Angelo Branzi

TL;DR: Left superior vena cava persistence in PM/ICD patients is similar to the general population and the left-sided implant may be skill-demanding during lead placement; however, this task can be accomplished in the majority of cases, with a reliable outcome in the short term and appropriate device performance at follow-up.

TL;DR: Intravenous flecainide reduces atrial defibrillation threshold in patients treated with low-energy internal atrial cardioversion and may increase the procedure success rate in patients with chronic persistent atrial fibrillation.

TL;DR: In patients with normal DSE, gender is independently associated with cardiac events, and the outcome of patients with abnormal DSE is not related to gender, after adjusting for stress echocardiographic abnormalities.

TL;DR: E evaluation of hs-C-reactive protein on admission in STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI allows reliable risk stratification of these patients, and appears to be an independent predictor of long-term mortality.

TL;DR: 3 months of CRT significantly reduce natriuretic peptides concentrations, while values of other neurohormones and inflammatory cytokines are relatively unvaried, and a baseline ANP concentration might be a clinically useful predictor of medium-term response to CRT.