[A case of anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery in the elderly].

The anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) syndrome is a rare congenital coronary artery anomaly. The development of acquired collateral circulation between the right coronary artery and the left coronary artery allows, sometimes, survival until adulthood. In our clinical practice, we came across an exceptional case for the advanced age, 75 years.

Multimodal Imaging Analysis of Acute Syphilitic Posterior Placoid Chorioretinitis: A Case Report.

The authors report a multimodal imaging analysis of a case of acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis (ASPPC) occurring in a 51-year-old man. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.5 and 0.

Flare changes after intravitreal injection of ocriplasmin in symptomatic vitreomacular traction syndrome.

Purpose: To evaluate the changes in anterior chamber flare after a single intravitreal injection of ocriplasmin (125 μg), in patients with symptomatic vitreomacular traction syndrome (VMT).

Study Design: An institutional review board-approved single-center not randomized prospective study.

Methods: Fifteen eyes of fifteen patients (9 women, 6 men) underwent intravitreal injection with ocriplasmin for symptomatic VMT (width of attachment ≤ 1500 μm).

The EUROpean and Chinese cardiac and renal Remote Ischemic Preconditioning Study (EURO-CRIPS CardioGroup I): A randomized controlled trial.

Background: The potential protective effects of remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) on contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remain to be defined.

Methods And Results: A double blind, randomized, placebo controlled multicenter study was performed. Patients younger than 85years old, with a renal clearance of 30-60ml/min/1.

Acute macular neuroretinopathy associated with subclinical cytomegalovirus infection.

Purpose: To report a case of bilateral acute macular neuroretinopathy (AMN) occurring in a 32-year-old woman, analyzed using the multimodal imaging technique.

Case Report: A 32-year-old Caucasian woman presented with 20 days history of acute onset of blurred vision in the right eye. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.

Mental Fitness for patients with acute coronary syndrome: A randomized clinical trial.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to verify the efficacy of a manualized, cognitively oriented psychological intervention, called Mental Fitness, in improving the mental and physical health of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). Mental Fitness is a small-group four-session treatment aimed at increasing awareness of one's own bodily perceptions, emotions, and thoughts and is overall tailored on participants' perception of control over their health.

Design: Prospective randomized controlled single-blind trial.

Spontaneous retinal pigment epithelium tear in geographic atrophy.

Purpose: To report two cases of spontaneous retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) tears occurring in two patients affected with geographic atrophy (GA) due to non-exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Case Report: Two patients (a 79-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman) presented to our department with progressive visual loss. The man had a best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/100 in the right eye (RE) and 20/50 in the left eye (LE); the woman had a BCVA of 20/200 in the RE and 20/160 in the LE.

Treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration.

A number of different approaches are under development for treating nonexudative manifestations of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Some interventions target specific pathways that are believed to play a role in AMD pathogenesis, e.g.

An Unusual Left Ventricular Apical Mass.

Left ventricular apical masses constitute a rare finding. Imaging properties together with the clinical history of the patient usually allow an etiologic definition. We report a challenging case of an ambiguous left ventricular apical mass of uncertain nature till histological examination.

Changes in macular function after ozurdex for retinal vein occlusion.

Purpose: To investigate changes in macular function after intravitreal dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex) for macular edema (ME) secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO).

Methods: Nineteen treatment-naive patients with RVO-related ME were treated with intravitreal Ozurdex and followed up to 6 months to evaluate functional outcomes, by means of best-corrected visual acuity, microperimetry, and multifocal electroretinography, and their correlations with morphological parameters by enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography.

Results: Nineteen eyes of 19 patients were included for analysis.

The EUROpean and Chinese cardiac and renal Remote Ischemic Preconditioning Study (EURO-CRIPS): study design and methods.

Aims: Contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) and periprocedural myocardial infarction (PMI) represent frequent complications of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and negatively impact subsequent length of hospitalization, costs of adjunctive diagnostic-therapeutic measures and mid-term cardiovascular events. The aim of the EURO-CRIPS trial is to test whether remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) may reduce the incidence of these complications and improve mid-term outcome.

Methods: This will be a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled multicentre study.

Cardiac remote ischaemic preconditioning reduces periprocedural myocardial infarction for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary interventions: a meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials.

Aims: To establish the cardioprotective effect of remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC) in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods And Results: Pubmed (MEDLINE), Cochrane and Embase were systematically searched for randomised controlled trials of RIPC in patients undergoing PCI. Periprocedural myocardial infarction (PMI) was the primary endpoint (defined as troponin elevation >3 times upper reference limit) and C-reactive protein (CRP) was a secondary endpoint.

Assessment of choroidal topographic changes by swept source optical coherence tomography after photodynamic therapy for central serous chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between choroidal thickness and angiographic abnormalities in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) eyes by swept-source optical coherence tomography (swept-OCT), before and after half-fluence photodynamic therapy (PDT).

Design: Prospective interventional case series.

Methods: Consecutive patients presenting with treatment-naive active CSC underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination, including swept-OCT at study entry and at 7 days and 30 days after treatment with half-fluence PDT.

Impact of intravitreal dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex) on macular morphology and function.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of intravitreal dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex) on macular morphology and function in eyes with macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion.

Methods: Twelve treatment-naive patients with decreased visual acuity because of central retinal vein occlusion-related macular edema were enrolled in this prospective uncontrolled study. Patients were treated with intravitreal Ozurdex and followed up at 1 month and 3 months for the evaluation of morphologic and functional outcomes, by means of best-corrected visual acuity, microperimetry, multifocal electroretinography, and customized high-resolution enhanced depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography scans.

Emotional coping is a better predictor of cardiac prognosis than depression and anxiety.

Objective: We compared, in a prospective study on patients with acute coronary syndrome, the predictive effect of a depression or anxiety diagnosis and of emotion-focused, problem-focused and dysfunctional coping strategies, as detected early after an acute event, on patients' left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), a reliable prognostic index of disease severity, at a three-month follow up.

Methods: Ninety consecutive patients following an acute coronary syndrome event (83.3% men; mean age 56.

Use and misuse of multivariable approaches in interventional cardiology studies on drug-eluting stents: a systematic review.

Aims:  Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) are the most reliable evidence, even if they require important resource and logistic efforts. Large, cost-free and real-world datasets may be easily accessed yielding to observational studies, but such analyses often lead to problematic results in the absence of careful methods, especially from a statistic point of view. We aimed to appraise the performance of current multivariable approaches in the estimation of causal treatment and effects in studies focusing on drug-eluting stents (DES).

Remote ischaemic preconditioning in coronary artery bypass surgery: a meta-analysis.

Aim: Randomised trials exploring remote ischaemic preconditioning (RIPC) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery have yielded conflicting data regarding potential cardiovascular and renal protection, and are individually flawed by small sample size.

Methods: Three investigators independently searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane databases to identify randomised trials testing RIPC in patients undergoing CABG.

Results: Nine studies with 704 patients were included.