Short-term outcome associated with remote evaluation (telecardiology) of patients with cardiovascular diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: During the recent COVID-19 outbreak, Italian health authorities mandated to replace in-person outpatient evaluations with remote evaluations.

Methods: From March 16th 2020 to April 22th 2020, all outpatients scheduled for in-person cardiac evaluations were instead evaluated by phone. We aimed to report the short-term follow-up of 345 patients evaluated remotely and to compare it with a cohort of patients evaluated in-person during the same period in 2019.

Permanent His-bundle pacing maintains long-term ventricular synchrony and left ventricular performance, unlike conventional right ventricular apical pacing.

Aims: Right ventricular apical pacing (RVAP) may be deleterious, determining abnormal left ventricular (LV) electrical activation and progressive LV dysfunction. Permanent His-bundle pacing (HBP) has been proposed to prevent this detrimental effect. The aim of our study was to compare the long-term effects of HBP on LV synchrony and systolic performance with those of RVAP in the same group of patients.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy or sequential pacing in failing Mustard?

The atrial switch (Mustard, Senning procedures) was one of the treatments of choice for repair of transposition of the great arteries from the early 1960s to the mid-1980s. A significant proportion of patients with atrial switch develops systemic (right) ventricular failure. A series of surgical therapeutic options exists to manage cardiac failure in this setting, and, more recently proposed, cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Patient risk profile and benefit from an invasive approach in the initial management of non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome.

Background: Routine use of an invasive strategy (IS) has been shown to exceed a conservative strategy in reducing myocardial infarction (MI), angina and re-hospitalization rate in patients with non-ST elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTEACS). The present study aimed to analyse, by use of randomized trials data, whether the risk profile of patients with NSTEACS influences the survival benefit of the IS over a conservative strategy from randomization to end of follow-up (range 6-24 months).

Methods: Eight studies were identified from 1970 to 2005.

Discrepancies between catheter and Doppler estimates of aortic stenosis: the role of pressure recovery evaluated 'in vivo'.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Wide discrepancies are often observed between catheter- and Doppler-derived gradients and valve areas. The study aim was to verify if these measurements could be attenuated in a clinical setting by taking into account pressure recovery.

Methods: Between 1st January 2000 and 31st March 2005, a total of 259 patients with an aortic valve area (AVA) < or =2 cm(2) was prospectively collected.