Inappropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator shocks due to atrial far-field on the tip-to-ring channel for lead dislodgement.

We reported a case of inappropriate implantable cardioverter defibrillator shocks, due to atrial far-field on the tip-to-ring channel of the fast electrical activity during atrial fibrillation, caused by lead dislocation in the right ventricle outflow tract. During these episodes the can-to-right ventricle coil signal correctly recorded the ventricular activity. The shock storm stopped when an antitachycardia pacing restored sinus rhythm.

Work-related asthma in a sample of subjects with established asthma.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of occupational exposure to irritants or sensitizers on the occurrence, recrudescence and worsening of asthma and to identify unrecognized cases of work related asthma (WRA) including Work-Exacerbated Asthma (WEA) and Occupational Asthma (OA), in a general asthma clinic population sample. SETTING, DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS: The study was a population-based cross sectional survey. 1289 asthmatic subjects (from 15 to 46 yrs old) living in a vast district of Tuscany (Italy) were identified from the Medical Reimbursement Register of the National Health System. 893 subjects agreed to take part in the study. Subjects who were currently working or had worked in past were classified in different categories of occupational risk exposure (No, Low or High) according to the italian standard classification for industries and job titles, associated with the judgment of occupational hygiene experts. RESULTS: 41% of subjects worked in industries and in job titles at risk for exposure to airway irritants and/or sensitizers, 48.6% reported an occupational exposure to gases, dust and fumes, more males than females. Prevalence of WEA and OA was higher in subjects who worked at higher risk exposure; these subjects reported a higher prevalence of markers of asthma severity (asthma control, level of treatment, FEV1) than subjects without WRA. Risk of WEA was significantly associated to female gender, older age, and self-reported exposure, while risk of OA was associated to job title with higher exposure risk to occupational asthmogens. CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows a high prevalence of WRA (especially WEA) associated with employment in industries and job titles at risk for airways sensitizers and/or irritants; data also support a role for occupational exposure in determining a poor asthma control and a higher level of asthma severity.

Respiratory symptoms/diseases prevalence is still increasing: a 25-yr population study.

BACKGROUND: Few epidemiological surveys on general population samples estimated changes in prevalence of respiratory symptoms/diseases over a long time interval; our study aims to quantify the temporal changes in the prevalence rates of asthma, allergic rhinitis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) after 25 years from baseline. METHODS: A general population sample participated in 3 cross-sectional surveys carried out in Central Italy (Pisa) in 1985-88 (n = 3865), 1991-93 (n = 2841), 2009-11 (n = 1620). 2276 (47%) subjects participated in at least 1 survey, 1723 (35.5%) in at least 2 surveys and 849 (17.5%) in all the 3 surveys. All subjects filled in a standardized questionnaire about health status and risk factors; a sub-sample performed spirometry. Chi-square test was used to compare adjusted prevalence rates of respiratory symptoms/diseases and descriptive characteristics among the surveys. Generalised estimating equations (GEE) were used to analyze the association between respiratory symptoms/diseases and risk factors. RESULTS: There was an increasing trend in prevalence rates of all respiratory symptoms/diseases throughout the surveys: current asthma attacks (1st-3rd survey prevalence: 3.4-7.2%), allergic rhinitis (16.2-37.4%), usual phlegm (8.7-19.5%) and COPD (2.1-6.8%) more than doubled. The GEE model confirmed these increasing trends, indicating higher risk of having respiratory symptoms/diseases in the second and third surveys. CONCLUSIONS: While asthma and allergic rhinitis increasing trends were confirmed, with respect to other international studies, also a COPD increasing prevalence rates was shown.

The ARGA study with general practitioners: impact of medical education on asthma/rhinitis management.

AIM: To evaluate the impact of a medical education course (MEC) on the behaviour of general practitioners (GPs) to treat asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR). METHODS: Data on 1820 patients (mean age 41 yrs ± 17 yrs) with asthma or AR were collected by 107 Italian GPs: 50% attended a MEC and 50% didn't (group B). The adherence for AR and asthma treatment was evaluated according to ARIA and GINA guidelines (GL). RESULTS: AR and asthma were diagnosed in 78% and 56% of patients; 34% had concomitant AR and asthma. Regardless of the MEC, the adherence to GL was significantly higher for AR than for asthma treatment (52 versus 19%). Group B GPs were more compliant to ARIA guidelines in the treatment of mild AR, whereas group A were more compliant in the treatment of moderate-severe AR; the adherence didn't differ between the groups for AR patients with comorbid asthma. Adherence to GINA GL for asthma treatment did not differ between GPs of groups A and B, independently from concomitant AR. Though insignificantly, group A were more compliant to GINA GL in the treatment of patients with only severe persistent asthma (63 versus 46%) as group B were for patients with severe persistent asthma and concomitant AR. CONCLUSIONS: GPs often tend to treat patients independently from GL. The impact of a single MEC did not improve adherence to GL in treating less severe AR and asthma patients, while there was a trend towards the opposite attitude in more severe AR patients without concomitant asthma.

Percentiles of inspiratory capacity in healthy nonsmokers: a pilot study.

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade inspiratory capacity (IC) has received increasing attention, especially in studies on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Though a few recent studies provide reference values for IC, still little is known on the distribution of its values in healthy subjects. OBJECTIVE: To estimate percentiles of IC in a sample of healthy nonsmokers by applying quantile regression. METHODS: We applied quantile regression to estimate seven percentiles of IC from 5 to 95% for a given age, height and body mass index, separately in males and females, in a sample of 411 healthy nonsmokers, aged 8-73 years, drawn from the general population in Northern Italy. RESULTS: The magnitude and statistical significance of the effect of age, height and body mass on IC varied across percentiles and between genders. When the 50th percentile of IC was compared with the predicted values of several studies, including those published by the European Community for Coal and Steel, the differences were as large as 0.86 liters in males and 0.90 liters in females. The possible advantage of the 5th percentile predicted from quantile regression over the 'traditional 5th percentile' as lower limit of normal was also illustrated. CONCLUSIONS: Inference on percentiles, rather than just the mean, of IC and other lung function measures may help in the future to better understand the effect of various risk factors, model growth curves and derive more accurate reference values.

Mitral valve repair complicated by iatrogenic coronary artery lesion treated with percutaneous coronary intervention.

We report a case of mitral valve repair complicated by iatrogenic coronary artery lesion. This rare coronary injury caused an acute ST-elevation myocardial infarction and it was treated successfully with a percutaneous coronary intervention.

Spinal cord stimulation for the treatment of refractory angina pectoris: a multicenter randomized single-blind study (the SCS-ITA trial).

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is believed to be effective in treating refractory angina. The need for SCS-related chest paresthesia, however, has hitherto made impossible placebo-controlled trials. Subliminal (non paresthesic) SCS, however, might be also effective on anginal pain. In this trial we compared subliminal SCS with paresthesic SCS and with sham SCS. Twenty-five refractory angina patients, who had never received SCS before, underwent SCS device implantation and were randomized to three groups: paresthesic SCS (group PS; n=10), subliminal SCS (group SS; n=7) or "sham" SCS (group NS; n=8). After 1month group NS patients were randomized to either group PS or SS. After 1month, changes in angina episodes (p=0.016), nitroglycerin use (p=0.015), angina class (p=0.02), quality of life score (p=0.05), and items 2 (p=0.008) and 3 (p=0.009) of Seattle angina questionnaire differed significantly among groups. Group PS showed significant improvement in outcomes compared to group NS, whereas there were no significant differences between groups SS and NS; furthermore, only nitroglycerin use differed significantly between groups PS and SS. At 3months, a significant difference between groups PS and SS was observed in angina attacks (p=0.002), but not in other variables. Thus, in this study, paresthesic, but not subliminal SCS was superior to sham SCS in improving clinical status in refractory angina patients. The lack of significant differences between PS and SS groups in this small study suggests that a possible role for subliminal SCS in individual patients deserves to be assessed in larger trials with appropriate statistical power.

Sex-related differences in patients undergoing percutaneous unprotected left main stenting.

AIMS: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is increasingly being used for unprotected left main (ULM) disease. Limited data are available on sex-related differences in this setting. We investigated gender-associated differences in patients undergoing stent-based PCI for ULM. METHODS AND RESULTS: We analysed baseline, procedural and long-term data of patients with ULM undergoing stent-based PCI at participating centres. The primary end-point was the long-term rate of major cardiovascular events rate (MACE, i.e., the composite of death, myocardial infarction, or target lesion revascularisation). The study population included 1,452 cases, with 27.8% females and 72.2% males. Women were older, more frequently diabetic, hypertensive or presenting with an acute coronary syndrome, and thus with a higher EuroSCORE, but were less commonly treated with drug-eluting stents (DES), in comparison to men (all p<0.01). After a median follow-up of 18 months, women showed an unadjusted higher risk of death (p=0.040), cardiac death (p=0.033), and the death/myocardial infarction (p=0.012). However, after multivariable adjustment, gender was no longer an independent predictor of death (hazard ratio=1.119 [0.804-1.558]), cardiac death (hazard ratio=1.045 [0.697-1.567]), or death/myocardial infarction (hazard ratio=0.531 [0.192-1.465]), given the predominant role of age, diabetes and EuroSCORE as independent predictors and confounders of the gender-based comparison. CONCLUSIONS: Women undergoing PCI for ULM present more often with an acute coronary syndrome, are treated less frequently with DES, and have more adverse events, but these gender biases are not confirmed after adjusting for confounders. Thus, stent-based PCI for ULM offers similarly favourable clinical results in women as well as in men.

Impact of acute coronary syndromes on two-year clinical outcomes in patients with unprotected left main coronary artery stenosis treated with drug-eluting stents.

In this study we investigated the impact of acute coronary syndromes (ACSs) on clinical outcomes in patients with unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) stenosis treated with drug-eluting stents (DESs). In this multicenter, retrospective, observational study we enrolled 1,101 patients with ULMCA stenosis treated with DESs. Six hundred eleven patients presented with ACS and 490 had stable coronary artery disease. ACS was defined as the presence of unstable angina or non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (MI). During 2-year follow-up, the adjusted hazard ratio of cardiac mortality and MI of patients with ACS versus stable patients was 2.42 (95% confidence interval 1.37 to 4.28, p = 0.002). We observed a stepwise risk increase, namely patients with stable coronary disease had the lowest risk, patients with unstable angina an intermediate risk, and patients with non-ST-segment elevation MI the highest risk. The increased risk of cardiac mortality and MI of patients with ACS was concentrated in the first year after DES implantation. In conclusion, patients with ULMCA stenosis and ACS treated with DESs have an increased risk of cardiac mortality and MI during the first year after the intervention compared to stable patients.

Spontaneous dissections of coronary arteries and acute coronary syndromes: rationale and design of the DISCOVERY, a multicenter prospective registry with a case-control group.

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is an unusual cause of acute myocardial ischemia that in almost 50% of cases is followed by sudden death. The increasing frequency of SCAD diagnosis may reflect the widespread use of coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary interventions in acute coronary syndromes (ACS). The incidence of SCAD is estimated between 0.1 and 0.28% of all ACS or sudden deaths evaluated by angiography or by anatomical examination, respectively. Most published data available so far deal with single case reports and probably the real incidence of this disease is underestimated. Some predisposing conditions to SCAD are well known and include Marfan syndrome, pregnancy and peripartum state, drug abuse and some anatomical abnormalities of the coronary arteries like aneurysms and severe kinking. The most appropriate therapeutic approach to SCAD is still controversial and decision making is often based on the clinical presentation, extent of dissection and amount of ischemic myocardium. OBJECTIVES AND METHODS: The purpose of this multicenter prospective registry, named DISCOVERY (DISsection of COronary arteries: Veneto and Emilia RegistrY), with a case-control group is to try to assess the role of SCAD in the pathogenesis of ACS. The primary endpoint is the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events related to the therapeutic strategy in the acute phase and in the mid-term follow-up. The secondary endpoints are the estimation of the prevalence of SCAD in the pathogenesis of ACS, the association or disassociation of SCAD with presumptive predisposing factors, the appreciation of the timing and extent of multivessel involvement when present, the occurrence of vascular and ocular comorbidities (i.e. carotid dissection and ocular lens abnormalities), the evaluation of the immediate success and the mid-term outcome of percutaneous coronary interventions and the definition of the role of intravascular ultrasound in diagnosis and treatment of SCAD. The enrollment of approximately 50 patients with SCAD is planned. A planned control group of patients of comparable age, sex and clinical presentation will allow us to identify potential peculiar or specific aspects of SCAD in any phase of the disease. CONCLUSION: The DISCOVERY multicenter registry, with a case-control group, is the first large prospective study aimed at assessing the role of SCAD in the pathogenesis of ACS and at identifying the role of different therapeutic strategies in this unusual, multifaceted and probably underestimated pathologic condition.

Ostial and midshaft lesions vs. bifurcation lesions in 1111 patients with unprotected left main coronary artery stenosis treated with drug-eluting stents: results of the survey from the Italian Society of Invasive Cardiology.

AIMS: In this study, we compared the cumulative risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) of patients with distal unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) stenosis with those of patients with ostial and midshaft lesions treated with drug-eluting stent (DES). METHODS AND RESULTS: The survey promoted by the Italian Society of Invasive Cardiology on ULMCA stenosis was an observational study involving 19 high-volume Italian centres. We enrolled 1111 patients with ULMCA stenosis treated with DES. Major adverse cardiac events were defined as death, myocardial infarction, and target lesion revascularization. Three hundred and thirty-four patients had ostial or midshaft lesions (group 1) and 777 bifurcations (group 2). The adjusted hazards ratio of the risk of 2 year MACE of patients in group 2 vs. patients in group 1 was 1.50 (P = 0.024). However, we observed that there was a significant difference between patients with bifurcations treated with two stents and those in group 1 (P = 0.001), but not between patients with bifurcations treated with one stent and those in group 1 (P = 0.38). CONCLUSION: Patients with bifurcations have a worse outcome than patients with ostial and midshaft lesions. However, the technique used to treat bifurcations has a significant impact on clinical outcomes.

Temporal pattern of ischemic events in relation to dual antiplatelet therapy in patients with unprotected left main coronary artery stenosis undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a temporal pattern of ischemic events in relation to dual antiplatelet therapy in patients with unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) stenosis treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). BACKGROUND: Identifying which periods during follow-up of patients with ULMCA stenosis treated with PCI are associated with higher risk of clinical events might help to improve therapeutic strategies. METHODS: We analyzed data from 15 centers involved in an observational study conducted by the Italian Society of Invasive Cardiology on patients with ULMCA stenosis treated with PCI. Eight hundred ninety-four patients were enrolled. RESULTS: At 30-day follow-up, the rate of cardiac mortality and myocardial infarction (MI) was 5.4%. In patients still taking dual antiplatelet therapy, the adjusted incidence rate ratio/10,000 patient-days of the combination of cardiac mortality and MI in the 31- to 180-day interval compared with the 181- to 360-day interval after PCI was 3.64 (p = 0.035). This risk was particularly high in patients with acute coronary syndromes. After stopping clopidogrel, the adjusted incidence rate ratio of cardiac mortality and MI in the 0- to 90-day interval compared with the 91- to 180-day interval was 4.20 (p = 0.009). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with ULMCA stenosis taking dual antiplatelet therapy there is an increased hazard of cardiac mortality and MI between 31 and 180 days compared with 181 to 360 days. Furthermore, there is an increased hazard of cardiac mortality and MI in the first 90 days after stopping clopidogrel.

Are drug-eluting stents superior to bare-metal stents in patients with unprotected non-bifurcational left main disease? Insights from a multicentre registry.

AIMS: To compare long-term clinical outcome following drug-eluting stents (DES) or bare-metal stents (BMS) implantation on lesions located at the ostium or the shaft of the left main in a large real-world population. The advent of DES decreased the risk of unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) restenosis when compared with BMS, but it is unclear if this advantage continues when non-bifurcational lesions are considered. METHODS AND RESULTS: The GISE-SICI registry is a retrospective, observational multicentre registry promoted by the Italian Society of Invasive Cardiology in which 19 high-volume participating centres enrolled 1453 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention on ULMCA between January 2002 and December 2006. From the registry, a total of 479 consecutive patients with ostial and shaft lesions who underwent DES (n = 334) or BMS (n = 145) implantation were analysed with extensive multivariable and propensity score adjustments. At 3-year follow-up, risk-adjusted survival rates were higher in patients treated with DES than in those treated with BMS. The adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for the risk of mortality after DES implantation relative to BMS implantation was 0.37 (95% CI: 0.15-0.96, P = 0.04). The adjusted HR for the risk of cardiac mortality was 0.31 (95% CI: 0.09-1.04, P = 0.06). The adjusted 3-year rates of target lesion revascularization (TLR) were not significantly lower in the DES group than in the BMS group (P = 0.60). CONCLUSION: In a large population of patients with lesions located at the ostium or the shaft of the left main in a real-world setting, DES were associated with favourable clinical outcomes when compared with BMS, although there was no evidence of a significant reduction in TLR with DES vs. BMS.

Long-term clinical benefit of drug-eluting stents over bare-metal stents in diabetic patients with de novo left main coronary artery disease: results from a real-world multicenter registry.

BACKGROUND: Few data are available on diabetic patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the context of unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) disease. The main goal of this study was to present the long-term relative benefits of using drug-eluting stent (DES) instead of bare-metal stent (BMS) for diabetic patients submitted to percutaneous ULMCA treatment in a large real world multicenter registry. METHODS: The GISE-SICI registry is a retrospective, observational multicenter registry promoted by the Italian Society of Invasive Cardiology in which 19 high-volume participating centers enrolled 1,453 consecutive patients who underwent PCI on ULMCA between January 2002 and December 2006. From the registry, a total of 398 consecutive patients with diabetes mellitus who underwent DES (n = 321) or BMS (n = 77) implantation were analyzed, with extensive multivariable adjustments. RESULTS: At 3-years, use of DES in diabetic patients resulted in no significant differences with respect to death (HR 0.56, 95% CIs 0.24-1.28), myocardial infarction (HR 0.82, 95% CIs 0.21-3.26), and the composite end-point of death or myocardial infarction (HR 0.56, 95% CIs 0.27-1.20). Conversely, DES were associated with significant reduction of target lesion revascularization (TLR, HR 0.33; 95% CIs 0.14-0.80, P = 0.001) rates. CONCLUSIONS: Patients presenting with ULMCA disease in the context of diabetes mellitus who are treated with stent-supported PCI have a significant reduction in the rate of TLR with no increased risk of death or myocardial infarction.

Comparison of drug-eluting stents and bare-metal stents for the treatment of unprotected left main coronary artery disease in acute coronary syndromes.

The aim of this study was to compare long term clinical outcome after left main stenting in a large real world population of patients treated with drug-eluting stents (DES) or bare-metal stents (BMS) in the setting of acute coronary syndromes. The advent of DES decreased the risk of unprotected left main coronary artery restenosis as compared with BMS, but safety concerns still exist, especially when high-risk patients presenting with acute coronary syndromes are considered. The Gruppo Italiano Studi Emodinamici-Societa' Italiana di Cardiologia Invasiva (GISE-SICI) registry is a retrospective, observational multicenter registry promoted by the Italian Society of Invasive Cardiology in which 19 high-volume participating centers enrolled 1,453 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention on unprotected left main coronary artery between January 2002 and December 2006. From the registry, a total of 849 consecutive patients presenting with unstable angina or non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction who underwent DES (n=611) or BMS (n=238) implantation were analyzed with extensive multivariable and propensity-score adjustments. At 3-year follow-up, the adjusted hazard ratio for the risk of mortality after DES implantation relative to BMS implantation was 0.90 (95% confidence intervals [CI] 0.59 to 1.38, p=0.617), and the adjusted hazard ratio for the risk of cardiac mortality was 0.75 (95% CI 0.45 to 1.27, p=0.287). DES were associated with significant reduction of myocardial infarction (hazard ratio 0.37, 95% CI 0.17 to 0.81, p=0.009) and target lesion revascularization rates (hazard ratio 0.38, 95% CI 0.21 to 0.69, p=0.001). Younger age, low ejection fraction, an increase in the cardiac biomarkers, absence of diabetes, and bifurcations showed a significant interaction with assigned treatment regarding myocardial infarction. The treatment effects on target lesion revascularization were consistent across multiple subgroups, with the possible exception of patients with nonbifurcational lesions. In conclusion, in a large population of patients with acute coronary syndromes and unprotected left main coronary artery disease DES were more effective than BMS in reducing myocardial infarction and target lesion revascularization. There was no evidence of a significant reduction in mortality with DES versus BMS.

Urban residence is associated with bronchial hyperresponsiveness in Italian general population samples.

BACKGROUND: The role of different risk factors for bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR), such as gender, atopy, IgE, and environmental factors (smoking, occupational exposure, infections), has been described. Indoor and outdoor pollution play an important role too, but few studies have analyzed the association with BHR. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of urban residence on BHR. METHODS: We studied two general population samples enrolled in two cross-sectional epidemiological studies performed in Northern Italy (Po Delta, rural area) and Central Italy (Pisa, urban area). We analyzed 2,760 subjects (age range, 8 to 74 years). We performed analysis of variance and logistic regression analysis using ln slope of the dose-response curve of the methacholine challenge test as dependent variable, and sex, age, smoking habits, respiratory symptoms, skin-prick test results, IgE value, residence, and airway caliber as independent variables. RESULTS: The mean value of ln slope of the dose-response curve adjusted for initial airways caliber (by baseline FEV(1) percentage of predicted value) was significantly higher in female subjects, in smokers, in subjects with respiratory symptoms, in younger and older ages, in subjects with high values of IgE, and in subjects with positive skin-prick test results. After controlling for the independent effects of all these variables, living in urban area was an independent risk factor for having BHR (odds ratio, 1.41; 95% confidence interval, 1.13 to 1.76). CONCLUSION: Living in urban area is a risk factor for increased bronchial responsiveness.

Two-year clinical outcome with drug-eluting stents versus bare-metal stents in a real-world registry of unprotected left main coronary artery stenosis from the Italian Society of Invasive Cardiology.

Data are limited about the relative efficacy of drug-eluting stents (DESs) versus bare-metal stents (BMSs) for the treatment of unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) stenosis. The survey promoted by the Italian Society of Invasive Cardiology on ULMCA stenosis was an observational study involving 19 high-volume Italian centers of patients with ULMCA stenosis treated using percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). From January 2002 to December 2006, of 1,453 patients identified with ULMCA stenosis treated with PCI, 1,111 were treated with DESs and 342 were treated with BMSs. During a 2-year follow-up, risk-adjusted survival free from cardiac death was significantly higher in patients treated with DESs than in those treated with BMSs. The propensity-adjusted hazard ratio for risk of 2-year cardiac mortality after DES versus BMS implantation was 0.49 (95% confidence interval 0.32 to 0.77). The benefit of DESs in reducing cardiac mortality was obtained in the period from 3 to 6 months and maintained up to 2 years. In conclusion, for patients with ULMCA stenosis undergoing PCI, DES implantation was associated with higher adjusted rates of 2-year survival free from cardiac death. The benefit of DESs in reducing cardiac mortality was obtained in the period in which clinical manifestations of restenosis usually peak.

Long-term outcome and sex distribution across ages of left ventricular apical ballooning syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Apical ballooning syndrome is a rare clinical entity that predominantly involves elderly women and is considered to be benign. We report our experience regarding this syndrome in terms of sex distribution and long-term outcome. METHODS: Between 1999 and 2006, we identified 28 consecutive patients affected by the apical ballooning syndrome. Inclusion criteria were an onset of mimicking acute myocardial infarction, transient akinesia/dyskinesia of the mid-apical left ventricular segments and no significant obstructive coronary artery disease. Patients with a recent brain disease, pheocromocytoma, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and suspected myocarditis were excluded. Sex distribution was assessed across different ages according to quartiles: less than 61 years of age (group 1), 61-71 years (group 2), 72-77 years (group 3) and more than 77 years (group 4). In-hospital and follow-up events were observed. RESULTS: The apical ballooning syndrome represented 1.69% of ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndromes. There were more women than men in groups 2 (85.7 vs. 14.3%), 3 (85.7 vs. 14.3%) and 4 (100 vs. 0%), but there were fewer women than men in group 1 (42.9 vs. 57.1%), with an overall supremacy of women (78.6 vs. 21.4%) (P=0.02). In-hospital events were one (3.6%) cardiac death and five (17.9%) nonfatal events. At the median follow-up of 24 months, one patient was lost and two (7.7%) died of cardiac causes, thus, the total cardiac mortality was 10.7% (3/28 patients); no recurrence occurred and left ventricular ejection fraction increased from 40.4 to 58.6% (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: In our population, left ventricular apical ballooning syndrome included several typical features. However, a peculiar sex tendency across various age groups was observed and, although older women predominated, men seemed to be more affected than women at a younger age. The long-term prognosis seems to be favourable.

Respiratory symptoms/diseases, impaired lung function, and drug use in two Italian general population samples.

BACKGROUND: Research and practice indicate that a sizeable amount of prescribed drugs is never used. AIM: To assess the habitual up-take of medicines in subjects with respiratory symptoms/diseases or impaired lung function in general population samples. METHODS: Data regard 4010 subjects (8-88 years) from the rural area of Po River Delta (North Italy) and the urban area of Pisa (North-Central Italy). Analyses concern the habitual use of any or specific medicines (broncho-pulmonary, anti-allergic, cardio-vascular, diuretic) in subjects with asthma, chronic bronchitis/emphysema (COPD), COPD or chronic cough/phlegm (COPDsx), and airways obstruction (AO, FEV(1)/FVC<70%). RESULTS: Asthma, COPD, COPDsx, and AO were present in 6%, 5%, 21%, and 13% of cases, respectively. Only 37% and 21% of subjects with respiratory symptoms/diseases used any or specific medicines, respectively. The subjects with COPD exhibited the highest prevalence of assumption (59% for any drug, 38% for specific medicines), followed by asthmatics (42% and 30%), and subjects with AO (40% and 25%). After accounting for sex, age, residence area, smoking habit, education, and presence of comorbidity, the conditions significantly related to any medicine up-take were COPD (OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.08-2.53) and asthma (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.01-2.12). Only asthma resulted significantly associated with the use of specific drugs (OR 3.11, 95% CI 1.94-4.97). Drug use was higher in the urban than in the rural area. CONCLUSION: The results indicate that most people in the general population do not use drugs, in spite of reported respiratory disorders. The underuse of medicines seems lower in the urban area.