CONGRESS ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding from intestinal angiodysplasia is a frequent complication of continuous-flow left ventricular assist device (CF-LVAD) support (≈25–30%). About 40% of patients develop recurrences, requiring rehospitalization and an elevated transfusion burden. Supraphysiologic shear stress and reduced pulsatility promote inflammatory/angiogenic mediators (TNF-α, VEGF), leading to maladaptive neovascularization and…

A 44-year-old man presented to the emergency department with progressive dyspnea, peripheral edema, and fever lasting several days. He had no cardiovascular risk factors and had recently returned from Thailand. Initially admitted with suspected pneumonia, he rapidly developed hypotension and anuric acute kidney injury and was transferred to the…

Cardio-pulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is a well-known method but still relatively little used by cardiologists, both quantitatively and qualitatively. In fact, this application has been mistakenly limited to the assessment of heart failure, usually by observing only the numerical parameter of “peak oxygen consumption (PeakVO2)”. The latter is used…

BACKGROUND : Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is the gold standard for the integrated assessment of cardiovascular, respiratory, and metabolic responses during exercise. In patients with heart failure (HF), peak oxygen uptake (pVO₂) and the VE/VCO₂ slope are well-established prognostic markers. Beyond these, dynamic parameters such as the variation of…

SA.RE.FU is a single-centre, prospective, randomized clinical trial which enrolled adult heart transplant patients in Hospital Papa Giovanni XXIII, Bergamo. The study began in 2007, with the aim to verify whether the reduction of cyclosporine dosages associated with everolimus administration may improve renal function as compared to patients maintained…

Background: Current guidelines recommend referring ambulatory heart failure (HF) patients for heart transplantation (HTX) when peak oxygen uptake (peak VO₂) is <12 mL/kg/min. This threshold, however, is based on decades-old data. As HF management has significantly improved, the relevance of this criterion in today’s clinical practice is uncertain. Methods:…