ANMCO Position Paper: long-term follow-up of patients with pulmonary thromboembolism.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including pulmonary embolism and deep venous thrombosis, is the third most common cause of cardiovascular death. The management of the acute phase of VTE has already been described in several guidelines. However, the management of the follow-up (FU) of these patients has been poorly defined. This consensus document, created by the Italian cardiologists, wants to clarify this issue using the currently available evidence in VTE. Clinical and instrumental data acquired during the acute phase of the disease are the cornerstone for planning the FU. Acquired or congenital thrombophilic disorders could be identified in apparently unprovoked VTE during the FU. In other cases, an occult cancer could be discovered after a VTE. The main targets of the post-acute management are to prevent recurrence of VTE and to identify the patients who can develop a chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Knowledge of pathophysiology and therapeutic approaches is fundamental to decide the most appropriate long-term treatment. Moreover, prognostic stratification during the FU should be constantly updated on the basis of the new evidence acquired. Currently, the cornerstone of VTE treatment is represented by both the oral and the parenteral anticoagulation. Novel oral anticoagulants should be an interesting alternative in the long-term treatment.

Acute pulmonary embolism after post-traumatic spinal epidural hematoma: Use of catheter-direct treatment.

We report the case of a 35-year-old man who developed a massive pulmonary embolism (PE) after spine surgery. After an accidental axial fall, the patient developed a spinal epidural hematoma (SHE). Because major trauma, recent surgery and known bleeding risk are considered absolute contraindications to systemic thrombolysis, the patient was treated with catheter-directed therapy (CDT). CDT remains a useful treatment in massive PE, especially when systemic thrombolysis is contraindicated or has failed.

[ANMCO Position paper: Recommendations for the follow-up of patients with pulmonary thromboembolism]. / Position paper ANMCO: Raccomandazioni per il follow-up del paziente con tromboembolia polmonare.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, is the third most common cause of cardiovascular death. The management of the acute phase of VTE is well described in several papers and guidelines, whereas the management of the follow-up of the patients affected from VTE is less defined. This position paper of the Italian Association of Hospital Cardiologists (ANMCO) tries to fill the gap using currently available evidence and the opinion of the experts to suggest the most useful way to manage patients in the chronic phase.The clinical and laboratory tests acquired during the acute phase of the disease drives the decision of the following period. Acquired or congenital thrombophilic factors may be identified to explain an apparently not provoked VTE. In some patients, a not yet clinically evident cancer could be the trigger of VTE and this could lead to a different strategy. The main target of the post-acute management is to prevent relapse of the disease and to identify those patients who could worsen or develop chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. The knowledge of the etiopathogenetic ground is important to address the therapeutic approach, choosing the best antithrombotic strategy and deciding how long therapy should last. During the follow-up period, prognostic stratification should be updated on the basis of new evidences eventually acquired.Treatment of VTE is mainly based on oral or parenteral anticoagulation. Oral direct inhibitors of coagulation represent an interesting new therapy for the acute and extended period of treatment.

[Diagnosis and therapy of pulmonary arterial hypertension in Italy: results of the INCIPIT2 survey]. / Diagnosi e terapia dell'ipertensione arteriosa polmonare nelle Cardiologie italiane: risultati dell'indagine conoscitiva INCIPIT2.

BACKGROUND: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare clinical condition characterized by increased pulmonary vascular resistance and premature death. It is necessary to activate a pathway from the screening of pulmonary hypertension to the diagnosis of PAH, so as to use the drugs able to improve the outcome. Nowadays, in Italy, there are no data about the management of PAH in peripheral centers and about the integration of peripheral centers with those of excellence. METHODS: In order to have a map of the actual Italian pathway for diagnosis and therapy of PAH, on behalf of the ANMCO Pulmonary Circulation Area, 923 Italian cardiology departments were asked to reply, on a special electronic file, to a few simple questions about their organization, from December 2012 to May 2013. RESULTS: 101/923 centers (48 in the North, 18 in the Middle, 35 in the South) answered correctly. 32% has no organization for PAH, 68% has a pathway for PAH diagnosis and management, and two thirds of them collaborate with excellence centers. 36 centers perform right heart catheterization with vascular reactivity (21 with nitric oxide, 8 with adenosine, 5 with epoprostenol, 2 with nitric oxide or epoprostenol). 61/101 are prescriber centers: 33 perform right heart catheterization with vascular reactivity test, 23 send their patients to the reference center for right heart catheterization, 5 perform no right heart catheterization before the prescription of specific drugs for PAH, and only 14 prescribe intravenous prostanoids. In 2011, the participating centers followed 561 patients with PAH, of whom 126 (23%) were in independent centers. With regard to the network organization of the groups, the participating centers are partly independent of the diagnostic pathway, partly refer to outside regions; in others there is a structured regional network and there are 3 Italian regions with Hub & Spoke networks that receive patients coming from other regions. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show the interest of Italian Cardiology to find a pathway for the diagnosis of PAH and a heterogeneity suggesting the need for a shareable pathway, thus improving the collaboration between peripheral cardiology departments and the excellence centers for PAH in a functional Hub & Spoke network.

Clinical features and short term outcomes of patients with acute pulmonary embolism. The Italian Pulmonary Embolism Registry (IPER).

BACKGROUND: Registries are essential to obtain information on the whole spectrum of patients with pulmonary embolism (PE). The aim of the Italian Pulmonary Embolism Registry (IPER) is to report on demographics, clinical features, management, and outcomes of patients diagnosed with PE in everyday clinical practice. METHODS: Patients with confirmed acute PE were enrolled in a web-based registry, in Cardiology, Emergency or Internal Medicine Departments in 47 hospitals in Italy. RESULTS: Overall, 1716 patients were included, mean age 70 ± 15 years, (14% of the patients were <50 and 43% >75 year old); 57% of female gender and 11.7% hemodynamically unstable at presentation/diagnosis. D-dimer was performed in 1358 patients (80%). Computerized tomographic pulmonary angiogram (CT) was used for diagnosis in the majority of the patients (82.1%), followed by perfusion lung scan (8.6%). Thrombolytic agents were used in 185 (10.8%) patients, percutaneous thrombectomy in 14 (0.8%) and surgery in 2 (0.1%). One hundred sixteen patients died while in-hospital (6.7%), 68 (3.9%) due to PE. Death or clinical deterioration occurred in 138 patients (8.0%). All-cause mortality was 31.8% in hemodynamically unstable patients and 3.4% in hemodynamically stable patients; the corresponding PE-related deaths were 23.3% and 1.4% respectively. Age >75 (HR 1.50, 95% CI 1.01-2.25), immobilization > 3 days before diagnosis of PE (HR 2.54, 95% CI 1.72-3.77) and hemodynamic impairment (HR 6.38, 95% CI 4.26-9.57) were independent predictors for in-hospital death. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with PE have a considerable risk of death during the hospital stay, PE being the most common cause of early mortality.

Impact of intracardiac echocardiography on radiation exposure during adult congenital heart disease catheter-based interventions.

BACKGROUND: Intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) is a widespread approach in many cardiovascular procedures in which it has the potential to reduce the fluoroscopy time and patients radiation exposure. We sought to assess the patient radiation exposure during transcatheter closure of interatrial communications with and without ICE-guidance. METHODS: In a prospective consecutive series of 25 consecutive patients who underwent transcatheter closure of interatrial communications between May and October 2005 with (15 patients) and without (10 patients) ICE-guidance in a single secondary care referral centre, we measured the dose-area product (DAP), the fluoroscopy dose-area product (FDAP), the total dose-area product (TDAP), and the mean procedural time. RESULTS: In patients underwent ICE-guided transcatheter closure procedure the mean fluoroscopy time, the mean DAP, mean FDAP, and mean TDAP resulted significantly lower than in control patients: 2.0 +/- 0.21 (range 1.6-2.2) versus 5.05 +/- 0.54 (range 4.2-5.8) minutes (P < 0.001) , 13.72 +/- 9.03 (range 11.36-14.63) versus 21.95 +/- 6.93 (range 20.90-23.93) Gycm2 (P < 0.001), 8.25 +/- 1.22 (range 6.60-9.50) versus 20.15 +/- 8.83 (range 18.90-20.93) Gycm2 (P < 0.001), and 29.33 +/- 1.51(range 27.16-31.00) versus 32.61 +/- 2.53 (range 29.20-35.55) Gycm2 (P < 0.01). On the contrary, the mean procedural time, was significantly higher in ICE-guided transcatheter closure patients: 30.2 +/- 2.45 (range 23-40) versus 24.5 +/- 2.45 (range 24-31) minutes (P = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The radiation exposure during ICE-guided transcatheter closure of interatrial communications in this group of patients was quite lower than that reported in literature for such procedures and compared favourably with radiation exposure of patients in whom the intervention was performed without ICE guidance.

Peripheral vascular disease endovascular management in patients scheduled for cardiac surgery: a clinical-angiographic approach.

BACKGROUND: Endovascular management of peripheral vascular disease before cardiac surgery is still debated. We sought to present our preliminary experience of endovascular stent placement in patients scheduled for urgent cardiac surgery. METHODS: Between November 2003 and August 2005, 20 patients scheduled for urgent coronary surgery (13 males, mean age 72.5+/-5.3 years) underwent endovascular repair of PVD on the basis of clinical and angiographic indications. Aspirin (100 mg/day) plus low molecular weight heparin (nadroparin calcium) 100 IU/kg/12 h for urgent coronary surgical revascularization was administered after the procedure. RESULTS: Endovascular stenting has been performed in four clinical settings: renal artery stenting prior to coronary surgery (nine patients) to decrease the impact of extracorporeal circulation on an impaired renal function, iliac artery artery angioplasty and stenting (eight patients) in order to facilitate aortic balloon pump insertion after surgery, subclavian artery angioplasty and stenting propedeutical to arterial conduits bypass surgery (one patient), carotid artery stenting before coronary surgery (two patients). All patients underwent successful endovascular repair followed by cardiac surgery. At a mean follow-up of 12+/-4.6 months all patients are alive and without evident thrombosis or restenosis of the implanted vascular stents. CONCLUSIONS: Endovascular treatment of PVD in patients scheduled for urgent coronary surgery may be effective, relatively safe and lasting in spite of low dose antiplatelet regimen.

[Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension]. / Ipertensione polmonare cronica tromboembolica.

Chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension is due to unresolved or recurrent pulmonary embolism. In the United States the estimated prevalence is 0.1-0.5% among survived patients with pulmonary embolism. The survival rate at 5 years was 30% among patients with a mean pulmonary artery pressure > 40 mmHg at the time of diagnosis and only 10% among those with a value > 50 mmHg. The interval between the onset of disturbances and the diagnosis may be as long as 3 years. Doppler echocardiography permits to establish the diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension. Radionuclide scanning determines whether pulmonary hypertension has a thromboembolic basis. Right heart catheterization and pulmonary angiography are performed in order to establish the extension and the accessibility to surgery of thrombi and to rule out other causes. The surgical treatment is thromboendarterectomy. A dramatic reduction in the pulmonary vascular resistance can be achieved; corresponding improvements in the NYHA class--from class III or IV before surgery to class I-II after surgery--are usually observed. Patients who are not considered candidates for thromboendarterectomy may be considered candidates for lung transplantation.

Epidemiology of acute myocardial infarction in the Italian CCU network: the BLITZ study.

AIMS: A large number of descriptive data on patients with acute myocardial infarction are based on clinical trials and registries on non consecutive patients: these data may give only a partial picture on treatment delay, patient characteristics, treatment and outcome of acute myocardial infarction in the real world. METHODS AND RESULTS: The BLITZ survey prospectively enrolled all of the patients with acute myocardial infarction admitted in 296 (87%) Italian Coronary Care Units from 15-29 October 2001. Data on treatment delay, therapeutic strategies, duration of hospitalization and 30-day outcome were collected. One thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine consecutive patients (mean age 67+/-12 years, 70% males) were enrolled, 65% with ST-segment elevation (STEMI), 30% with no ST-segment elevation (NSTEMI) and 5% with undetermined ECG. The median delay between symptom onset and hospital arrival was 2h and 9 min with 76% of patients hospitalized within the sixth hour (26% within the first hour, 48% within the second). The median delay from hospital arrival to reperfusion therapy in STEMI was 45 min (IQR 26-85) for thrombolysis (50% of the patients) and 85 min (IQR 60-135) for primary angioplasty (15% of the patients). Coronary angiography was performed during hospital stay in 46% of the patients (STEMI 48%, NSTEMI 43%, undetermined AMI 35%), coronary angioplasty in 25% (STEMI 26%, NSTEMI 15%, undetermined AMI 13%) and coronary bypass in 1.4% (1%, 2.2% and 1% respectively). Twenty-two percent of the patients admitted to hospitals without cath-lab were transferred to a tertiary care hospital for invasive procedures. The overall median hospital stay was 10 days (IQR 7-12, STEMI 10, NSTEMI 9, undetermined AMI 11) and was not significantly different between hospitals with or without cath-lab (respectively, 9 and 10 days, P=0.38). After discharge and up to 30 days, coronary angiography was performed in 11% (STEMI 11%, NSTEMI 11%, undetermined MI 9%), angioplasty in 10% (STEMI 10%, NSTEMI 11%, undetermined MI 7%), bypass surgery in 7% (STEMI 5%, NSTEMI 11%, undetermined AMI 7%). The in-hospital and 30-day case fatality rates were 7.4% and 9.4%, respectively (7.5% and 9.5% for STEMI, 5.2% and 7.1% for NSTEMI, 18.2% and 21.2% for undetermined MI). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with acute myocardial infarction admitted to the Italian CCUs, are older than those represented in clinical trials. A high proportion of these cases has the chance to receive early reperfusion therapy. Short-term mortality is lower than expected for patients with STEMI, but higher than reported for NSTEMI.