INTRODUCTION Pharmacogenetics aims to identify the underlying genetic factors participating in the variability of drug response. Indeed, genetic variability at the DNA or RNA levels can directly or indirectly modify the pharmacokinetic or the pharmacodynamic parameters of a drug. The ultimate aim of pharmacogenetics is to move towards a personalised medicine by predicting responders and non-res...

The MADIT-II trial showed that in patients with a prior myocardial infarction and ejection fraction </=0.30, prophylactic implantation of a defibrillator improves survival with a 31% reduction in mortality during an average follow-up of 20 months. Electrophysiologic inducibility was positive in 36% of patients at the time of ICD implantation. Inducibility was associated with increased ICD utili...

The delivery of a preterm infant offers a unique opportunity to look directly upon the process of ontogeny, while at the same time organ immaturity is the basis of the clinical problems which challenge neonatal medicine. In recent years our knowledge of foregut ontogeny has increased, together with an increased body of clinical experience, yet the nutritional management of the preterm infant re...