Publications by authors named "Andrea Di Marco"

Rationale: Metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer has a poor prognosis especially when harboring DNA damage repair gene mutations, nevertheless, in the case of pathogenic BRCA gene mutations, PARPi demonstrated a survival benefit and is a validated treatment. Nowadays, there is no data regarding unusual metastases after these drugs. Cutaneous metastases appear rarely in prostate cancer and were associated with a worse prognosis.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates whether cardiac resynchronization therapy with a defibrillator (CRTD) is better than therapy with a pacemaker (CRTP) for patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) and low risk of arrhythmias.
  • It analyzes data from 167 NICM patients, looking for predictors of heart function improvement (echocardiographic response) and serious heart rhythm issues (arrhythmias) over a median follow-up of 63 months.
  • Findings reveal that patients without late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) show a much higher response rate to CRT (81% vs. 53%) and no arrhythmic events, suggesting they are ideal candidates for CRTP rather than
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In arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) non-invasive scar evaluation is not included among the diagnostic criteria or the predictors of ventricular arrhythmias (VA) and sudden death (SD). Computed tomography (CT) has excellent spatial resolution and allows a clear distinction between myocardium and fat; thus, it has great potential for the evaluation of myocardial scar in ARVC. The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility, and the diagnostic and prognostic value of semi-automated quantification of right ventricular (RV) fat replacement from CT images.

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Background: ADAS-3D software elaborates cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images to obtain a quantitative evaluation of dense scar and border zone (BZ), including BZ channels, which can be useful for ventricular tachycardia ablation and risk stratification. However, most prior reports with ADAS-3D used flexible thresholds (60% ± 5% and 40% ± 5% of maximum pixel signal intensity) to define dense scar and BZ. The impact of such variations of the threshold values on the measurements obtained with ADAS-3D is unknown.

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Rationale: Treatment with a combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) (pembrolizumab or nivolumab) and oral Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKI) targeting angiogenesis (axitinib, cabozantinib or lenvatinib) has shown benefits in terms of efficacy and survival in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), with a favorable toxicity profile. However, some rare and serious treatment-related adverse events can be difficult to manage.

Patient Concerns: Here we report the first case of an mRCC patient who, after only 2 administrations of pembrolizumab-axitinib, experienced severe multiorgan failure (MOF) with heart failure, oliguria and acute hepatitis requiring aggressive supportive treatment in intensive care unit.

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The starch inclusion complexation of sensitive compounds requires the use of conditions that minimize their degradation. This research work is aimed at investigating the effect of an alkaline complexation method employing mild reaction conditions on the physicochemical properties and accelerated stability of inclusion complexes of high amylose corn starch with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. Hydrolyzed chia seed oil, rich in α-linolenic and linoleic fatty acids, was used as guest material and was incorporated at two ratios (10 and 20 % w/w hydrolysate/starch).

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Background And Aims: Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) are critical for preventing sudden cardiac death (SCD) in arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). This study aims to identify cross-continental differences in utilization of primary prevention ICDs and survival free from sustained ventricular arrhythmia (VA) in ARVC.

Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of ARVC patients without prior VA enrolled in clinical registries from 11 countries throughout Europe and North America.

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Non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disease characterized by left ventricular dilation and systolic dysfunction. Patients with DCM are at higher risk for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death (SCD). According to current international guidelines, left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≤ 35% represents the main indication for prophylactic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation in patients with DCM.

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Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) can provide a multi-parametric evaluation of left atrial (LA) size and function. A complete CMR-based LA assessment might improve the risk stratification of patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). We performed a comprehensive CMR-based evaluation of LA size and function, in order to assess the prognostic impact of specific LA parameters in DCM.

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Left ventricular ejection fraction-based arrhythmic risk stratification in nonischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) is insufficient and has led to the failure of primary prevention implantable cardioverter defibrillator trials, mainly due to the inability of selecting patients at high risk for sudden cardiac death (SCD). Cardiac magnetic resonance offers unique opportunities for tissue characterization and has gained a central role in arrhythmic risk stratification in NICM. The presence of myocardial scar, denoted by late gadolinium enhancement, is a significant, independent, and strong predictor of ventricular arrhythmias and SCD with high negative predictive value.

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Aim: To compare the risk of ventricular arrhythmias (VA) and sudden death (SD) between New York Heart Association (NYHA) class I and NYHA class II-III patients with non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (NICM).

Methods And Results: Observational retrospective cohort study including patients with NICM who underwent cardiac magnetic resonance at two hospitals. The primary endpoint included appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapies, sustained ventricular tachycardia, resuscitated cardiac arrest and SD.

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Aims: To evaluate whether cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR)-based parametric mapping and strain analysis can improve the risk-stratification for ventricular arrhythmias (VA) and sudden death (SD) in non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy (NICM).

Methods And Results: Secondary analysis of a prospective single-centre-registry (NCT02326324), including 703 consecutive NICM patients, 618 with extracellular volume (ECV) available. The combined primary endpoint included appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapies, sustained ventricular tachycardia, resuscitated cardiac arrest and SD.

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Aims: Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) causes ventricular arrhythmias (VAs) and sudden cardiac death (SCD). In 2019, a risk prediction model that estimates the 5-year risk of incident VAs in ARVC was developed (ARVCrisk.com).

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Aims: To evaluate the baseline characteristics and the prognostic implications associated with late gadolinium enhancement limited to the right ventricular insertion points (IP-LGE) or present at both the right ventricular insertion points and the left ventricle (IP&LV-LGE) in non-ischaemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

Methods And Results: This is a retrospective observational multicentre cohort study including 1165 consecutive patients with DCM evaluated by cardiac magnetic resonance. The primary endpoint included appropriate defibrillator therapies, sustained ventricular tachycardia, resuscitated cardiac arrest, or sudden death.

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Objectives: To determine the incidence of cardiac device-related infection (CDRI) among patients with cardiac device (CD) during late-onset bloodstream infection (BSI) and to identify the risk factors associated with CDRI.

Methods: Patients with a CD (cardiac implantable electronic devices -CIED- and/or prosthetic heart valve -PHV-) and late-onset-BSI (>1 year after the CD implantation/last manipulation) were selected from the PROBAC project, a prospective, observational cohort study including adult patients with bacteraemia consecutively admitted to 26 Spanish hospitals from October 2016 to March 2017. Multivariate analyses using logistic regression were performed to identify the risk factors associated with CDRI.

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Background: Coronary chronic total occlusion lesions (CTOs) confer an increased risk of arrhythmic events among patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) carriers, however the impact of CTO recanalization in this population remains unassessed.

Aims: Evaluate the impact of CTOs percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI) on arrhythmic events.

Methods: Patients with ICM and ICD from the VACTO I-II registries: patients with medically treated CTO (CTO-OMT group) and without CTO (no-CTO group) were compared after inverse-probability-weighting adjustment (IPWT) with a similar population of consecutive patients undergoing CTO-PCI.

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Background: To evaluate the association between sex and ventricular arrhythmias (VA) or sudden death (SD) in nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, including analysis of potential confounders.

Methods And Results: Retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients with DCM referred for cardiac magnetic resonance at 2 tertiary hospitals. The primary combined end point encompassed sustained VA, appropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator therapies, resuscitated cardiac arrest, and SD.

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Aims: To evaluate predictors of electrical storm (ES), including chronic total occlusion in an infarct-related coronary artery (infarct-related artery CTO, IRACTO), in a cohort of patients with prior myocardial infarction (MI) and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICD).

Methods: Multicenter observational cohort study including 643 consecutive patients with prior MI and a first ICD implanted between 2005 and 2018 at three tertiary hospitals. All the patients included in the study had undergone a diagnostic coronary angiography before ICD implantation.

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Background: Risk stratification for ventricular arrhythmias (VA) and sudden death in nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) remains suboptimal.

Objectives: The goal of this study was to provide an improved risk stratification algorithm for VA and sudden death in DCM.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of consecutive patients with DCM who underwent cardiac magnetic resonance with late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) at 2 tertiary referral centers.

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