[ANMCO Position paper: Choosing Wisely - ANMCO proposals for 2023]. / Position paper ANMCO: Choosing Wisely ­ le proposte dell'ANMCO nel 2023.

Nowadays, a progressive and exponential increase in the use of invasive and non-invasive instrumental diagnostics and therapeutic services has been shown. Although unnecessary, instrumental examinations are often largely prescribed, replacing clinical evaluation. Their correct use, on the contrary, would address precise epidemiological and clinical contexts. Therefore identifying whether a test or procedure is appropriate or not plays a crucial role in clinical practice. Several documents from scientific societies and expert groups indicate the most appropriate cardiovascular diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The international Choosing Wisely campaign invited the main scientific societies to identify five techniques or treatments used in their field that are often unnecessary and may potentially damage patients. The Italian Association of Hospital Cardiologists (ANMCO) joined the project identifying the five cardiological practices in our country at greater risk of inappropriateness in 2014. This list has recently been updated. Moreover, possible solutions to this problem have been proposed.

[The fox guarding the henhouse. Who decides diagnostic criteria?] / Affidare alla volpe il compito di proteggere le galline. Chi decide i criteri diagnostici?

To reduce overprescribing, the consequences due to the invention of new diseases and the systematic reduction of threshold values have been studied, and projects to reduce procedures of low efficacy, the number of prescribed drugs, and procedures at risk of inappropriateness have been developed. The composition of committees establishing diagnostic criteria was never addressed. To avoid this problem (de-diagnosing) four procedures should be implemented: 1) diagnostic criteria should be assigned to a committee of general practitioners, clinical specialists, experts like epidemiologists, sociologists, philosophers, psychologists, economists, and representatives of citizens and patients; 2) experts do not have relevant conflicts of interest; 3) criteria should be set up as recommendations to facilitate discussion between a physician and a patient on the decision whether to begin a treatment and not as a recommendation functional to overprescription; 4) criteria should be periodically revised to approach the process closer to the experiences and needs of physicians and patients.

[When medicine is respectful.] / Quando la medicina è rispettosa.

There is a relevant gap between the medicine learned on books and the clinical practice made of suffering humans facing us. Guidelines recommendations don't usually cover this aspect. The Slow Medicine movement, born in 2011, stands as a model a sober respectful and right healthcare. Everyone is entitled to express himself freely: a respectful medicine receives worths, choices and tendencies of the patient in every moment of his life. The keystone of slow decisions is to respect patient's freedom and autonomy, and to recognize his ability to make decisions even if he is elderly and frail. Listening to a patient's biography and welcoming his personal needs and expectations allows the physician to spread comfort, trust and gratification.

[Polypharmacy and deprescribing in cardiology]. / Politerapia e deprescrizione in cardiologia.

Inappropriate prescribing of diagnostic procedures and treatments should be avoided for good medical practice. Furthermore, the therapeutic plan of each patient should be regularly revised, activating deprescription procedures to reduce the dosage or to discontinue unnecessary drugs. It has widely been reported that the number of drugs taken by each patient increases over the years and adverse events caused by polypharmacy therapy are increasingly reported. Polypharmacy is due to multimorbidity related to longer life expectancy, but it is also induced by drug manufacturers' pressures, the practice of prescribing one product to counteract the adverse effects of another, the division into subspecialties inducing clinicians to solve the specific problem regardless of the patient therapeutic profile, and the uncritical implementation of current guidelines. The recommendations published by scientific societies for the international Choosing Wisely project allow to identify practices at risk of inappropriateness, and programs are available to help evaluating the risks of several drug associations, taking into consideration different aspects of pharmacology, drug interactions, potentially inappropriate in the elderly, according to different criteria from the scientific literature. The safety of reducing or withdrawing under strict medical supervision some cardiovascular treatments has been demonstrated, with documented benefits for the patients.

Choosing Wisely, the reasons for its success.

The philosophy and the history of the International Choosing Wisely movement, launched in the U.S. in 2012, are described. It grew and spread beyond what it was anticipated at the beginning because there is a rising concern of the medical community regarding the appropriate use of procedures and treatments placed into the market before an adequate evaluation of risks and benefits. Not only healthcare providers, but also patients, citizens and politicians, are becoming aware of the consequences of inappropriate decisions and behaviors since inappropriateness has economic (waste of resources), clinical (risks), but also ethical implications. In Italy the movement was launched and still is coordinated by the Slow Medicine organization, that created the campaign Doing more does not mean doing better - Choosing Wisely Italy, which aimed to improve clinical appropriateness through the reduction of unnecessary tests and treatments and the dialogue between physicians and patients. Currently, 44 societies of physicians, nurses, pharmacists and physiotherapists identified 230 recommendations about tests, treatments and procedures commonly used in Italy's clinical practice that do not provide any benefit to most patients but may cause harm.

"Hosting" an implantable cardioverter defibrillator: A phenomenological inquiry.

Implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) can reduce unexpected cardiac mortality, but they also have a dramatic impact on a patient's quality of life. We aimed to explore ICD recipients' experiences in order to foster improvements in the quality of care. Analyses were done using a descriptive phenomenological method, based on qualitative interview data from a purposive sample of 20 ICD recipients. Four main themes emerged: living with fear; relying on technology; knowing about the ICD and how to live with it; and coping with the effects of the ICD on daily life. ICD recipients lived in a constant state of fear due to the presence of the device and the uncertainty related to the potential electrical shocks it could deliver. This fear was compounded by changes that severely affected the quality of their daily life. ICD recipients felt they were always on the brink of death, and that although they received sufficient technical information they did not feel they received meaningful information to help them accept, live with, and cope with the device. Emotional information and support, rather than technical information, must be provided to ICD recipients to give them the ability to cope with the everyday threats they perceive because of the device. Qualitative evidence may help professionals tackle known threats to patients' quality of life and increase the quality of care.

[Individual response to treatment: from Withering to contemporary medicine]. / La risposta individuale ai trattamenti. Da Withering alla medicina di oggi.

This is an essay dealing with the 1785 cohort study by William Withering (the "account"), in which he reported the results of the treatment with foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) in 163 patients suffering from various forms of hydropsy (water retention). Withering reported the results of all patients, and classified them into responders and non-responders. He identified the responders as suffering from heart failure. In the 18th century, medical treatments were judged as successful if they complied with the criteria a priori of the theory of the four humors, and not on the patient's response to the treatment. Withering was the first not only to compare the patient's conditions before and after treatment, but also to identify the individual clinical characteristics of the patients who responded. In modern medicine, drugs are released on the market and approved for use after what is known as "population-derived clinical research", principally randomized controlled trials, and guidelines. More than 200 years ago, Withering anticipated the current and growing trend towards individual responses to treatment, and personalized medicine.

[Patients facing with the decision to undergo percutaneous coronary intervention]. / I pazienti di fronte alla decisione di sottoporsi ad angioplastica.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a common procedure to treat coronary artery stenoses. Several studies had demonstrated that PCI does not reduce the risk of death or myocardial infarction when performed to patients with stable angina. However it has been observed that most patients believe that PCI will reduce their risk for death and myocardial infarction. On the other hand, cardiologists generally acknowledge the limitation of PCI according to the current literature.Cardiologists' decision to refer a patient to PCI is based on factors other then perceived benefits such as fear of missing a needed procedure, defensive medicine, desire of demonstrating their professional competence, vested professional and economic interests, accomplish patient expectation, the so called oculo-stenotic reflex, when a lesion is dilated regardless the clinical indication. Patients' misleading perception of harm and benefits of a procedure is mainly related to the cognitive dissonance, when individuals tend to reduce the conflict of an uncomfortable decision adopting information, which are likely to reduce their discomfort. Furthermore, patients believe that doing more means doing better, that technologic intervention are better than pharmacological treatment that in turn are better than doing nothing. Finally, they assume that a procedure is really effective since their physician suggested it.It should be emphasized that physicians and patients do not communicate successfully about key decision and how little we know about patient understanding of the factors that influence important medical care decisions. Although considerable attention is given to facilitating informed consent, patients' perceived benefits of elective PCI do not match existing evidence, as they overestimated both the benefits and urgency of their procedures. These findings suggest that an even greater effort at patient education is needed prior to elective PCI to facilitate fully informed decision-making.

[New diagnosis without new treatments]. / Nuove diagnosi senza nuovi trattamenti.

The improvement of our investigative and diagnostic capability allows us to recognize early stage or mostly stable diseases in asymptomatic individuals and to treat those patients based on research conducted on more severe and acute conditions. Our main concern is avoiding not to treat a patient because of a missed diagnosis, so that we can avoid regrets and legal troubles. Usually, we do not take into account the opposite risk: overtreatment induced by overdiagnosis. For example, the increased number of diagnoses of pulmonary embolism did not reduce the incidence of death, but increased the number of bleeding from subsequent anticoagulation therapy. Similarly, the widespread detection of troponin increased the number of diagnoses of myocardial infarction solely on the basis of Lab values. In both cases we apply therapeutic strategies that have been proven effective in patients with more advanced and unstable clinical presentations with the risk of doing more harm than benefit. To be reassured by doing more, we risk to do worse.

[Choosing wisely: the Top 5 list of the Italian Association of Hospital Cardiologists (ANMCO)]. / "Fare di più non significa fare meglio". Le proposte dell'ANMCO.

In recent years, a progressive increase in the number of medical diagnostic and interventional procedures has been observed, namely in cardiology. A significant proportion of them appear inappropriate, i.e. potentially redundant, harmful, costly, and useless. Recently, the document Medical Professionalism in the New Millennium: A Physician Charter, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation Putting the Charter into Practice program, JAMA's Less Is More and BMJ's Too Much Medicine series, and the American College of Physicians' High-Value, Cost-Conscious Care initiatives, have all begun to provide direction for physicians to address pervasive overuse in health care. In 2010, the Brody's proposal to scientific societies to indicate the five medical procedures at high inappropriateness risk inspired the widely publicized ABIM Foundation's Choosing Wisely campaign. As part of Choosing Wisely, each participating specialty society has created lists of Things Physicians and Patients Should Question that provide specific, evidence-based recommendations physicians and patients should discuss to help make wise decisions about the most appropriate individual care. In Italy, Slow Medicine launched the analogue campaign Fare di più non significa fare meglio. The Italian Association of Hospital Cardiologists (ANMCO) endorsed the initiative by recognizing the need to optimize available resources, reduce costs and avoid unnecessary cardiovascular assessments, thereby enhancing the more efficient care delivery models. An ad hoc ANMCO Working Group prepared a list of five cardiac procedures that seem inappropriate for routine use in our country and, after an internal revision procedure, these are presented here.

Single-center experience of a quadripolar pacing lead for cardiac resynchronization therapy.

AIM: Recent studies have shown that a quadripolar left ventricular (LV) lead can result in low rates of dislocation and phrenic nerve stimulation (PNS) acutely and on medium-term follow-up in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). We evaluated the outcomes of CRT patients in whom a quadripolar LV lead was implanted in our institution. METHODS: We studied 45 consecutive heart failure patients (75 % men; age, 70.3 ± 9.0 years) following successful implantation of a quadripolar LV lead. Demographic and clinical data were collected preoperatively, and patients were followed up for 18.9 months. RESULTS: The implantation success rate was 100 %. Mean overall duration was 100.1 ± 34.6 min, and X-ray exposure time was 13.20 ± 13.5 min. The most distal effective pacing site was used as the final pacing configuration in all patients. Acute dislodgment requiring reoperation occurred before discharge in three cases (6.6 %). Six patients (13 %) suffered PNS during follow-up; we solved this problem by changing the stimulation vector. Three months after implantation, a mean of six out of ten effective sites (threshold <2.5 V at 1.5 ms, no PNS) per patient was recorded. CONCLUSIONS: Over the relatively long term, the quadripolar LV lead was associated with excellent pacing thresholds and low rates of dislocation and PNS.

Cardiotoxicity after anthracycline chemotherapy in breast carcinoma: effects on left ventricular ejection fraction, troponin I and brain natriuretic peptide.

UNLABELLED: Anthracyclines are among the most active drugs in breast cancer patients. We planned to evaluate the early and 2-year modification of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and the effects of chemotherapy on troponin I and neurohormonal assessment. METHODS: Patients with early breast cancer surgically treated and eligible to adjuvant chemotherapy were enrolled. All patients underwent clinical assessment, radionuclide ventriculography, troponin I and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) measurements at baseline and one-month (T1), one year (T2) and 2-year (T3) after chemotherapy. Reductions of LVEF ≥ 10% or an overt heart failure were considered cardiovascular events. RESULTS: 53 patients, 52 females and 1 male, age 55.3 years were included and followed at T3. A significant reduction of LVEF was observed (from 62 ± 5.5% to 59.3 ± 8.6%, p=0.04) at T3; BNP increased (from 33.4 ± 41.5 pg/ml to 62.7 ± 94.7 pg/ml, p=0.005) at T1. Troponin I augmented at T1 (from 0.006 ± 0.01 ng/ml to 0.05 ± 0.04 ng/ml, p=0.0001) but normalized at T2 (0.005 ± 0.08 ng/ml; p=0.9). Only baseline BNP was nearly to be significantly correlated with T3 LVEF (p=0.07 HR 0.96-1) at multivariate analysis. In 13/53 patients (32.1%) LVEF showed ≥ 10% reduction at T3 (group A); in 40/53 patients (67.9%) LVEF was unchanged (group B). Patients in group A demonstrated higher baseline plasma BNP (p=0.02) and lower haemoglobin concentration (p=0.007) compared to patients in group B. CONCLUSIONS: LVEF and BNP modified early after anthracycline chemotherapy and LVEF did not recover at T3. In patients who developed left ventricular systolic dysfunction, a subclinical activation of neurohormonal profile was observed.

Oxygen pulse as a predictor of cardiopulmonary events in lung resection.

Traditional algorithms suggest a stepwise approach to the functional evaluation of candidates for lung resection. A cardiopulmonary exercise test is incorporated as a supplementary test for patients with borderline pulmonary predicted values, and sometimes as a first screening test for cardiac risk evaluation. To assess the predictive weight of exercise tests in noncardiac thoracic surgery, we retrospectively analyzed 99 patients (80 males) aged 67.8 +/-8.1 years who underwent lung resection after a cardiopulmonary exercise test. During basal spirometry, the mean predicted forced expiratory volume in the first second was 69.9% +/-18.6%, and predicted carbon monoxide diffusing capacity was 71.6% +/-20.5%. Peak oxygen consumption was 11.1 +/-3.2 mL.kg(-1).min(-1), oxygen pulse was 9 +/-2.8 mL.beat(-1), and minute ventilation/CO(2) output was 45.2 +/- 7.7. Mean hospital stay was 10.4 days, and intensive care unit stay was 0.3 days. Postoperative complications occurred in 20 (20%) patients. On multivariate analysis, body mass index, a high level of exercise achieved during the cardiopulmonary exercise test, lower heart rate at peak exercise, and oxygen pulse correlated significantly with better postoperative outcome. Cardiopulmonary exercise tests are helpful for stratifying patients undergoing thoracic surgery. Perioperative complications seem to be strongly related to left ventricular function and physical performance.

Reversible impairment of coronary flow reserve in takotsubo cardiomyopathy: a myocardial PET study.

BACKGROUND: The precise etiology of takotsubo cardiomyopathy remains unclear. The study of myocardial blood flow (MBF) and coronary flow reserve (CFR) by use of positron emission tomography might help in understanding this syndrome. METHODS AND RESULTS: Three postmenopausal women underwent adenosine/rest perfusion with nitrogen 13 ammonia and metabolism with fluorine 18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography, coronary angiography, cardiac magnetic resonance, and echocardiography in the acute phase of takotsubo cardiomyopathy and at 3 months' follow-up, after normalization of left ventricular function. PET study was performed in 2 parts: the perfusion analysis with nitrogen ammonia and the metabolism of the heart using FDG. MBF and CFR were analyzed quantitatively in the acute phase and at follow-up. The images highlighted the impairment of tissue metabolism in the dysfunctioning left ventricular segments in the acute phase, mainly in the apical segments and progressively less in the medium segments. At the same time, a clear inverse metabolic/perfusion mismatch emerged, which normalized 3 months later. The quantitative analysis of MBF showed a reduction in the acute phase in apical segments in comparison to basal segments without differences between midventricular and basal segments. In the acute phase CFR proved to be reduced in apical versus basal segments. CFR impairment of apical segments recovered completely after 3 months. CONCLUSION: The acute phase of takotsubo cardiomyopathy is characterized by an inverse perfusion/metabolism mismatch with a reduction in CFR in the apical segments. However, the impairment of CFR and the reduction of metabolism in the apical segments recovered completely after 3 months.

Cardiac resynchronization therapy modifies the neurohormonal profile, hemodynamic and functional capacity in heart failure patients.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) has been shown to improve the clinical status and survival in congestive heart failure (CHF) patients, but little is known about its influence on neurohormonal profile. METHODS: Heart failure patients treated with CRT for moderate/severe heart failure were studied with echocardiography, cardiopulmonary test, and neurohormonal profile [brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), endothelin (END), big endothelin (big-END), epinephrine (EPI), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)] at baseline and after 1 year from the pacemaker implantation. RESULTS: 120 NYHA II-IV patients entered this study, all with an indication to CRT; 100 agreed to be implanted (group A), whereas 20 refused, identifying a control group (group B). In group A NYHA class (from 3.15+/-0.49-1.15+/-0.49, p=0.001), left ventricular ejection fraction (from 19.6+/-4.95-35.6+/-5.95%, p=0.001), severity of mitral regurgitation (from 13.3+/-4.19-6.09+/-4.11 cmq, p=0.001), and peak VO(2) (from 9.68+/-4.61-13.35+/-3.32 mL/kg/min, p=0.001) improved at 1-year follow-up. In the neurohormonal profile only plasma BNP (from 185.1+/-185.9-110.2+/-137.5 pg/mL, p=0.03) and big-END (from 1.8+/-1.5-0.87+/-0.7 fmol/mL, p=0.007) were reduced significantly. None of these parameters significantly changed in the control group at 1-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with moderate/severe heart failure, CRT improved clinical status and the functional parameters modifying the neurohormonal profile at 1-year follow-up.

Plasma brain natriuretic peptide predicts short-term clinical outcome in heart failure patients with restrictive filling pattern.

OBJECTIVE: Plasma brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) is an important parameter of severity in congestive heart failure (CHF). We analyzed if BNP might stratify 6-month clinical outcome in outpatients with CHF with restrictive mitral filling pattern. METHODS: All subjects with New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II to IV and restrictive filling pattern were enrolled at hospital discharge after an acute decompensation. NYHA class, BNP, and echocardiogram for the evaluation of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and diastolic function were analyzed. Death and hospital readmission for CHF were the clinical events observed. RESULTS: A total of 250 patients (66% were male, mean age 73 years) were enrolled. The mean NYHA class was 2.5 +/- 0.6, LVEF was 38% +/- 15%, and mean deceleration time was 120 +/- 16 ms. The mean BNP was 643 +/- 566 pg/mL. During the 6-month follow-up, 35 patients (14%) died and 106 patients (42.4%) were readmitted for CHF (event group); in 109 patients (43.6%) no events were observed (no-event group). Higher NYHA class (2.7 +/- 0.6 vs 2.4 +/- 0.6, P = .001) and reduced LVEF (34% +/- 13% vs 42% +/- 17%, P = .01) but similar deceleration time (119 +/- 16 ms vs 122 +/- 17 ms, P = not significant) were observed in the event group. A higher level of mean BNP (833 +/- 604 pg/mL vs 397 +/- 396 pg/mL, P = .01) was recorded in the event group. The multivariate Cox analysis confirmed that LVEF (P = .04), NYHA class (P = .02), and plasma BNP (P = .0001) were associated with adverse short-term clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: Patients with CHF with a restrictive diastolic pattern had poor short-term clinical outcome. NYHA class and LVEF at discharge might predict cardiovascular events, but plasma BNP proved to be the strongest predictor.