[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.