Publications by authors named "Michele Aquilina"

Background: Troponin changes over time have been suggested to allow for an early diagnosis of cardiac injury ensuing cancer chemotherapy; cancer patients with troponin elevation may benefit of therapy with enalapril. It is unknown whether a preventive treatment with enalapril may further increase the benefit.

Methods: The International CardioOncology Society-one trial (ICOS-ONE) was a controlled, open-label trial conducted in 21 Italian hospitals.

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Background: Cardiotoxicity is a well-known adverse effect of various chemotherapeutic agents that can be monitored by echocardiography. A decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) triggers consideration for therapy modification or interruption. The aim of this study was to evaluate how variability in LVEF estimates computed using three-dimensional echocardiography could influence cardiotoxicity onset detection.

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Hypocalcemia is an uncommon clinical symptom of patients with malignant tumors, and a number of factors may be involved in its development. The present study describes the case of a 67-year-old Caucasian female, presenting with severe refractory hypocalcemia and heart failure. The patient was subsequently diagnosed with breast cancer and bone metastases.

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Background: The impact of cytotoxic agents on the risk of acute allergy-like adverse reactions (ARs) to intravenous iodinated contrast media (ICM) injections is unknown.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 13,565 computed tomography (CT) scans performed in a consecutive cohort of cancer patients from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2012. Episodes of acute ICM-related ARs were reported to the pharmacovigilance officer.

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Background: Systemic capillary leak syndrome is a rare disease with a high mortality rate. This syndrome is characterised by generalised edema, hypotension, hemoconcentration, and hypoproteinemia. The cause is the sudden onset of capillary hyperpermeability with extravasations of plasma from the intravascular to the extravascular compartment.

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Objective: Although adjuvant trastuzumab improves survival in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer, there is growing concern about the long-term effect of trastuzumab-induced cardiotoxicity (TIC). We retrospectively assessed the incidence of TIC and heart failure (HF) to identify possible risk and protective factors.

Design: Retrospective study.

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Purpose: Anthracyclines and fluoropyrimidines are very active in breast cancer, while liposomal doxorubicin has low cardiotoxicity. We conducted a dose-finding study of the combination of liposomal doxorubicin and capecitabine in patients with pretreated metastatic breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Patients received liposomal doxorubicin 60 mg/m2 on day 1 plus capecitabine 825 mg/m2 bid (level 0) or 1,000 mg/m2 bid (level 1) on days 1-14 of each 21-day cycle to establish the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and cardiac safety.

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Background: The association between mitral valve prolapse (MVP) and cryptogenic stroke is controversial. The Atrial Septal Aneurysm Multicenter Italian (ASA-MI) Study is a prospective multicenter study evaluating the prevalence of atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) in patients with a recent stroke and normal carotid arteries. The aim of the present research was to evaluate the frequency of ASA and its association with MVP in the stroke population and in the subgroup of young patients (< 55 years) included in the ASA-MI Study.

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Background: Atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) has been considered a potential source of cardiogenic embolism for many years. The ASA Multicenter Italian (ASA-MI) Study evaluated the prevalence and characteristics of ASA in patients with stroke and normal carotid arteries compared with control patients without stroke. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the frequency of ASA and the association with patent foramen ovale (PFO) in the subgroup of younger patients (aged less than 55 years) included in the ASA-MI Study.

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