Antiinflammatory Therapy with Canakinumab for Atherosclerotic Disease

Background: Experimental and clinical data suggest that reducing inflammation without affecting lipid levels may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Yet, the inflammatory hypothesis of atherothrombosis has remained unproved. Methods: We conducted a randomized, double-blind trial of canakinumab, a therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin-1β, involving 10,061 patients with previous myocardial infarction and a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level of 2 mg or more per liter. The trial compared three doses of canakinumab (50 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg, administered subcutaneously every 3 months) with placebo. The primary efficacy end point was nonfatal myocardial infarction, …

LA CARDIOPATIA “TAKOTSUBO”: DOCUMENTO DI CONSENSO

Haemopoietic and endothelial progenitor cells in PPH.

[Takotsubo cardiomyopathy: a consensus document].

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy is a syndrome characterized by acute regional systolic dysfunction of the left ventricle, frequently related to psycho-physical acute stress, and usually reversible. This rare syndrome involves more often the female sex with the highest frequency of occurrence between the seventh and eighth decade of life. Etiology has not been clarified yet and several hypotheses have been postulated: multiple epicardial coronary artery damage, abnormal coronary microcirculation, catecholamine-mediated cardiac toxicity, and neurogenic stunning. Clinical presentation is not easy to distinguish from an acute coronary syndrome: chest pain at rest or dyspnea, new-onset electrocardiogra…

predictors factors for early mortality in patients with acute myocardial infarction undergone surgical revascularization

Diagnostic work up of arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy by cardiovascular magnetic resonance.Consensus statement

Excimer laser technology in percutaneous coronary interventions: Cardiovascular laser society's position paper

Excimer Laser Coronary Atherectomy (ELCA) is a well-established therapy that emerged for the treatment of peripheral vascular atherosclerosis in the late 1980s, at a time when catheters and materials were rudimentary and associated with the most serious complications. Refinements in catheter technology and the introduction of improved laser techniques have led to their effective use for the treatment of a wide spectrum of complex coronary lesions, such as thrombotic lesions, severe calcific lesions, non-crossable or non-expandable lesions, chronic occlusions, and stent under-expansion. The gradual introduction of high-energy strategies combined with the contrast infusion technique has enabl…