Antonella Grieco's master thesis in Biomedical Engineering, in collaboration with the company Item Oxygem
Friday 8 September 2017 - 600 people affected in Italy, 87 new cases each year. Yet the diagnosis of diastolic heart failure, or left ventricular dysfunction, is still not well codified due to theabsence of rigorous and universally accepted diagnostic criteria. An even more serious shortcoming if we consider that, once manifested with the first symptoms and not promptly treated, HF leads to severe disability and death.
Antonella Grieco, student UCBM, wanted to take up the challenge, finalizing his master's thesis in Biomedical Engineering (supervisor Prof. Fabrizio Taffoni) right at prevention of diastolic HF in the so-called asymptomatic phase. "In the work, which was then published in the trade magazine hospital technique, I aimed primarily at the critical analysis of the state of the art, in order to identify the latest diagnostic algorithms proposed. In particular - continues Dr. Grieco - I have taken into consideration two of 2016, the result of the opinion of experts but not yet validated. Based on the collected information, I have integrated them through the creation of a computerized diagnostic model, aimed at guiding the clinician in the diagnosis".
A phase carried out within the laboratories of the biomedical research and development division of the Item Oxygen company in Altamura (Bari) and which led to the elaboration of a real web page for the rapid and guided recognition of diastolic dysfunction and its degrees of severity. Following the recruitment of 20 patients, the diagnostic model was then subjected to check at the cardiology clinic of the Community Hospital of Ceglie M. (ASL BR), under the guidance of the specialist cardiologist, and has therefore been perfected.
What possibilities for the future? As Grieco states, "the need emerges to carry out a large-scale validation of the developed diagnostic model. Future developments could therefore concern theaddition of a programming part in JavaScript code intended for the final printing of reports containing all the data of each patient. Information may be shared nationwide within a dedicated database whose access would be intended for cardiologist specialists and general practitioners, who would thus play a significant role in the early diagnosis of diastolic heart failure. The collected data could eventually be used to conduct territorial epidemiological surveys aimed at summarizing how the territory can affect or not the spread of the pathology".
