[Diagnosis and treatment of anemia in heart failure patients].

Anemia is a common comorbidity in patients with acute and chronic heart failure (HF) with preserved and reduced systolic function. It is recognized as a new therapeutic goal in HF since the reduction in hemoglobin levels is considered a significant independent predictive factor of mortality and hospitalization. At present, it is difficult to determine the real magnitude of the problem in terms of actual incidence and prevalence as no consistent definition of anemia associated with HF does exist, and a variety of hemoglobin thresholds have been used in clinical trials and epidemiological studies.

A novel prognostic index to determine the impact of cardiac conditions and co-morbidities on one-year outcome in patients with heart failure.

Prognostic stratification is relevant in clinical decision making in heart failure (HF). Predictors identified during hospitalization or in clinical trials may be unrepresentative of HF in the community. The aim of this study was to derive and validate, in different clinical settings, a risk stratification model for the prediction of stable HF outcomes.

[Cardiovascular medicine unit: preliminary results of an in-hospital multidisciplinary intervention in heart failure].

Background: In Italy the majority of patients with heart failure are admitted to Internal Medicine Divisions, where diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, suggested by guidelines, are less utilized than in Cardiology Divisions. In order to provide a better assistance to patients with heart failure, a Cardiovascular Medicine Unit was founded with interdepartmental valence (Cardiovascular and Internal Medicine) in the "Ospedali Riuniti" Hospital of Bergamo. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the preliminary results, concerning management of heart failure, in the first 6 months of activities carried out at the Cardiovascular Medicine Unit and to compare them with those of other structures that usually manage this disease.

[Management of stroke in a ward of internal medicine. Limits and prospects].

Precocious admission to specifically "dedicated" wards proved to improve reduction of mortality and degree of residual disability in patients with stroke, even if their inhomogeneous distribution gets most patients admitted to wards of Internal Medicine. We purposed to evaluate the importance of this problem, to check adhesion to the national guidelines and to show the main problems in management of patients with stroke in the Operative Unit of Internal Medicine, Vascular and Metabolic Diseases of the IRCCS S. Matteo Hospital of Pavia.