Real-world data of patients affected by advanced heart failure treated with implantable cardioverter defibrillator and left ventricular assist device: Results of a multicenter observational study.

Background: Left ventricular assist device (L-VAD) implantation is increasingly used in patients with heart failure (HF) and most patients also have an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). Limited data are available on the incidence of ICD therapies and complications in this special setting. The aim of this study was to analyze the real-world incidence and predictors of ICD therapies, complications and interactions between ICD and L-VAD.

Vaccination Recommendations in Solid Organ Transplant Adult Candidates and Recipients.

Prevention of infections is crucial in solid organ transplant (SOT) candidates and recipients. These patients are exposed to an increased infectious risk due to previous organ insufficiency and to pharmacologic immunosuppression. Besides infectious-related morbidity and mortality, this vulnerable group of patients is also exposed to the risk of acute decompensation and organ rejection or failure in the pre- and post-transplant period, respectively, since antimicrobial treatments are less effective than in the immunocompetent patients.

A case series of novel coronavirus infection in heart transplantation from 2 centers in the pandemic area in the North of Italy.

Background: Little is known about the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 disease (COVID-19) in solid organ transplanted patients. We here report a series of heart transplanted patients with COVID-19 from two centers of Italy.

Methods: All heart transplanted patients of Transplant Centers of Bergamo and Torino with a microbiologically confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled.

The unnatural history of failing univentricular hearts: outcomes up to 25 years after heart transplantation.

Objectives: Heart transplantation (HTx) in children with a univentricular physiology is a challenge. In this study, we aimed to investigate the early and late survival as well as the causes of death of HTx recipients at different stages of univentricular palliation.

Methods: Between January 1987 and September 2015, 40 orthotropic cardiac transplants were performed in 38 children with univentricular hearts at our institution.

Echocardiographic outflow pump ramp test in centrifugal-flow left ventricular assist device.

This study sought to develop a novel echocardiogram outflow ramp test to detect device malfunctions in centrifugal-flow left ventricular assist devices (LVADs). This new ramp pump test is based on the direct analyses of systolic and diastolic ratio (S/D) Doppler velocity in the outflow cannula in the HeartWare LVAD during progressive increases in speed. The results showed that in patients with normal pump function, the Doppler velocity S/D ratio gradually decreased during LVAD speed increases.

Prognostic impact of late gadolinium enhancement in the risk stratification of heart transplant patients.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to assess the association of the presence and amount of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) at cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) with cardiovascular adverse events in patients with orthotopic heart transplantation (HTx).

Methods And Results: We enrolled 48 patients (mean age, 54.7 ± 14.

Pathologic correlates of late gadolinium enhancement cardiovascular magnetic resonance in a heart transplant patient.

We report the histopathologic correlates of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) at cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) in a patient with heart transplant who died for graft failure a few months after the scan. Extensive late enhancement was present at CMR, and it correlated with extensive fibrosis at histology. To our knowledge, this is the first time the findings on contrast enhancement CMR are compared to the histology of the whole heart in a heart transplantation patient, and the correspondence between LGE and fibrosis, demonstrated in other cardiac pathologies, is confirmed also in this particular setting.

Left ventricular ejection fraction overcrossing 35% after one year of cardiac resynchronization therapy predicts long term survival and freedom from sudden cardiac death: single center observational experience.

Background: Reverse remodeling and increased LVEF after CRT correlate with survival and heart failure hospitalizations, but their relationship with the risk of SCD is unclear. We aimed to evaluate whether exceeding a threshold value of 35% for left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) 1 year after cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) predicts survival and freedom from sudden cardiac death (SCD).

Methods: 330 patients who survived ≥ 6 months after CRT (males 80%, age 62 ± 11 years) were grouped according to 1-year LVEF ≤ 35% (Group 1, n=187, 57%) or >35% (Group 2, n=143, 43%).

Home-based telesurveillance program in chronic heart failure: effects on clinical status and implications for 1-year prognosis.

Background: Studies focusing on the effects of telemanagement programs for chronic heart failure (CHF) on functional status are lacking, and the prognostic value of the clinical response to the programs is unknown. In the Lombardy region of Italy, a home-based telesurveillance program (HTP) including multidisciplinary management and remote telemonitoring for patients with CHF was introduced in 2000 and was formally adopted, as part of the services delivered by the regional healthcare system, in 2006. This article reports the effect of the HTP on the functional status and quality of life and describes the main outcomes observed within 1 year from the end of the program.

Heart transplantation: 25 years' single-centre experience.

Objectives: Heart transplantation (HTx) is still one of the most effective therapies for end-stage heart disease for patients with no other medical or surgical therapy. We report the results of our 25-year orthotropic HTx single-centre experience.

Methods: From November 1985, 905 orthotopic heart transplants have been performed at our centre.

The first Caucasian patient with p.Val122Ile mutated-transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis treated with isolated heart transplantation.

Effective treatments for mutated transthyretin (TTR)-related cardiac amyloidosis are limited. Heart transplantation or combined liver-heart transplantation are the most successful options, although results rely on underline mechanism and systemic nature of the disease. In this report, we present the first case of a Caucasian patient with the p.

Association of pre-operative interleukin-6 levels with Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support profiles and intensive care unit stay in left ventricular assist device patients.

Background: Inflammatory mechanisms are associated with worse prognosis in end-stage heart failure (ESHF) patients who require left ventricular assist device (LVAD) support. Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support (INTERMACS) profiles describe patient condition at pre-implant and outcome. This study assessed the relationship among inflammation patterns and INTERMACS profiles in LVAD recipients.

Learning-related feedforward inhibitory connectivity growth required for memory precision.

In the adult brain, new synapses are formed and pre-existing ones are lost, but the function of this structural plasticity has remained unclear. Learning of new skills is correlated with formation of new synapses. These may directly encode new memories, but they may also have more general roles in memory encoding and retrieval processes.

The role of intraoperative transoesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis and management of a rare multiple fibroelastoma of aortic valve: a case report and review of literature.

Papillary fibroelastoma is the third most common primary tumour of the heart that usually involves the cardiac valves. Multiple papillary fibroelastomas are extremely rare. We report a case with multiple valve papillary fibroelastoma which was identified only by intraoperative transoesophageal echocardiography.