Giornale italiano di cardiologia : organo ufficiale della Federazione italiana di cardiologia : organo ufficiale della Società italiana di chirurgia cardiaca
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In the last decades, oncological therapy has changed the natural history of many types of cancer, which can now be considered curable or as chronic or slowly progressive diseases. It is well known that chemotherapy and radiotherapy may induce cardiotoxicity. ⋯ Patient treated with chemotherapy are at higher risk of cardiovascular events than the general population, so that having undergone chemotherapy may be considered as a novel cardiovascular risk factor. This review briefly summarizes the most important cardiovascular toxicities caused by antineoplastic pharmacological treatment and how cardiologists, oncologists and general practitioners should approach cancer patients while on treatment or during follow-up to prevent or manage cardiovascular events.
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G Ital Cardiol (Rome) · Oct 2012
[Resuscitated victims of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest: is it always indicated emergent coronary angiography and revascularization?].
Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest with return of spontaneous circulation represents a great challenge even for advanced healthcare systems because of the high risk and frequency of this event. The most common cause of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is an acute coronary syndrome, and noninvasive diagnostic tools are quite inadequate. The poor outcome observed so far seems to improve significantly when early treatment with hypothermia and myocardial revascularization is performed. Emergent coronary angiography and myocardial revascularization seem to be reasonable and appropriate therapeutic option not only for patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction but also for other patient subsets.
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G Ital Cardiol (Rome) · Sep 2012
Review[Cardiac arrest management: any news? When the literature does not meet clinical practice].
The percentage of patients transported alive to hospital after an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has increased in recent years thanks to growing population education. In 2010 the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) has published new guidelines for the management of cardiac arrest. These guidelines present several new features, but cardiac compression remains the mainstay of optimal cardiopulmonary resuscitation. ⋯ This results in poor resource utilization with a high social and personal impact that involves both the patients and their families. Teamwork activities addressing the chain of survival become a fundamental tool for the treatment of resuscitated patients. Given the crucial importance of the time elapsing from collapse to cardiopulmonary resuscitation in terms of final prognosis, efforts should be made to promote the "culture of cardiopulmonary resuscitation" not only among health professionals, but also among the general population.