Purpose We present the preliminary results of the STRA-MI-VT Study (NCT04066517), a spontaneous, phase Ib/II study, designed to prospectively test the safety and efficacy of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in patientswith advanced cardiac disease and intractable ventricular tachycardia (VT). Methods Cardiac computed tomography (CT) integrated by electroanatomical mapping was used for substrate identification and merged with dedicated CT scans for treatment plan preparation. A single 25-Gy radioablation dose was delivered by a LINAC-based volumetric modulated arc therapy technique in a non-invasive matter. The primary safety endpoint was treatment-related adverse effects during acute and long-term follow-up (FU), obtained by regular in-hospital controls and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) remote monitoring. The primary efficacy endpoint was the reduction at 3 and 6 months of VT episodes and ICD shocks. Results Seven out of eight patients (men; age, 70 ± 7 years; ejection fraction, 27 ± 11%; 3 ischemic, 4 non-ischemic cardiomyopathies) underwent SBRT. At a median 8-month FU, no treatment-related serious adverse event occurred. Three patients died from non-SBRT-related causes. Four patients completed the 6-month FU: the number of VT decreased from 29 ± 33 to 11 ± 9 (p = .05) and 2 ± 2 (p = .08), at 3 and 6 months, respectively; shocks decreased from 11 to 0 and 2, respectively. At 6 months, all patients. showed a significant reduction of VT episodes and no electrical storm recurrence, with the complete regression of iterative VTs in 2/2 patients. Conclusion The STRA-MI-VT Study suggests that SBRT can be considered an alternative option for the treatment of VT in patients with structural heart disease and highlights the need for further clinical investigation addressing safety and efficacy.

Crucial to the success of the COVID-19 vaccination campaign is the rate of people who adhere to it. This study aimed to investigate the reasons underlying people’s willingness to get vaccinated in a sample of Italian adults, considering the effects of different individual characteristics and psychological variables upon positive vs. negative/hesitant vaccination intentions, as well as subjects’ self-reported motivations for such intentions. An anonymous cross-sectional survey was distributed online in February 2021. The results showed that trust in science, number of vaccinations received in 2019, and belief that COVID-19 is more severe than the common flu, were associated with positive vaccination intentions. “Chance externality” health locus of control showed both direct and indirect effects upon positive vaccination intentions. Anxiety symptoms and participants’ perceived psychological status also showed indirect positive effects. Subjects’ self-reported motivations varied interestingly across positive vs. negative/hesitant intentions. Implications of these findings for identifying effective pro-vaccination messages are discussed in the final section of the paper.

Despite the fact that American Heart Association (AHA) recommended a systematic screening for depression in cardiovascular inpatients, poor attention has been given to this issue. Furthermore, no specific guidelines exist for anxiety screening in cardiovascular inpatients. Thus, the aims of this study were to verify the feasibility of a depressive and anxiety symptoms screening protocol in an Italian hospital specializing in cardiovascular diseases and to evaluate both anxiety and depressive symptoms prevalence. A group of 2009 consecutive inpatients completed the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7). The rates of depressive and anxiety symptoms were almost 9% and 16% respectively. Men were less likely than women to experience both depressive and anxiety symptoms. Patients who were admitted to the heart failure unit reported higher risk of experiencing both symptoms compared to patients in other wards. Similarly, patients admitted to the cardiac surgery unit showed a higher risk of experiencing anxiety symptoms compared to other patients. The proposed screening procedure showed a good feasibility and acceptance. This study highlighted the importance of implementing a short screening procedure in hospitals dealing with cardiovascular inpatients to identify those individuals who require specific attention and interventions.

No abstract

Planning ability (PA) is a key aspect of cognitive functioning and requires subjects to identify and organise the necessary steps to achieve a goal. Despite the central role of executive dysfunction in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), deficits in PA have been investigated leading to contrasting results. Given these inconsistencies, the main aim of our work is to give a deeper and clearer understanding of PA in OCD patients. Moreover, we are interested in investigating the relationship between PAs and impulsivity traits and other clinical variables. Sixty-eight OCD patients and 68 healthy controls (HCs) matched for sex and age were assessed through the Stocking of Cambridge (SoC), a computerised version of the Tower of London. We examined planning sub-components for each difficulty levels (from 2 to 5 minimum moves). Our results showed that OCD patients needed longer initial thinking time than HCs during the execution of low demanding tasks (i.e. 2 and 3 moves), while the accuracy level between the two groups did not significantly differ. OCD patients required longer initial thinking time also during high demanding tasks (i.e., 4 and 5 moves), but in this case their accuracy was significantly worse than HCs' one. We did not find any association between impulsivity and PAs. Our results supported the hypothesis that OCD patients were not able to retain in memory the planned sequence and they had to reschedule their movements during the execution. Thus, future studies should deepen the interrelation between working memory and PA to better understand the influence between these two cognitive functions and their interaction with clinical variables in OCD patients.