Clinical presentation and echocardiographic characteristics of women with peripartum cardiomyopathy: Insights from the Italian Multicentre Registry.

Background: Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is a rare, life-threatening form of heart failure occurring in late pregnancy or postpartum, with variable clinical course and outcomes. We report preliminary clinical and echocardiographic findings from a national Italian registry of PPCM patients METHODS: The study was approved by the institutional Ethics Committee and registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05878041).

Prognostic Value of Cardiovascular MRI in Asymptomatic Patients with Moderate-to-Severe Aortic Regurgitation: A Network Meta-Analysis.

Purpose To determine the prognostic significance of cardiac MRI parameters in patients with moderate-to-severe aortic regurgitation (AR) and minimal or no symptoms through a network meta-analysis. Materials and Methods This systematic review and network meta-analysis searched in PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases for articles published from January 1, 2000, to March 1, 2024, investigating the prognostic value of cardiac MRI parameters in patients with moderate-to-severe AR. The composite outcome included all-cause death, heart failure hospitalization, aortic valve replacement, new-onset heart failure symptoms, New York Heart Association class progression, and left ventricular ejection fraction less than 50%.

Cardiovascular magnetic resonance in patients with mitral valve prolapse.

With a prevalence of 2-3% in the general population, mitral valve prolapse (MVP) is the most common valvular heart disease. The clinical course is benign in the majority of patients, although severe mitral regurgitation, heart failure, and sudden cardiac death affect a non-negligible subset of patients. Imaging of MVP was confined to echocardiography until a few years ago when it became apparent that cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) could offer comparative advantages for detecting and quantifying mitral valve abnormalities alongside tissue myocardial characterization.

The prevalence, aetiologies, and clinical consequences of tricuspid regurgitation associated with severe degenerative mitral regurgitation.

Aims: The prevalence, the aetiologies, and the clinical features of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) in the context of concomitant degenerative mitral valve (MV) disease are poorly defined. This paper aims to assess the prevalence, determinants, and clinical consequences of TR in severe degenerative mitral regurgitation (DMR).

Methods And Results: Clinical and echocardiographic characteristics were collected among patients with severe DMR.

A comprehensive and easy-to-use ECG algorithm to predict the coronary occlusion site in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Background: Several electrocardiogram (ECG) criteria have been proposed to predict the location of the culprit occlusion in specific subsets of patients presenting with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). The aim of this study was to develop, through an independent validation of currently available criteria, a comprehensive and easy-to-use ECG algorithm, and to test its diagnostic performance in real-world clinical practice.

Methods: We analyzed ECG and angiographic data from 419 consecutive STEMI patients submitted to primary percutaneous coronary intervention over a one-year period, dividing the overall population into derivation (314 patients) and validation (105 patients) cohorts.

Role of cardiological specialistic evaluation in patients with chest pain presenting in the emergency department.

Aims: Aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of cardiological and echocardiographic evaluation in addition to a standard clinical and instrumental approach on diagnostic and prognostic accuracy in patients presenting in the emergency department (ED) with chest pain (CP). Acute coronary syndromes, pulmonary embolism and acute aortic syndromes (AAS) (triple-rule-out/TRO) were considered.

Methods: From 7040 patients presenting with CP from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2017, we randomly selected a sample of 1119.

Cardiac fibrosis: emerging agents in preclinical and clinical development.

Introduction: Myocardial fibrosis is a remarkably dynamic process mediated by different molecular pathways that represent potential targets of novel therapeutic interventions. Transforming Growth Factor-beta (TGF-β), connective Tissue Growth Factor (cTGF) and Galectin-3 (Gal-3) represent the most promising targets on which research has been currently focusing.

Area Covered: This review initially discusses those drugs used in clinical practice for their anti-fibrotic properties and later examines emerging pathway-specific agents in preclinical and clinical development [phase I and II-concluded or ongoing trials].

Cardiac and sudden death after chronic total occlusion percutaneous coronary intervention: Prognostic role of the target vessel.

Background: The role of the target vessel in percutaneous revascularization of chronic total occlusion (CTO) is unclear.

Objective: We sought to assess the long-term results of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for CTO lesions in each coronary artery and to investigate the impact of successful revascularization and previous myocardial infarction (MI) in the territory of the target vessel.

Methods And Results: Cohort observational study on 1,124 patients who have undergone CTO PCI attempt: 371 on left anterior descending artery (LAD), 485 right coronary artery, and 268 left circumflex.

Therapeutic sequences in patients with grade 1-2 neuroendocrine tumors (NET): an observational multicenter study from the ELIOS group.

Purpose: Many different treatments are suggested by guidelines to treat grade 1-2 (G1-G2) neuroendocrine tumors (NET). However, a precise therapeutic algorithm has not yet been established. This study aims at identifying and comparing the main therapeutic sequences in G1-G2 NET.