of ART on LV systolic function and cardiovascular morbidity in the future., Competing Interests: NR received support for symposium and others from Ferring Arzneimittel GmbH, Theramex Germany GmbH, Merck KGaA, Teva GmbH, Besins Healthcare. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Sciuk, Vilsmaier, Kramer, Langer, Kolbinger, Li, Jakob, Rogenhofer, Dalla-Pozza, Thaler, Haas and Oberhoffer.)

Background: The consumption of Energy Drinks (ED) is very popular among children and teenagers. While potential cardiovascular side effects of these beverages are suggested, the acute impact of ED consumption on the pediatric cardiovascular system has not been systematically examined yet. The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of ED consumption on blood pressure and heart rate in healthy children and teenagers., Methods: This study was a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical trial. On two consecutive days, the study participants were asked to consume a weight-adjusted amount of an ED (3 mg caffeine per kg of body weight) or a placebo containing a similar amount of sugar but without conventional ED ingredients. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and heart rate were measured at the following time points: baseline as well as 30, 60, 120 and 240 min after beverage consumption., Results: In total, 27 healthy children and adolescents (mean age 14.53 ± 2.40 years, 14 male) were included in the present study. Compared to placebo intake, mean SBP was demonstrated to be up to 5.23 mmHg ( p < 0.0001) and mean DBP up to 3.29 mmHg ( p < 0.001) increased after ED consumption. Prevalence of elevated blood pressure, stage 1 and stage 2 hypertension was higher after ED consumption. Heart rate tended to be lower after ED consumption., Conclusions: The acute ED consumption is associated with a significantly increased SBP and DBP in healthy children and teenagers. Minors, particularly those with pre-existing health conditions, should be discouraged from drinking EDs., Clinical Trial Registration: https://www.drks.de/drks&#95;web/, identifier: DRKS00027580., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2022 Oberhoffer, Li, Jakob, Dalla-Pozza, Haas and Mandilaras.)