Rare cardiovascular diseases

Rare cardiovascular disease service

Rare cardiovascular diseases of genetic origin are diseases that can put patients' lives at serious risk and that imply the activation of a monitoring network and screening programs aimed at the entire family circle. The outpatient clinic for rare cardiovascular diseases at the Cardiocentro Ticino Institute aims precisely to offer a quality prevention, diagnosis and treatment program aimed at these patients.

Rhythm and conduction disorders

Hereditary-based cardiac arrhythmic diseases are rare cardiovascular disorders caused by a genetically based dysfunction of cardiac ion channels, which leads individuals without structural heart disease to an increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.
The diagnostic-therapeutic management of these patients includes in addition to performing resting and exercise electrocardiographic monitoring, specific pharmacological testing, electrophysiological studies for arrhythmic rhythm stratification with high-resolution mapping systems, implantation of continuous electrocardiographic monitoring systems, and diversified pharmacological or invasive treatment strategies by ablation techniques and/or implantation of automatic defibrillators.

Marfan syndrome and related conditions

The most fearsome feature of this syndrome of genetic origin is the appearance of pathological dilatation of the aorta, with its possible rupture. Early diagnosis is crucial: if supported by appropriate drug therapies or timely performed cardiac surgery, patients with these conditions have a normal life expectancy.