Publications by authors named "Pellegrini Carlo"

Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to identify echocardiographic indicators that could predict the success of weaning patients from veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (V-A ECMO) and their survival after the procedure.
  • It involved 76 patients undergoing V-A ECMO due to cardiogenic shock, measuring various echocardiographic parameters before and during the weaning process.
  • Key findings highlighted that parameters like total isovolumic time (t-IVT), mitral annular plane systolic excursion (MAPSE), and left ventricular output velocity-time integral (LVOT VTI) were strong predictors of successful weaning and survival, whereas the left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was not a reliable
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  • This study investigates how case-level American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG) criteria can clarify the pathogenicity of ultrarare variants causing Anderson-Fabry disease, especially when standard gene and variant-level analyses are inconclusive.
  • A 52-year-old woman presented symptoms like shortness of breath and chest pain, and family screening revealed affected and unaffected siblings, with some presenting with related symptoms indicating possible genetic connections to the disease.
  • Endomyocardial biopsies and advanced genetic testing initially classified a specific variant as uncertain, but incorporating functional data from biopsies and familial segregation eventually led to its reclassification as Likely Pathogenic/Pathogenic.
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Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection remains a major complication for solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs). The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of HCMV-specific T cell immunity measured at the time of the HCMV-DNA peak in predicting the spontaneous clearance of infection. The performance of cytokine flow cytometry using infected dendritic cells (CFC-iDC), infected cell lysate (CFC-iCL) and pp65 peptide pool (CFC-pp65 pool) as stimuli, as well as ELISPOT assays using infected cell lysate (ELISPOT-iCL) and the pp65 peptide pool (ELISPOT-pp65 pool), was analysed.

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In the ESC 2023 guidelines, cardiomyopathies are conservatively defined as 'myocardial disorders in which the heart muscle is structurally and functionally abnormal, in the absence of coronary artery disease, hypertension, valvular disease, and congenital heart disease sufficient to cause the observed myocardial abnormality'. They are morpho-functionally classified as hypertrophic, dilated, restrictive, and arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy with the addition of the left ventricular non-dilated cardiomyopathy that describes intermediate phenotypes not fulfilling standard disease definitions despite the presence of myocardial disease on cardiac imaging or tissue analysis. The new ESC guidelines provide 'a guide to the diagnostic approach to cardiomyopathies, highlight general evaluation and management issues, and signpost the reader to the relevant evidence base for the recommendations'.

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Background: Veno-arterial extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) support is commonly complicated with left ventricle (LV) distension in patients with cardiogenic shock. We resolved this problem by transeptally converting VA-ECMO to left atrium veno-arterial (LAVA)-ECMO that functioned as a temporary paracorporeal left ventricular assist device to resolve LV distension. In our case LAVA-ECMO was also functioning as a bridge-to-transplant device, a technique that has been scarcely reported in the literature.

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Background: An aberrant subclavian artery (ASA) (or lusoria) is the most common congenital anomaly of the aortic arch (0.5%-2.2%; female-to-male ratio 2:1 to 3:1).

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Background: In patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) it is important to minimize residual obstructions, in order to achieve low postoperative pulmonary vascular resistances and better clinical results. The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that the greater the number of pulmonary artery branches treated at surgery, the better the hemodynamic and clinical outcome after PEA.

Methods: In 564 consecutive CTEPH patients undergoing PEA the count of the number of treated branches was performed directly on the surgical specimens.

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Although several studies have previously reported on the efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with first-generation drug-eluting stents (DES) in heart transplant patients with cardiac allograft vasculopathy, few data regarding new-generation DES are currently available. We sought to compare the efficacy of new-generation versus first-generation DES in 90 consecutive patients with heart transplant (113 de novo coronary lesions) who underwent urgent or elective PCI with first-generation (28 patients) or new-generation (62 patients) DES. For each patient, the severity of cardiac allograft vasculopathy and postprocedural extent of revascularization were quantified calculating baseline and residual SYNTAX score, respectively.

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Supportive care is the cornerstone of the poisoned patient's treatment, waiting for eventual antidotes to act. We recently treated a case of a severe Ethylene Glycol intoxication with early-onset veno-arterial ECMO. The patient was taken to our Emergency Department with the suspicion of acute cerebrovascular accident, since he was found unconscious at home.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Methods and Results: The study involved six CS patients on veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO) who received ivabradine, compared to a similar group without the drug. Key health indicators, including heart rate and heart function, were monitored, revealing a significant heart rate drop and improved heart performance following ivabradine administration.
  • * Conclusion: Ivabradine effectively lowered heart rate in CS patients
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Background: The heart is commonly involved in maternally inherited mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) syndrome caused by the MT-TL1 m.3243A>G mutation of the mitochondrial DNA. Heart transplantation (HTx) is controversial and has rarely been performed with conflicting results.

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Tacrolimus (TAC) is an immunosuppressant drug approved both in the US and in the EU, widely used for the prophylaxis of organ rejection after transplantation. This is a critical dose drug: low levels in whole blood can lead to low exposure and a high risk of acute rejection, whereas overexposure puts patients at risk for toxicity and infection. Both situations can occur at whole-blood concentrations considered to be within the narrow TAC therapeutic range.

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The immunogenicity of severe acute respiratory syndrome 2 virus (SARS-CoV-2) vaccines in immunocompromised patients remains to be further explored. Here, we evaluated the immunogenicity elicited by complete vaccination with BNT162b2 vaccine in solid organ transplant recipients (SOTRs). A cohort of 110 SOTRs from Northern Italy were vaccinated with two doses of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine and prospectively monitored at baseline and after 42 days.

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The development and persistence of SARS-CoV-2-specific immune response in immunocompetent (IC) and immunocompromised patients is crucial for long-term protection. Immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection was analysed in 57 IC and 15 solid organ transplanted (TX) patients. Antibody responses were determined by ELISA and neutralization assay.

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Cardiac allograft vasculopathy (CAV) still represents the main cause of long-term graft loss after heart transplantation. Its silent clinical presentation makes an early identification difficult, with relevant implications for a standardized follow-up. Although technological advances have provided sophisticated non-invasive techniques for CAV assessment, intravascular ultrasound in conjunction with coronary angiography is still the gold standard to detect rapidly progressive CAV and to provide prognostic information during follow-up.

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An increased need of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support is going to become evident as treatment of SARS-CoV-2 respiratory distress syndrome. This is the first report of the Italian Society for Cardiac Surgery (SICCH) on preliminary experience with COVID-19 patients receiving ECMO support. Data from 12 Italian hospitals participating in SICCH were retrospectively analyzed.

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The role of immunosuppression in SARS-CoV-2-related disease (COVID-19) is a matter of debate. We here describe the course and the outcome of COVID-19 in a cohort of patients undergoing treatment with calcineurin inhibitors. In this monocentric cohort study, data were collected from the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy up to April 28 2020.

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Recent studies report strategies for analysing immunosuppressive drugs in brain, liver and renal tissue, mostly in animals: we developed and validated a two steps combined enzymatic digestion/mass spectrometry assay to quantify Tacrolimus (TAC) in heart biopsies. Our aims were to avoid sample loss and sample contamination during the laboratory preparation, and to limit matrix effects in the electrospray ionization source (ESI) of the mass spectrometer. Enzymatic tissue digestion followed by a liquid-liquid drug extraction in the same vial of reaction allowed us to reach both our aims.

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We describe the first case of acute cardiac injury directly linked to myocardial localization of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in a 69-year-old patient with flu-like symptoms rapidly degenerating into respiratory distress, hypotension, and cardiogenic shock. The patient was successfully treated with venous-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and mechanical ventilation. Cardiac function fully recovered in 5 days and ECMO was removed.

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Background: There is little evidence on the long-term effects of calcineurin inhibitor (CNI) withdrawal and substitution with everolimus and mycophenolate mofetil in maintenance therapy of patients who have received heart transplants and have concurrent CNI nephrotoxicity. Aims of this study were to evaluate the progression of renal dysfunction after discontinuation of CNIs and to monitor for major adverse events after therapy change.

Methods: Data from 41 patients who underwent heart transplant and have different degrees of renal dysfunction (estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] <60 mL/min/1.

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Introduction: Veno-venous arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation is a hybrid-modality of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation combining veno-venous and veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. It may be applied to patients with both respiratory and cardio-circulatory failure.

Aim: To describe a computational spreadsheet regarding an ex vivo experimental model of veno-venous arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to determine the return of cannula pairs in a single pump-driven circuit.

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Malignancies are one of the leading causes of death in long-term surviving transplant recipients. Dose and prolonged durations of immunosuppressive regimens are considered the main cause, through a direct oncogenic effect and a renowned interaction on physiological anti-viral and anti-oncogenic immune response. Specific neoplasms are known to occur with different frequencies according to the transplanted organ.

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Introduction: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is used extensively in cardiothoracic surgery both for hemodynamic and respiratory support. It has proven to be a valuable tool to maintain adequate oxygenation during tracheal surgery. Airway lesion may be an indication for veno-venous ECMO both in case of conservative management and in case of surgical repair.

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