Karakaya Z, Cavkaytar O, Tosun O, et al. - Researchers sought to determine the risk factors, related to endothelial and cardiac functions in the pediatric population with newly-diagnosed mild-persistent asthma. This analysis involved 33 steroid-naive asthmatic children [median(interquartile-range); 9.1 years(7.8-13.5)] and 16 healthy controls [11.5 years(9.9-13.6)]. Findings revealed the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis and ventricular dysfunction, even in the early stage of disease, in children suffering from mild persistent asthma. There was a close association of symptom duration with both subclinical atherosclerosis and ventricular dysfunction. The asthmatic children exhibited abnormal myocardial performance index when evaluated using tissue Doppler Imaging even though they showed normal ejection fraction in conventional echocardiography. To evaluate the possible protective impact of ICSs in the prophylaxis of subclinical atherosclerosis, future prospective investigations with larger sample sizes are required.