Renal Involvement in COVID-19: A Review of the Literature.

Kidney injury may be a severe complication of acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and contributes to worsen the prognosis. Various pathophysiological mechanisms can contribute to organ damage and impair renal function, proving the complexity of the virus activity and the resulting immunity response. We summarized the evidence of the literature on the prevalence of kidney involvement, on the pathogenic pathways and on its management.

Anticoagulant treatment in COVID-19: a narrative review.

The actual Coronavirus Disease (COVID 19) pandemic is due to Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a member of the coronavirus family. Besides the respiratory involvement, COVID 19 patients frequently develop a pro-coagulative state caused by virus-induced endothelial dysfunction, cytokine storm and complement cascade hyperactivation. It is common to observe diffuse microvascular thrombi in multiple organs, mostly in pulmonary microvessels. Thrombotic risk seems to be directly related to disease severity and worsens patients' prognosis. Therefore, the correct understanding of the mechanisms underlying COVID-19 induced prothrombotic state can lead to a thorough assessment of the possible management strategies. Hence, we review the pathogenesis and therapy of COVID 19-related thrombosis disease, focusing on the available evidence on the possible treatment strategies and proposing an algorithm for the anticoagulation strategy based on disease severity.

Cardiovascular System in COVID-19: Simply a Viewer or a Leading Actor?

As of January 2020, a new pandemic has spread from Wuhan and caused thousands of deaths worldwide. Several studies have observed a relationship between coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection and the cardiovascular system with the appearance of myocardial damage, myocarditis, pericarditis, heart failure and various arrhythmic manifestations, as well as an increase in thromboembolic risk. Cardiovascular manifestations have been highlighted especially in older and more fragile patients and in those with multiple cardiovascular risk factors such as cancer, diabetes, obesity and hypertension. In this review, we will examine the cardiac involvement associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, focusing on the pathophysiological mechanism underlying manifestations and their clinical implication, taking into account the main scientific papers published to date.

The role of 3D-high definition mapping systems in treating postoperative drug-resistant intra-atrial reentrant tachycardia.

We report the case of a patient with recurrent episodes of postoperative intra-atrial reentrant tachycardia occurring after surgical patch closure of a sinus venosus atrial septal defect (SVASD). Arrhythmic episodes, as usually reported in scar-related arrhythmias, were resistant to antiarrhythmic therapy and worsened patient's quality of life. Therefore, we decided to perform an intracardiac electrophysiology study using a 3D-high definition mapping system to identify and treat the precise arrhythmic substrate with radiofrequency ablation. There is a growing evidence that this technique represents a valid therapeutic option in postoperative arrhythmias refractory to medical treatment in patients with repaired congenital heart disease.