Giornale italiano di cardiologia : organo ufficiale della Federazione italiana di cardiologia : organo ufficiale della Società italiana di chirurgia cardiaca
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G Ital Cardiol (Rome) · Apr 2012
Letter Historical Article[A tribute to the New England Journal of Medicine].
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G Ital Cardiol (Rome) · Mar 2012
Practice Guideline[ESC guidelines for the management of acute coronary syndromes in patients presenting without persistent ST-segment elevation. The Task Force for the management of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) in patients presenting without persistent ST-segment elevation of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)].
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G Ital Cardiol (Rome) · Feb 2012
[Tako-tsubo syndrome during an attempt of pacemaker implantation in a patient with persistent left superior vena cava and absent right superior vena cava].
Persistent left superior vena cava is a rare congenital abnormality. Cases of persistent left superior vena cava with an absent right superior vena cava or the presence of other congenital cardiovascular abnormalities have been rarely described. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of a patient with persistent left superior vena cava, absent right superior vena cava and tako-tsubo syndrome observed during an attempt of pacemaker implantation. Such a condition was confirmed by means of contrast echocardiography and coronary angiography.
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Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is the most common congenital heart disease, whose natural history is characterized by the incidence of clinically relevant valvular (stenosis, regurgitation, endocarditis) and/or vascular complications regarding the thoracic aorta (dilation, aneurysm, dissection) and, rarely, intracranial and epiaortic arteries. BAV may be heritable, with an autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance with reduced penetrance; moreover, some data suggest that BAV and thoracic aorta aneurysm are independent manifestations of a single gene defect. The prevalence of BAV and its susceptibility to valvular and aortic complications during the whole life result into the need of strict clinical follow-up and appropriate therapies (medical as well as surgical) to be addressed according to guidelines specifically designed for these patients.
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G Ital Cardiol (Rome) · Dec 2011
Review[Myocardial dysfunction during sepsis: epidemiology, prognosis and treatment].
About 50% of patients with sepsis show myocardial involvement characterized by biventricular enlargement, reduced contractility and diastolic dysfunction. This increases the risk of death and leads to an extremely poor prognosis in the case of severe sepsis or septic shock, with full recovery of cardiac function seen in survivors at 7-10 days. ⋯ First-line therapy is causal and consists of antibiotics plus the surgical excision of the infectious focus; in the presence of severe sepsis or septic shock, it is also necessary to promptly start circulatory and multiorgan support treatment. This review describes current knowledge concerning the instrumental and clinical characteristics, pathophysiology, prognosis and therapy of myocardial dysfunction during sepsis, and briefly considers possible future therapeutic perspectives.