Search results for "death"

Use of wearable cardioverter‐defibrillator in association with catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation‐related tachycardiomyopathy

2019

Implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator (ICD) implantation is not indicated in patients with potentially transient or reversible causes of sudden cardiac death (SCD). Wearable cardioverter‐defibrillator (WCD) is increasingly used for SCD prevention in patients who are temporary at high risk of ventricular arrhythmia. Hereby, we describe a case of tachycardiomyopathy successfully managed with ablation and WCD backup. Implantable cardioverter‐defibrillators are a Class I indication by American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association/Heart Rhythm Society guidelines to prevent SCD in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class II …

Infarct characterization using CT

2017

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. The incidence is not expected to diminish, despite better prevention, diagnosis and treatment, because of the ageing population in industrialized countries and unhealthy lifestyles in developing countries. Nowadays it is highly requested an imaging tool able to evaluate MI and viability. Technology improvements determined an expansion of clinical indications from coronary plaque evaluation to functional applications (perfusion, ischemia and viability after MI) integrating additional phases and information in the mainstream examination. Cardiac computed tomography (CCT) and cardiac MR (CMR) employ different contra…

An unusual fatal case of overdose of Vinblastine and review of literature

2017

The pharmacological treatment of neoplasia is based on the use of chemotherapeutic substances. Chemotherapeutic agents can cause acute and chronic toxicity even at therapeutic doses. For this reason their overdose puts a patient’s life at severe risk. This work presents an unusual fatal case of overdose subsequent to an accidental massive administration of Vinblastine (90 mg instead of 9 mg), slow bolus (five minutes), to a 33-year-old woman who suffered from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. The administration of the massive dose was due to a transcription error of the therapeutic treatment plan and miscommunication between the health professionals which caused the use of the wrong dose. The foren…

Biochemical biomarkers of NAFLD/NASH

2020

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in the Western world and the global epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes have led to a dramatic increase of its prevalence and incidence. Among NAFLD patients, those with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) have a double risk of fibrosis progression, that is the main driver toward the evolution in cirrhosis and its complications, including hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatic decompensation. Furthermore, patients with NAFLD are also at risk for cardiovascular diseases and extrahepatic malignancies, that represent the first and the second cause of death, respectively. The availability of non-invasi…

2019

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The current analysis expands the knowledge on atherogenic lipid profiles in NAFLD by modeling changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol (TC) in a prospectively enrolling real-life study cohort to inform physicians on the cardiovascular (CV) event risk based on these changes. A total of 304 patients with histologically confirmed NAFLD were included (mean age, 52 years; equal sex distribution). Of these, 129 (42.4%) patients exhibited a NAFLD activity score ≥4 and 186 (61.2%) had at least intermediate fibrosis ≥F2. The median TC levels were 2…

Causes and place of death in Italian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

2010

Objectives - To determine the causes and place of death in a cohort of Italian patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A better understanding of the likely causes of death in ALS might improve the palliative care at the end-of-life, whereas knowing the place of death will help to verify the need for highly specialized care services, e.g. hospice and nursing home. Patients and methods - Between 2000 and 2008, 182 ALS patients (onset: spinal, 127; bulbar, 55; M/F: 1.6) were followed in a single ALS Tertiary Centre in Palermo, Sicily, Italy until death. Medical data for each individual patient were recorded in a large database throughout the disease course. Information concerning ca…

Mortality in multiple sclerosis: a review

2008

This work was undertaken to evaluate studies on mortality caused by multiple sclerosis (MS), to evaluate if useful inferences can be drawn from survival studies that can be applied to clinical practice. A literature search was carried out to find epidemiological studies on MS prognosis, survival, mortality and causes of death relevant to our aim. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports on worldwide cause-specific mortality were also considered. Studies were evaluated according to the duration of the follow-up study, the year of publication and the methodology used. We evaluated MS survival from a methodological point of view and considered if time trends could be drawn from study result…

Treatment of Congestive Heart Failure in the Elderly

1998

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a complex clinical syndrome which constitutes the epilogue of the natural history of virtually all heart diseases and in its advanced stages, has a poor prognosis. In the elderly, heart failure exhibits particular characteristics linked to the age-related alterations of cardiovascular system, to the association with other pathologies, to the atypical clinical presentation and to the increased iatrogenic risk. Heart failure now afflicts over 1% of the general population with nearly 1 in 10 elderly subjects affected, and the frequency of CHF is progressively increasing in most industrialized societies1,2. Further, CHF remains a significant cause of death and …

Carbohydrate Antigen-125–Guided Therapy in Acute Heart Failure

2016

Abstract Objectives This study sought to evaluate the prognostic effect of carbohydrate antigen-125 (CA125)–guided therapy (CA125 strategy) versus standard of care (SOC) after a hospitalization for acute heart failure (AHF). Background CA125 has emerged as a surrogate of fluid overload and inflammatory status in AHF. After an episode of AHF admission, elevated values of this marker at baseline as well as its longitudinal profile relate to adverse outcomes, making it a potential tool for treatment guiding. Methods In a prospective multicenter randomized trial, 380 patients discharged for AHF and high CA125 were randomly assigned to the CA125 strategy (n = 187) or SOC (n = 193). The aim in th…

Rehospitalization burden and morbidity risk in patients with heart failure with mid-range ejection fraction

2020

Aims Heart failure with mid-range ejection fraction (HFmrEF) has been proposed as a distinct HF phenotype, but whether patients on this category fare worse, similarly, or better than those with HF with reduced EF (HFrEF) or preserved EF (HFpEF) in terms of rehospitalization risks over time remains unclear. Methods and results We prospectively included 2961 consecutive patients admitted for acute HF (AHF) in our institution. Of them, 158 patients died during the index admission, leaving the sample size to be 2803 patients. Patients were categorized according to their EF: HFrEF if EF ≤ 40% (n = 908, 32.4%); HFmrEF if EF = 41–49% (n = 449, 16.0%); and HFpEF if EF ≥ 50% (n = 1446, 51.6%). Covar…