Organization and Activity of Italian Echocardiographic Laboratories: A Survey of the Italian Society of Echocardiography and Cardiovascular Imaging.

Background: The Italian Society of Echocardiography and Cardiovascular Imaging (SIECVI) conducted a national survey to understand better how different echocardiographic modalities are used and accessed in Italy.

Methods: We analyzed echocardiography laboratory activities over a month (November 2022). Data were retrieved via an electronic survey based on a structured questionnaire, uploaded on the SIECVI website.

[Acute coronary syndrome after insect bites: a systematic review of available literature].

Background: Kounis syndrome is a hypersensitivity coronary disorder induced by exposure to several triggers; the most common are antibiotics, followed by insect bites.

Methods: We reviewed the literature and identified 66 patients who experienced acute coronary syndrome after insect bites.

Results: The median age was 51 years, and 19.

Outcomes after sudden cardiac arrest in sports centres with and without on-site external defibrillators.

Objective: Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a rare but tragic event during amateur sports activities. Our aim is to analyse whether availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in amateur sports centres could impact on SCA survival.

Methods: This is an observational study.

Heart surgery for immigrants in Italy: burden of cardiovascular disease, adherence to treatment and outcomes.

Aim: Italy is a country with high rates of immigration and the knowledge of immigrant health is very fragmentary. We provide a current picture of cardiovascular disease causes and clinical outcomes following heart surgery.

Methods: A clinical and echocardiographic survey was conducted on 154 consecutive immigrants referred for heart surgery to San Raffaele Hospital in Milan between 2003 and 2011.

Cardiac surgery for patients with heart failure due to structural heart disease in Uganda: access to surgery and outcomes.

Objective: Few data are available on heart failure (HF) in sub-Saharan Africa. We aimed to provide a current picture of HF aetiologies in urban Uganda, access to heart surgery, and outcomes.

Methods: We prospectively collected clinical and echocardiographic data from 272 consecutive patients referred for suspected heart disease to a tertiary hospital in Kampala during seven non-governmental organisation (NGO) missions from 2009 to 2013.

Clinical outcome and quality of life in octogenarians following transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) for symptomatic aortic stenosis.

Objective: TAVI is the alternative option in pts with AS deemed ineligible for surgery. Although mortality and morbidity are measures to assess the effectiveness of treatments, quality of life (QOL) should be an additional target. We assessed clinical outcome and QOL in octogenarians following TAVI.

Effector Memory T cells Are Associated With Atherosclerosis in Humans and Animal Models.

BACKGROUND#ENTITYSTARTX02014;: Adaptive T-cell response is promoted during atherogenesis and results in the differentiation of naïve CD4(+)T cells to effector and/or memory cells of specialized T-cell subsets. Aim of this work was to investigate the relationship between circulating CD4(+)T-cell subsets and atherosclerosis. METHODS AND RESULTS#ENTITYSTARTX02014;: We analyzed 57 subsets of circulating CD4(+)T cells by 10-parameter/8-color polychromatic flow cytometry (markers: CD3/CD4/CD45RO/CD45RA/CCR7/CCR5/CXCR3/HLA-DR) in peripheral blood from 313 subjects derived from 2 independent cohorts.

Calcified left ventricular endomyocardial fibrosis.

Endomyocardial fibrosis (EMF) is a rare condition, but in certain tropical countries it is a major cause of illness and death. Moreover, the etiology of the disease is unknown, it has no specific treatment, and it carries a poor prognosis. As both the heart and the peritoneum may be affected by the inflammation and deposition of fibrous tissue, even left ventricular EMF may present with gross ascites mimicking right-heart failure.

Surgical outcome of partial Shone complex.

Partial forms of Shone complex are rare. Surgical outcomes of the complete forms have generally been poor, whereas there is a lack of data on long-term follow-up of surgically treated adult partial complex. Between 2001 and 2011, nine patients (age: 38 ± 8 years; six males, 67%) were referred for valvular heart disease.

Dynamic assessment of 'valvular reserve capacity' in patients with rheumatic mitral stenosis.

Aims: Mitral stenosis (MS) may exhibit a dynamic valvular reserve. When resting gradients and systolic pulmonary pressure (sPAP) do not reflect the real severity of the disease, a dynamic evaluation becomes necessary. The aim of the study was to assess the clinical utility of exercise echocardiography in symptomatic patients with apparently subcritical MS.

Echocardiographic patterns of incomplete Shone's syndrome in adults.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Whilst several cases of complete Shone's complex have been reported in children, the incomplete form--characterized by two or three components--has rarely been described in adults. Because of the wide spectrum of severity of each pattern, the correct diagnosis may be challenging. Moreover, as the hemodynamic interdependence between defects is thought to be a major determinant of clinical outcome and long-term follow up, it is crucial to consider the lesions as part of the same Shone's syndrome.