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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2008;135:442-444
© 2008 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Brief Communication

Seasonal variation in occurrence of aortic diseases: The database of hospital discharge data of the Emilia–Romagna region, Italy

^a Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital of the Delta, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale di Ferrara, and the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Clinica Medica, and the Vascular Diseases Center, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
^b Department of Internal Medicine, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria S. Anna, Ferrara, Italy
^c Vascular Rehabilitation Program, Vascular Diseases Center, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
^d Cardiology Division, Cava dè Tirreni and Amalfi Coast Hospital, Salerno, Italy, and the Cardiorespiratory Department, University of Milan, Milan, Italy
^e Medical Direction, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria S. Anna, Ferrara, Italy
^f Medical Direction, Azienda Unità Sanitaria Locale, Ferrara, Italy
^g Department of Vascular Surgery, Hospital of Ferrara, and the Vascular Diseases Center, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

Received for publication August 22, 2007; accepted for publication October 19, 2007.

^_* Address for reprints: Roberto Manfredini, MD, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Clinica Medica and Vascular Diseases Center, University of Ferrara, via Savonarola 9, 44100 Ferrara, Italy. (Email: mfr@unife.it).

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

In analogy with other cardiovascular events, such as myocardial infarction and stroke, acute aortic diseases do not randomly occur over time but show definite chronobiologic variations characterized by a higher frequency during morning hours and winter months.^1-3 This study was aimed to confirm, based on the large number of cases in a regional database, the existence of a seasonal variation in acute aortic diseases.

Clinical Summary

We used the database of all hospital admissions of the Emilia–Romagna region, Italy, Center for Health Statistics, between January 2000 and December 2006. Emilia–Romagna is situated in northeastern Italy, extending from the Po River to the north, the Adriatic Sea to the east, and the Appennini mountains to the south and west. It has a surface of 22,124 km² and a population of approximately 3,985,000 persons (7% of the Italian population). The close proximity to the Adriatic Sea does not exert significant influence on the climate, which is continental and characterized by . . . [Full Text of this Article]