Establishment of a cardiac biobank in a Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine.

Biobanks are considered to be important resources of Departments of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine allowing the clarification of relevant disease mechanisms and the improvement of the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of both pediatric and adult cardiovascular diseases. To successfully establish a cardiovascular biobank, it is important to consider the public opinion and views on it and the factors involved in the willingness of the public to participate in the donation of genetic material. The literature was systematically reviewed to identify the attitude and willingness of patients affected by congenital and acquired heart disease to participate in biobanking research. Six relevant studies were identified in which it was indicated that psychosocial and demographic characteristics, as well as the patient's medical condition, could influence patient and family members' attitudes and willingness to participate in research. In both congenital and acquired heart diseases, participation in biobank research activities was higher if patients and their families were approached when hospitalized, but not during the acute moment of their illness. Other quantitative and qualitative studies are required to improve patient and family participation in these research initiatives.

Life experiences and coping strategies in adults with congenital heart disease.

Many adults with congenital heart disease (ACHD) have to face considerable psychosocial difficulties. The aim of this study was to explore the life experiences of ACHD patients, from when they become aware of having a condition, till after the open heart surgery they underwent. The study was conducted with the use of unstructured, in-depth interviews, performed on 11 patients (age ranging: 20 - 56 y) after they recovered from open heart surgery and a focus group, which included 16 participants (age ranging: 22 - 46 y). Both the interviews and the focus group were recorded, transcribed and analyzed according to Grounded Theory procedures. Our findings show that the condition of diversity is the core of the emotional experiences connected to ACHD. Feeling different and being perceived as being different are clearly interlinked and coping strategies adopted resulted as being influenced by this perception. This study also clearly outlines the importance of having an adequate perception of one's condition and the link between maladaptive coping strategies and an incorrect perception of one's heart condition. Results are discussed in order to promote psychosocial interventions within and outside of the hospital setting in order to improve the patients' emotional wellbeing.

Mindfulness trait, eating behaviours and body uneasiness: a case-control study of binge eating disorder.

BACKGROUND: Binge eating disorder (BED) is a complex and multifaceted eating disorder, and the literature indicates that BED patients show greater difficulty in identifying and making sense of emotional states, and that they have limited access to emotion regulation strategies. Findings show many links between mindfulness and emotional regulation, however there has been no previous research on mindfulness traits in BED patients. METHOD: One hundred fifty BED patients (N=150: women=98, men=52; age 49.3±4.1) were matched for gender, age, marital status and educational level with 150 non-bingeing obese and 150 normal-weight subjects. All were assessed with the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), Binge Eating Scale (BES), Objective bulimic episodes (EDE-OBEs) and Body Uneasiness Test (BUT). For all the participants past or current meditation experience was an exclusion criteria. RESULTS: Findings showed that Mindfulness-global, Non reactivity to experience, Acting with awareness, Describing with words and Observation of experience scores were significantly lower in BED than control groups (p<0.05). However, on the mindfulness measures, the obese control group did not differ from the normal weight control group. Moreover, correlations showed that mindfulness was more widely negatively correlated with the BED's OBEs, BES and BUT-GSI scores. Meanwhile, binge eating behaviours, frequency and severity (OBEs and BES) were more negatively correlated with action (Nonreactivity- to-experience and Acting-with-awareness scores). Body Uneasiness was more negatively correlated with mental processes (Describing-with-words and Observation-ofexperience) and mindfulness features. CONCLUSION: Implications on understanding of the mechanisms underlying the development and maintenance of problematic eating in BED were considered. Moreover, clinical considerations on treatment targets of mindfulnessbased eating awareness training were discussed.

[Art therapy for hospitalised congenital heart disease patients: a method of psychological intervention at the IRCCS Policlinico San Donato Milanese Hospital]. / L'arteterapia per i pazienti con cardiopatia congenita: metodologia di intervento psicologico presso il Reparto di cardiologia, cardiochirurgia pediatrica e cardiopatie conge- nite dell'adulto, IRCCS Policlinico San Donato.

The current work is the presentation of a new project at the IRCSS San Donato Milanese University hospital, in the sphere of Psychocardiology. Hospitalised children and adolescents often face psychosocial difficulties and the psychological condition of their parents frequently has an impact on their wellbeing. A strong need to take care, beyond the mere cure, is necessary in the hospital settings - that is a need to pay attention also to psychological aspects apart from the medical ones. Art therapy could be an answer for this need: the literature has outlined its efficacy in hospital, also due to the higher inclination of children and adolescents toward creativity. By providing and analysing the drawings of 10 young patients with congenital heart disease (CHD), this study outlines how the art therapy program gives these patients the opportunity to freely and directly express fears and anxieties about medical procedures and their disease. Moreover, through the creation of a tangible product, psychologists can better evaluate the psychological troubles of young patients and provide them and their parents with more focused and personalized support. This study also focuses on the perception of the utility that parents have of this new therapeutic intervention, offered at the Department of Paediatric Cardiac Surgery, confirming that art therapy is perceived as being effective and is definitely a good instrument in helping to "take care" of children and adolescents suffering from CHD.

[Psychosocial difficulties and hospitalisation experiences in adults with congenital heart disease. The utility of psychological interventions]. / Difficoltà psicosociali ed esperienze ospedaliere dei pazienti cardiopatici congeniti adulti utilità dell'intervento psicologico.

Adults with congenital heart disease, especially the ones who require constant medical care, encounter many psychosocial difficulties. These difficulties also occur in the interventional departments of cardiology and cardiac surgery, where they often have to make important decisions, undergo cardiology interventions and cardiac surgeries, and more rarely they also have to deal with unexpected complications that can lengthen their hospitalisation duration considerably. The literature has also outline predictive factors when it comes to the psychological difficulties encountered in this population. For these reasons, the inclusion of the psychologist in this context is essential.