Real-Time High-Frame-Rate Cardiac B-Mode and Tissue Doppler Imaging Based on Multiline Transmission and Multiline Acquisition.

Cardiovascular diseases, the leading cause of death in the world, are often associated with the dysfunction of the left ventricle. Even if, in clinical practice, the myocardial function is often assessed through visual wall motion scoring on B-mode images, quantitative techniques have been introduced, e.g.

The Difficult Evolution of Intensive Cardiac Care Units: An Overview of the BLITZ-3 Registry and Other Italian Surveys.

Coronary care units, initially developed to treat acute myocardial infarction, have moved to the care of a broader population of acute cardiac patients and are currently defined as Intensive Cardiac Care Units (ICCUs). However, very limited data are available on such evolution. Since 2008, in Italy, several surveys have been designed to assess ICCUs' activities.

Impact of renal function impairment assessed by CKD estimated glomerular filtration rate on early and late outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Background: We explore the association between short- and long- term adverse outcomes following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and the degree of preoperative renal dysfunction classified on glomerular fraction estimated with Chronic Kidney Disease-Epidemiology Collaboration equation (eGFR). We also try to identify cut-off values of eGFR able to predict post-CABG unfavorable events and assess whether a reclassification with new thresholds is necessary.

Methods: One-thousand-one-hundred-eighty-six consecutive patients undergoing CABG between 2005 and 2014 were categorized in 4 groups according to the eGFR: Group 1 (≥60ml/min/1.

[Heart failure in Italian intensive cardiac care units: data from the BLITZ-3 survey].

Background: Only limited information about clinical characteristics, diagnostic procedures and therapeutic options is available in patients admitted to an intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU) for heart failure. The aim of this study was to evaluate causes of admission, clinical characteristics, diagnostic and therapeutic options, and outcome of patients admitted for heart failure in the ICCU network.

Methods: The BLITZ-3 Registry prospectively included patients admitted by 332 Italian ICCUs.

Elderly patients with acute coronary syndromes admitted to Italian intensive cardiac care units: a Blitz-3 Registry sub-analysis.

Background: Guideline-recommended therapies for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) derive from randomized trials in which elderly patients are underrepresented. Although numbers of this population are increasing, they are largely undertreated in the real world.

Objective: The study evaluates the impact of older age on care for patients with ACS admitted to the Italian Intensive Cardiac Care Units (ICCUs) network.

[Distribution and appropriateness of hospital admissions, resource utilization in the Italian intensive cardiac care units. The BLITZ-3 study].

Background: The BLITZ-3 study prospectively evaluated the epidemiology of hospital admissions, the patterns of care and the most important comorbidities in intensive cardiac care unit (ICCU) patients.

Methods: Distribution and level of appropriateness of hospital admissions in relation to type of ICCU were analyzed (type A, 32%, without cardiac cath lab or cardiac surgery; type B, 49%, with cath lab; type C, 19%, with both cath lab and cardiac surgery). The caseload was estimated on the basis of different levels of mortality risk during the ICCU stay: high (>5.

[Clinical competence in intensive cardiac care units: from practical needs to training programs].

Since the early 1970s, intensive cardiac care is applied in coronary care units (CCUs), initially developed to treat lethal arrhythmias in patients with acute myocardial infarction. In the last decades, treatments offered within the CCUs have greatly expanded. Thus, these units have been called intensive cardiac care units (ICCUs) to reflect such evolution of care and the different epidemiology of patients admitted (subjects with acute coronary syndromes, acute and advanced heart failure, rhythm disturbances or severe valve dysfunction).

Epidemiology and patterns of care of patients admitted to Italian Intensive Cardiac Care units: the BLITZ-3 registry.

Background: Intensive cardiac care units (ICCUs) have shifted from the observation of patients with myocardial infarction to the care of different acute cardiac diseases. However, few data on such an evolution are available.

Methods And Results: From 7 to 20 April 2008, 6986 consecutive patients admitted to 81% of Italian ICCUs were prospectively enrolled.

Clinical implications and management of bleeding events in patients with acute coronary syndromes.

In the past decades, there has been a significant development in the management of patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS), largely driven by advances in antithrombotic and antiplatelet agents. Despite significant improvements in efficacy end points such as death, myocardial infarction and repeated revascularization, these therapies are still associated with a significant risk of bleeding. Such bleedings are independent predictors of long-term adverse clinical events.

Severe hypoplasia of the posterior mitral leaflet.

A rare case of a 14-year-old child with congenital mitral insufficiency secondary to hypoplasia of the posterior leaflet is reported. Echocardiography revealed the almost complete absence of the posterior mitral leaflet, which determined massive regurgitation. At surgical inspection the posterior leaflet was almost completely absent, represented only by tags of fibrous tissue that strictly adhered to the posterior annulus with a total absence of chordae inserting into the hypoplastic leaflet.

Coronary embolism following valve surgery.

A 55-year-old man experienced chest pain on the seventh day after valve surgery. Coronary angiography showed embolic occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The lesion was treated successfully with thrombectomy using the angiojet rheolytic thrombectomy system, resulting in rapid mechanical thrombolysis and removal via the effluent lumen of the catheter.