[Management of heart failure in Piedmont Region]. / La gestione ambulatoriale dello scompenso cardiaco cronico nella Regione Piemonte.

BACKGROUND: Congestive heart failure (CHF) represents an emerging problem in industrialized countries: it continues to be diagnosed at high rates and has an decreased survival time, raising new problems, such as the need of an adequate medical service organization and resource expenditure. Aim of this analysis was a quantitative evaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic resource use for CHF in outpatient departments in Piedmont, Italy. METHODS: We performed a cross-sectional observational study, based on a two-month data collection in 12 outpatient departments dedicated to congestive heart failure. Information was obtained on each patient using a specific anonymous data collection form. RESULTS: We obtained and analyzed for the study 547forms. Mean patient age was 66.1 years, mean ejection fraction was 36.6%. Coronary artery disease accounted for 34.6% of congestive heart failure cases, followed by idiopathic etiology (26.4%). Main comorbidities were diabetes (22.3%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (17.7%). Sixty-nine% of patients received a medical treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, 72.6% with beta-blockers, 48.8% with aldosterone antagonists. As far as diagnostic resource use during a six-month period preceeding observation, 46.8% of patients underwent echocardiographic examination, 9.9% Holter ECG, 6.0% coronary angiography. Therapy was more often increased in patients who underwent an instrumental evaluation during the preceeding six-month period. CONCLUSIONS: Data suggests that in Piedmont outpatients with chronic heart failure receive a high drug prescription level and a small number of instrumental evaluations, as suggested in main international guidelines.

Treatment of refractory recurrent pericarditis.

We report a difficult case of a 45-year-old woman with refractory recurrent pericarditis, who was treated with several different medical therapies, pericardial window, and pericardiectomy. This case suggests that more invasive diagnostic and therapeutic choices, such as pericardial window and pericardiectomy, should be carefully considered for possible side-effects and the risk of promoting further recurrences. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and colchicine are first-choice drugs, whereas corticosteroids should be considered only in patients with a frequent crisis unresponsive to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, and by using proper dosage and a careful slow tapering. Patience and appropriate medical therapy are the keys to successful management. In true refractory cases, combination therapy with two or three drugs such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, colchicine and corticosteroid may be considered before applying other more complex and less safe treatments. Immunosuppressive drugs and steroid sparing agents might be used, but it should be acknowledged that only weak evidence-based data support their use.