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| 2. |
- Cameli, Matteo, et al.
(författare)
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ACUTE HF score, a multiparametric prognostic tool for acute heart failure : A real-life study
- 2019
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cardiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-5273 .- 1874-1754. ; 296, s. 103-108
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Acute heart failure (AHF) is the first cause of hospitalization for over-65 individuals, associated with high mortality and readmission rate. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic value of a multiparametric score combining clinical, biochemical and echocardiographic indexes in AHF for clinical practice.Methods: 830 patients hospitalized for AHF were enrolled. Exclusion criteria were: active neoplasms; previous heart transplantation or left ventricular assist device implantation. Different variables were analyzed: etiology of AHF, clinical and biochemical data, lung congestion on chest-X ray, echocardiographic parameters and administered therapy. The endpoints were: all-cause mortality at 30 days, 6 months and 5 years and the duration of hospitalization.Results: 771 patients met eligibility criteria. Using the univariate and multivariate analysis the indexes with the best correlation with outcome were discretized and used to create the ACUTE HF score, computed as: 1.4*[serum creatinine>2 mg/dl] + 0.8*[ejection fraction<30] + 0.7*[age > 76] + 0.7*[prior hospitalization for AHF] + 0.9*[prior stroke/transient ischemic attack] + 0.5*[more than moderate mitral regurgitation] + 0.8*[use of non-invasive ventilation] and used to divide patients into 3 groups according to the risk of 6-months mortality. With the receiver operating curves and Kaplan-Meier analysis, this score proved to have a high predictive power for mortality at 30 days, 6 months and 5 years from hospitalization, and for event-free survival rates, providing a risk stratification capability superior to that of single variables.Conclusions: The ACUTE HF score could be a complete and useful tool for assessing prognosis of AHF patients. It could represent a step in the long standardization pathway of prognostic protocols for AHF.
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| 3. |
- Cameli, Matteo, et al.
(författare)
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Safe performance of echocardiography during the COVID-19 pandemic : a practical guide
- 2020
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Ingår i: Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine. - : IMR Press. - 1530-6550 .- 2153-8174. ; 21:2, s. 217-223
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak has become a worldwide healthcare emergency, with continuously growing number of infected subjects. Considering the easy virus spread through respiratory droplets produced with cough, sneezes or spit or through close contact with infected people or surfaces, healthcare workers are further exposed to COVID-19. Particularly, echocardiography remains an essential diagnostic service which, due to the close contact with patients during the exam, provides echocardiographers high-risk of contagion. Therefore, the common modalities of performing echocardiography should be improved in this scenario, avoiding performing unnecessary exams, using the appropriate personal protective equipment depending on patients' status and location, optimizing time-effectiveness of the echocardiographic study and accurately sanitizing the environment and devices after each exam. This paper aims to provide a simple guide for the clinicians to balance between providing the best care to each patient and protecting themselves and other patients from the spread of the virus. It also proposes the use of the mnemonic PREVENT to resume the crucial indications to be followed for the execution of appropriate echocardiographic examination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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| 4. |
- Carrington, Mafalda, et al.
(författare)
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Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Defibrillator Use in Sports
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 2297-055X. ; 9
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in young athletes is rare, with an estimated incidence ranging from 0.1 to 2 per 100,000 per athlete year. The creation of SCA registries can help provide accurate data regarding incidence, treatment, and outcomes and help implement primary or secondary prevention strategies that could change the course of these events. Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation are the most important determinants of survival and neurological prognosis in individuals who suffer from SCA. Compared with the general population, individuals with clinically silent cardiac disease who practice regular physical exercise are at increased risk of SCA events. While the implementation of national preparticipation screening has been largely debated, with no current consensus, the number of athletes who will be diagnosed with cardiac disease and have an indication for implantable defibrillator cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is unknown. Many victims of SCA do not have a previous cardiac diagnosis. Therefore, the appropriate use and availability of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in public spaces is the crucial part of the integrated response to prevent these fatalities both for participating athletes and for spectators. Governments and sports institutions should invest and educate members of the public, security, and healthcare professionals in immediate initiation of CPR and early AED use. Smartphone apps could play an integral part to allow bystanders to alert the emergency services and CPR trained responders and locate and utilize the nearest AED to positively influence the outcomes by strengthening the chain of survival. This review aims to summarize the available evidence on sudden cardiac death prevention among young athletes and to provide some guidance on strategies that can be implemented by governments and on the novel tools that can help save these lives.
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| 5. |
- Cavarretta, Elena, et al.
(författare)
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The role of echocardiography in sports cardiology : An expert opinion statement of the Italian Society of Sports Cardiology (SIC sport)
- 2024
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cardiology. - 0167-5273. ; 410
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is routinely required during pre-participation screening in the presence of symptoms, family history of sudden cardiac death or cardiomyopathies <40-year-old, murmurs, abnormal ECG findings or in the follow-up of athletes with a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD). TTE is a cost-effective first-line imaging modality to evaluate the cardiac remodeling due to long-term, intense training, previously known as the athlete's heart, and to rule out the presence of conditions at risk of sudden cardiac death, including cardiomyopathies, coronary artery anomalies, congenital, aortic and heart valve diseases. Moreover, TTE is useful for distinguishing physiological cardiac adaptations during intense exercise from pathological behavior due to an underlying CVD. In this expert opinion statement endorsed by the Italian Society of Sports Cardiology, we discussed common clinical scenarios where a TTE is required and conditions falling in the grey zone between the athlete's heart and underlying cardiomyopathies or other CVD. In addition, we propose a minimum dataset that should be included in the report for the most common indications of TTE in sports cardiology clinical practice.
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| 6. |
- D'Ascenzi, Flavio, et al.
(författare)
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Atrial chamber remodelling in healthy pre-adolescent athletes engaged in endurance sports : A study with a longitudinal design. The CHILD study
- 2016
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cardiology. - : Elsevier BV. - 0167-5273 .- 1874-1754. ; 223, s. 325-330
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- AIMS: Previous studies investigated the exercise-induced adaptation of left (LA) and right atrium (RA) in adults, but little is known about respective changes in the growing heart of children. We aimed to longitudinally investigate the effects of endurance training on biatrial remodelling in preadolescent athletes.METHODS AND RESULTS: Ninety-four children (57 endurance athletes, 37 sedentary controls; mean age 10.8±0.2 and 10.2±0.2years, respectively) were evaluated at baseline and after 5months by ECG and by two-dimensional, three-dimensional (3D) and speckle-tracking echocardiography. Athletes were trained at least 10h/week. The resting heart rate was lower in athletes (p=0.046) and decreased further after training (p<0.0001). Neither athletes nor controls had ECG evidence for LA or RA enlargement. At baseline, indexed LA volumes did not differ between groups (p=0.14) but indexed RA dimensions were larger in athletes (p=0.007). After 5months, indexed LA volumes increased in athletes but not in controls (p<0.0001, p=0.29; respectively) while indexed RA volumes increased in both groups (p<0.0001, p=0.018; respectively). At the same time, slight differences in biatrial reservoir and contractile function were found either in athletes, as demonstrated by speckle-tracking echocardiography, but 3D-derived LA and RA ejection fraction remained stable in both groups.CONCLUSION: Endurance training influences the growing heart of preadolescent athletes with an additive increase in biatrial size, suggesting that morphological adaptations can occur also in the early phases of the sports career. Training-induced remodelling was associated with a preserved biatrial function, supporting the hypothesis of a physiological remodelling.
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| 7. |
- D'Ascenzi, Flavio, 1983-
(författare)
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Atrial function and loading conditions in athletes
- 2017
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Intensive training is associated with hemodynamic changes that typically induce an enlargement of cardiac chamber. Despite LA dilatation in athletes has been interpreted as a benign adaptation, little evidence is available. The aim of this thesis is to demonstrate that LA size changes in response to alterations in loading conditions and to analyse atrial myocardial function in athletes through the application of novel echocardiographic techniques.We found that top-level athletes exhibit a dynamic morphological and functional LA remodelling, induced by training, with an increase in reservoir and conduit volumes, but stable active volume. Training causes an increase in biatrial volumes which is accompanied by normal filling pressures and stiffness. These changes in atrial morphology are not associated with respective electrical changes. Extending the evidence from adult athletes to children, we found that training-induced atrial remodelling can occur in the early phases of the sports career and is associated with a preserved biatrial function. Finally, in a meta-analysis study of the available evidence we demonstrated that atrial function and size are not affected by aging.In conclusions, athlete’s heart is characterized by a physiological biatrial enlargement. This adaptation occurs in close association with LV cavity enlargement, is dynamic and reversible. This increase in biatrial size is not intrinsically an expression of atrial dysfunction. Indeed, in athletes the atria are characterized by a preserved reservoir function, normal myocardial stiffness, and dynamic changes in response to different loading conditions.
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| 8. |
- D'Ascenzi, Flavio, et al.
(författare)
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Left atrial remodelling in patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation : a speckle-tracking prospective, longitudinal study.
- 2013
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Ingår i: The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging. - : Springer Netherlands. - 1569-5794 .- 1875-8312 .- 1573-0743. ; 29:8, s. 1717-1724
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aortic stenosis (AS) results in several left ventricular (LV) disturbances as well as progressive left atrial (LA) enlargement and dysfunction. Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) reverses LV remodelling and improves overall systolic function but its effect on LA function remains undetermined. The aim of this prospective, longitudinal study was to investigate the effects of TAVI on LA structure and function. We studied thirty-two patients with severe symptomatic AS who underwent TAVI, using standard and 2-dimensional speckle-tracking echocardiography before, at 40-day and at 3-month follow-up. Following TAVI, mean transvalvular gradient decreased (p < 0.001). Both LA area index and LA volume index decreased at 40-day follow-up (16.2 ± 6.4 vs. 12.5 ± 2.9 cm(2)/m(2), and 47.3 ± 12.0 vs. 42.8 ± 12.5 mL/m(2), respectively, p < 0.05) and values remained unchanged at 3 months. The reduction of LA size was accompanied by a significant increase in global peak atrial longitudinal strain (14.4 ± 3.9 vs. 19.1 ± 4.7 %, p < 0.001) and in global peak atrial contraction strain (8.4 ± 2.5 vs. 11.0 ± 4.1 %, p < 0.05) at 3-month follow-up. LA stiffness measurements significantly decreased 3 months after TAVI (0.93 ± 0.59 vs. 0.65 ± 0.37, respectively, p < 0.001). Trans-aortic mean gradient change and pre-procedural LA volume were identified as predictors of global peak atrial longitudinal strain increase (β = -0.41, β = -0.35, respectively, p < 0.0001) while pre-procedural LA volume and trans-aortic mean gradient change as predictor of LA volume index reduction 3 months after TAVI (β = -0.37, β = -0.28, respectively, p < 0.0001). TAVI is associated with significant recovery of LA structure and function suggesting a reverse cavity remodelling. Such functional recovery is primarily determined by the severity of pre-procedural valve stenosis.
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| 9. |
- D'Ascenzi, Flavio, et al.
(författare)
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P-wave morphology is unaffected by training-induced biatrial dilatation : a prospective, longitudinal study in healthy athletes
- 2016
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Ingår i: International Journal of Cardiac Imaging. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1569-5794 .- 1875-8312. ; 32:3, s. 407-415
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Biatrial enlargement is common in athletes with a further increase occurring after training. P-wave morphology seems to be unaffected by atrial size, however longitudinal data are not available. This study aimed to prospectively investigate whether exercise-induced increase in biatrial size corresponds to electrical changes on 12-lead ECG. Thirty-five athletes were evaluated at the beginning of the training and after 6 months by ECG and standard and speckle-tracking echocardiography. Twenty-three sedentary subjects served as controls. Athletes had greater left atrial (LA) and right atrial (RA) size compared with controls (20.7 ± 4.7 vs. 27.1 ± 6.6 and 17.3 ± 3.8 vs. 23.4 ± 6.3 mL/m2, respectively, p < 0.0001). After 6 months, a further increase in LA and RA size was observed (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.002, respectively). Neither athletes nor controls fulfilled the ECG criteria for RA enlargement and no differences were found for LA enlargement criteria between athletes and controls (2/35, 6 % vs. 0/23, 0 %, p = 0.23). This percentage remained unchanged after training. Biatrial stiffness remained normal in athletes also after training. Training causes an increase in biatrial volumes, with normal filling pressures and normal stiffness. These changes in atrial morphology are not associated with respective electrical changes, suggesting that P-wave morphology is unaffected by training-induced biatrial dilatation in young healthy athletes.
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| 10. |
- D'Ascenzi, Flavio, et al.
(författare)
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Reference values of left atrial size and function according to age : should we redefine the normal upper limits?
- 2019
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Ingår i: The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging. - : Springer. - 1569-5794 .- 1875-8312 .- 1573-0743. ; 35:1, s. 41-48
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Different cut-offs have been proposed for left atrial (LA) size. Furthermore, conflicting results have been reported about the influence of age on LA size and data on the impact of age on LA myocardial function are scanty. The aim of this study was to derive references values for LA size and function in healthy subjects and to evaluate the impact of age. We conducted a systematic literature search of MEDLINE database. We included only studies evaluating healthy subjects, with age ranged between 18 and 80years. Parameters were compared among four age groups, <30, 30-45, >45-60, >60years. Three hundred twenty-six studies met the inclusion criteria and the final population consisted of 62,821 subjects. LA volume index (LAVi) did not differ among different age groups (p=0.21). The normal upper limit of LAVi was 24mL/m(2). LA reservoir function, measured by strain, did not differ among age groups (38 +/- 3%, 32-43%; p=0.74). Left ventricular (LV) size and function were not different among groups, except LV mass index. A decrease in E/A ratio and an increase in E/e ratio were found with advancing age (p<0.0001 and p=0.001, respectively). In healthy subjects the normal upper limit of LAVi was lower than that recommended and is not influenced by advancing age. Furthermore, also LA function measured by strain was not affected by age. The current reference values of LAVi should be used with caution when applied to healthy subjects.
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