A Rare Case of Cerebral Venous Thrombosis and Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation Temporally Associated to the COVID-19 Vaccine Administration.

Globally, at the time of writing (20 March 2021), 121.759.109 confirmed COVID-19 cases have been reported to the WHO, including 2.

Pericardial thrombus and cardiac tamponade after pericardiocentesis with intact heart walls.

A young patient affected by a lung neoplasm, presented at emergency department with cardiac tamponade, underwent pericardiocentesis with a prompt restoration of hemodynamic stability. An hour later, the patient presented again signs of tamponade, without evidence of fluids in the drainage that was left in pericardial space. The echocardiography revealed an intrapericardial thrombus compressing the right chambers.

Safety and feasibility of balloon aortic valvuloplasty in non-TAVI centers: The "BAV for life" experience.

Objectives: To evaluate the safety and the feasibility of balloon aortic valvuloplasty (BAV) procedure made by trained operators in centers not performing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI).

Background: BAV is a valuable therapeutic tool for patients with symptomatic severe aortic valve stenosis (AS) at prohibitive risk for TAVI or surgery.

Methods: Consecutive high-risk AS patients underwent BAV in five non-TAVI centers, where BAV operators had completed a 6-month training period in high-volume TAVI centers (Group A).

Antiplatelet Therapy for Non-ST-Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction in Complex "Real" Clinical Scenarios: A Consensus Document of the "Campania NSTEMI Study Group".

The incidence of ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) has significantly decreased. Conversely, the rate of non-STEMI (NSTEMI) has increased. Patients with NSTEMI have lower short-term mortality compared to patients with STEMI, whereas at long-term follow-up, the mortality becomes comparable.

Contemporary antithrombotic strategies in patients with acute coronary syndromes managed without revascularization: insights from the EYESHOT study.

Aims: Patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) who are managed without coronary revascularization represent a mixed and understudied population that seems to receive suboptimal pharmacological treatment.

Methods And Results: We assessed patterns of antithrombotic therapies employed during the hospitalization and in-hospital clinical events of medically managed patients with ACS enrolled in the prospective, multicentre, nationwide EYESHOT (EmploYEd antithrombotic therapies in patients with acute coronary Syndromes HOspitalized in iTalian cardiac care units) registry. Among the 2585 consecutive ACS patients enrolled in EYESHOT, 783 (30.

A randomized study of cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator versus dual-chamber implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in ischemic cardiomyopathy with narrow QRS: the NARROW-CRT study.

Background: Current recommendations require a QRS duration of ≥120 ms as a condition for prescribing cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). This study was designed to test the hypothesis that patients with heart failure (HF) of ischemic origin, current indications for defibrillator implantation, and QRS <120 ms may benefit from CRT in the presence of marked mechanical dyssynchrony.

Methods And Results: Patients with intraventricular dyssynchrony on echocardiography were randomly assigned to CRT or dual-chamber defibrillator implantation (CRT defibrillator and dual-chamber implantable cardioverter-defibrillator arm, respectively).

A multicentre, randomized study of telmisartan versus carvedilol for prevention of atrial fibrillation recurrence in hypertensive patients.

Introduction: Atrial remodelling, leading to atrial fibrillation (AF), is mediated by the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.

Methods: Mild hypertensive outpatients (systolic/diastolic blood pressure 140-159/90-99 mmHg) in sinus rhythm who had experienced ≥ 1 electrocardiogram (ECG)-documented AF episode in the previous six months received randomly telmisartan 80 mg/day or carvedilol 25 mg/day. Blood pressure and 24-hour ECG were monitored monthly for one year; patients were asked to report symptomatic AF episodes and to undergo an ECG as early as possible.

Presence of left ventricular contractile reserve predicts midterm response to cardiac resynchronization therapy--results from the LOw dose DObutamine stress-echo test in Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (LODO-CRT) trial.

Background: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) is effective in selected patients with heart failure (HF). Nevertheless, the nonresponder rate remains high. The low-dose dobutamine stress-echo (DSE) test detects the presence of left ventricular (LV) contractile reserve (LVCR) in HF patients of any etiology and may be useful in predicting response to resynchronization.

A clinical and angiographic study of the XIENCE V everolimus-eluting coronary stent system in the treatment of patients with multivessel coronary artery disease. Study design and rationale of the EXECUTIVE trial.

Background: Myocardial revascularization with drug-eluting stents (DESs) is emerging as an alternative to conventional coronary artery bypass surgery in patients with multivessel coronary artery disease (MV-CAD). First-generation DESs have yielded equivalent safety results at mid-term compared with surgery, but inferior efficacy in preventing the recurrence of ischemic symptoms. The outcome of percutaneous coronary intervention with a second-generation everolimus DES as compared with a paclitaxel DES in patients with MV-CAD has not been established.

Multicentre experience with MGuard net protective stent in ST-elevation myocardial infarction: safety, feasibility, and impact on myocardial reperfusion.

Objective: To report, for the first time, angiographic and ECG results as well as in-hospital and 1-month clinical follow-up, after MGuard net protective stent (Inspire-MD, Tel-Aviv, Israel-MGS) implantation in consecutive, not randomized, STEMI patients undergoing primary or rescue PCI.

Background: Distal embolization may decrease coronary and myocardial reperfusion after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) setting.

Methods: One-hundred consecutive patients underwent PCI, with MGS deployment for STEMI, in five different high-volume PCI centres.

Effect of right ventricular apical pacing in survivors of myocardial infarction.

Background: Much information is available regarding the possible negative effects of long-term right ventricular (RV) apical pacing, which may cause worsening of heart failure. However, very limited data are available regarding the effects of RV pacing in patients with a previous myocardial infarction (MI).

Methods And Results: We screened 115 consecutive post-MI patients and matched a group of 29 pacemaker (PM) recipients with a group of 49 unpaced patients, for age, left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, and site of MI.

Efficacy of LOw-dose DObutamine stress-echocardiography to predict cardiac resynchronization therapy response (LODO-CRT) multicenter prospective study: design and rationale.

Background: Although cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has a well-demonstrated therapeutic effect in selected patients with advanced heart failure on optimized drug therapy, nonresponder rate remains high. The LODO-CRT is designed to improve patient selection for CRT. Design and rationale of this study are presented herein.

A radial global dyssynchrony index as predictor of left ventricular reverse remodeling after cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Background: Cardiac mechanical efficiency requires that opposing left ventricular regions are coupled both in shortening and lengthening during the same phase of cardiac cycle. Aim of this study was to evaluate whether global measures of mechanical dyssynchrony are able to predict reverse remodeling of the left ventricle in patients receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

Methods: Sixty-two patients underwent a clinical examination, including New York Heart Association class evaluation and 6-minute walking distance and both echocardiographic study before and 6 months after CRT.

[Anomalous origin of the circumflex artery from the right aortic sinus: assessment with conventional coronary angiography and multislice computed tomography].

Anomalous origin of the circumflex coronary artery from the right sinus of Valsalva is the most common coronary anomaly. This anomaly is thought to be of little clinical significance without the presence of severe narrowing of the vessel. A 43-year-old woman was referred to our institution for evaluation of atypical chest pain and equivocal results of the exercise stress test.

End-diastolic wall thickness as a predictor of reverse remodelling after cardiac resynchronization therapy: a two-dimensional echocardiographic study.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate whether in patients with ischemic heart failure (HF) with mechanical dyssynchrony the echocardiographic assessment of the extent of scarred ventricular tissue by end-diastolic wall thickness (EDWT) could predict reverse remodeling (RR) after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Recent studies using cardiac magnetic resonance imaging have shown that the burden of myocardial scar is an important factor influencing response to CRT, despite documented mechanical dyssynchrony. EDWT assessed by two-dimensional (2D) resting echocardiography is a simple and reliable marker to identify scar tissue in patients with ischemic left ventricular dysfunction.