Effects of sacubitril/valsartan on the functional capacity of real-world patients in Italy: the REAL.IT study on heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

Background: Heart failure (HF) significantly affects the morbidity, mortality, and quality of life of patients. New therapeutic strategies aim to improve the functional capacity and quality of life of patients while controlling HF-related risks. Real-world data on both the functional and cardiopulmonary exercise capacities of patients with HF with reduced ejection fraction upon sacubitril/valsartan use are lacking.

Pharmacoutilization and adherence to sacubitril/valsartan in real world: the REAL.IT study in HFrEF.

Aims: The current European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines provide clear indications for the treatment of acute and chronic heart failure (HF). Nevertheless, there is a constant need for real-world evidence regarding the effectiveness, adherence, and persistence of drug therapy. We investigated the use of sacubitril/valsartan for the treatment of HF with reduced ejection fraction in real-world clinical practice in Italy.

Sacubitril/Valsartan in Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction: Real-World Experience from Italy (the REAL.IT Study).

Sacubitril/valsartan reduces heart failure (HF)-related hospitalizations and cardiovascular mortality in PARADIGM-HF and has become a foundational treatment for HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). However, data of its routine real-world use are limited, and evidence from Italian settings is lacking. The REAL.

Physiopathology and Diagnosis of Congestive Heart Failure: Consolidated Certainties and New Perspectives.

Volume overload and fluid congestion are a fundamental issue in the assessment and management of patients with heart failure (HF). Recent studies have found that in acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), right and left-sided pressures generally start to increase before any notable weight changes take place preceding an admission. ADHF may be a problem of volume redistribution among different vascular compartments instead of, or in addition to, fluid shift from the interstitial compartment.

Hyperkalemia in heart failure: current treatment and new therapeutic perspectives.

Hyperkalemia in heart failure is a condition that can occur with relative frequency because it is related to pathophysiological aspects of the disease, and favored by drugs that form the basis of chronic cardiac failure therapy. Often, associated comorbidities, such as kidney failure or diabetes mellitus can further adversely affect potassium levels. Hyperkalemia can result in acute and even severe clinical manifestations that put patients at risk.

Echocardiography to estimate high filling pressure in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction.

Aims: Echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular filling pressures is performed using a multi-parametric algorithm. Unselected sample of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) patients may demonstrate an indeterminate status of diastolic indices making interpretation challenging. We sought to test improvement in the diagnostic accuracy of standard and strain echocardiography of the left ventricle and left atrium (LA) to estimate a pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) > 15 mmHg in patients with HFrEF.

Usefulness of regional right ventricular and right atrial strain for prediction of early and late right ventricular failure following a left ventricular assist device implant: A machine learning approach.

Background: Identifying candidates for left ventricular assist device surgery at risk of right ventricular failure remains difficult. The aim was to identify the most accurate predictors of right ventricular failure among clinical, biological, and imaging markers, assessed by agreement of different supervised machine learning algorithms.

Methods: Seventy-four patients, referred to HeartWare left ventricular assist device since 2010 in two Italian centers, were recruited.

The Effects of Sacubitril/Valsartan on Clinical, Biochemical and Echocardiographic Parameters in Patients with Heart Failure with Reduced Ejection Fraction: The "Hemodynamic Recovery".

Background: Sacubitril/valsartan has been shown to be superior to enalapril in reducing the risks of death and hospitalization for heart failure (HF). However, knowledge of the impact on cardiac performance remains limited. We sought to evaluate the effects of sacubitril/valsartan on clinical, biochemical and echocardiographic parameters in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Additive Value of Biomarkers and Echocardiography to Stratify the Risk of Death in Heart Failure Patients with Reduced Ejection Fraction.

Background: Risk stratification is a crucial issue in heart failure. Clinicians seek useful tools to tailor therapies according to patient risk.

Methods: A prospective, observational, multicenter study on stable chronic heart failure outpatients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (HFrEF).

NT-ProBNP and hsTnI: A Multistate Survival Analysis in Outpatients with Reduced Left-Ventricular Ejection Fraction.

Heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) has a well-known epidemic relevance in western countries. It affects up to 1-2% of patients > 60 years and reaches a prevalence of 12% in octogenarian patients. The role of N-terminal pro-B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) and high-sensitive troponin I (hsTnI) in risk stratifying HFrEF patients has been established; at present, evidence is exclusively based on one-time assessments, and the prognostic usefulness of serial biochemical assessments in this population still remains to be determined.

[The heart failure management in Sicily: cognitive analysis of clinical features.].

Introduction: Heart failure (HF) is a main issue of modern healthcare system. Patient affected are continuously growing in number and age; therefore, an integrated management between different parts of healthcare system is crucial to optimize outcome and sustainability. So far, little is known about clinical pathways of HF patients in Sicily.

Modeling Right Ventricle Failure After Continuous Flow Left Ventricular Assist Device: A Biventricular Finite-Element and Lumped-Parameter Analysis.

The risk of right ventricle (RV) failure remains a major contraindication for continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) implantation in patients with heart failure. It is therefore critical to identify the patients who will benefit from early intervention to avoid adverse outcomes. We sought to advance the computational modeling description of the mechanisms underlying RV failure in LVAD-supported patients.

Risk Factors Associated With Peripheral Neuropathy in Heart Failure Patients Candidates for Transplantation.

Introduction: Peripheral neuropathy can affect patients with heart failure, though its prevalence is unknown. After heart transplantation, it can influence the postoperative course and quality of life, but screening for neuromuscular disease is not routinely performed.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with neuropathy in a population of patients with heart failure who are candidates for heart transplantation.

Heart transplant program at IRCCS-ISMETT: Impact of mechanical circulatory support on pre- and post -transplant survival.

Background: Heart transplantation (HTx) improves the quality of life and survival in patients affected by end-stage heart failure. The purpose of the current study is to present the patients' clinical data and results of HTx in a single Center of Sicily. Focus on survival after pre and post HTx mechanical circulatory support use will be performed.

Diastolic dysfunction diagnosed by tissue Doppler imaging in cirrhotic patients: Prevalence and its possible relationship with clinical outcome.

Background: Cirrhotic cardiomyopathy has been characterized by impaired contractile response to stress and/or altered diastolic relaxation, with electrophysiological abnormalities in the absence of known cardiac disease. However, the clinical significance of diastolic dysfunction (DDF) in cirrhotic patients has not been clarified.

Methods: We studied 84 cirrhotic patients with normal systolic function to evaluate the prevalence of DDF using tissue Doppler imaging, and to investigate the possible correlation of DDF with outcomes (hospitalization, death) and with the specific causes of death.

Thalassemia and heart surgery: aortic valve repair after endocarditis.

Outcome after heart valve surgery in patients affected by thalassemia is an unreported issue and to the best of our knowledge only 7 cases have been described in the literature. Heart valve disease is commonly encountered in thalassemia patients and heart valve replacement carries high risk of prosthesis complications including thrombosis and embolization despite optimal anticoagulation management. We report a successful long-term outcome after a case of aortic valve repair after mycotic valve endocarditis.

ISMETT: An International Collaboration on Organ Transplantation.

The Institute of the Mediterranean for Transplantation and High Specialty Therapies (ISMETT) is a multi-organ transplant and high specialty center located in Palermo, Italy and managed by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Clinical transplant activity started in 1999 and, herein, we illustrate the outcomes achieved over the past 15 years. In total, ISMETT has performed 997 liver transplants (83.

Obesity: a new pathology to pay attention to in young people.

Obesity in young people is a form of malnutrition that is found more and more in industrialized countries known both for its association with obesity in adult age and the chronic-degenerate pathologies correlated to it. In 1998 in the United States the prevalence of obesity in 4-12 year olds was 22% for the Hispanics and Afro-Americans and 12.3% for the non Hispanic Caucasians Also in children as in adults, the consequence of obesity is hyperinsulinemia, in direct proportion to the body weight.

Heart rate turbulence for guiding electric therapy in patients with cardiac failure.

Background: It is well-known that a reduction of the cardiac frequency variability, measurable with the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) system, is an indirect expression of the sympathetic-autonomic tone. Another index, Heart Rate Turbulence (HRT), has been recently suggested as a possible unit of measurement for the sympathetic-autonomic tone: this system allows to estimate the baro-reflex response of the carotid arteries to an early ventricular extra-systole by analysing heart rate variations induced by a premature beat.

Methods And Results: In our research we have analyzed this phenomenon in patients affected by moderate or severe cardiac failure.

Ventricular dysfunction and number of non compacted segments in non compaction: non-independent predictors.

Background: Isolated ventricular noncompaction (IVNC) is characterized by multiple prominent trabeculations and deep intertrabecular recesses. Some reports prove that the chronic heart failure may occur in approximately half of the patients. In this report we investigate the correlation between the number of non compacted segments and entity of systolic dysfunction from the registry and subregistries of the SIEC.