Mitral regurgitation, left atrial structural and functional remodelling and the effect on pulmonary haemodynamics.

Aims: To assess the association between mitral regurgitation (MR) and left atrial (LA) structural and functional remodelling and their effect on pulmonary haemodynamics.

Methods And Results: Consecutive unselected patients undergoing comprehensive echocardiography were enrolled. Parameters of cardiac structure and function were obtained as well as mitral effective regurgitant orifice area (ERO) and estimation of pulmonary artery systolic pressure (PASP).

The evaluation of nursing workload within an Italian ECMO Centre: A retrospective observational study.

Introduction: The Nursing Activities Score (NAS) measures the amount of nursing time required for each patient and it has been widely used across Europe since its first validation in 2003.

Objective: To determine the nursing workload within an Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) Centre using a dedicated scoring tool.

Methods: Retrospective observational study.

Pleiotropic effects of statin in therapy in heart failure: a review.

Clinical trials demonstrated that statin therapy is associated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality when used for either primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular events. Several studies have shown that statins, having an important effect in the prevention of acute coronary syndromes, are also able to prevent heart failure (HF) in patients with coronary artery disease. This review summarizes the experimental and clinical evidence regarding the role of statins in the management of HF.

Multiprofessional and intrahospital experience for diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: Referral centres for pulmonary hypertension will provide care by a multiprofessional team, which should as a minimum comprise: consultant physicians with a special interest in PH, clinical nurse specialist, radiologist, cardiologist with expertise in echocardiography.

Aims: this study sought to determine whether the experience of the establishment of a clinic for pulmonary arterial hypertension, initially created only for the treatment and diagnosis of heart failure, may be considered positive.

Methods: From 1 July 2008 to January 1, 2012 we evaluated 80 patients in our ambulatory dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of PAH.

Statins in Heart Failure.

Clinical trials demonstrated that statin therapy is associated with a significant reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality when used for either primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular events. Several studies have shown that statins, having an important effect in the prevention of acute coronary syndromes, are also able to prevent heart failure (HF) in patients with coronary artery disease. This review summarizes the experimental and clinical evidence regarding the role of statins in the management of HF.

Tissue Doppler time intervals predict the occurrence of rehospitalization in chronic heart failure: data from the daunia heart failure registry.

Background: Patients with chronic heart failure (HF) are often rehospitalized; rehospitalization identifies subjects with a poorer quality of life and a worse prognosis. Estimates of the time intervals by tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) in patients with chronic HF has not been fully investigated, despite recent studies having explored the prognostic role of TDI-derived parameters in major cardiac diseases, such as HF. We, therefore, aimed to assess the prognostic value of time intervals evaluated by TDI in patients with chronic HF.