Background/Objectives: Heart transplantation is a life-saving procedure for patients with end-stage heart failure, yet it involves significant psychological and emotional challenges throughout its various stages. International guidelines recommend a multi-professional approach to the care of these patients and a psycho-social assessment for listing. The recommendations focus on content aspects, but not on the psychometric measure to be administered to patients as part of the assessment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to provide the preliminary results of administering the protocol used by our center, measuring coping strategies, cognitive functioning, quality of life, and psychological distress in a sample of patients who are candidates for and undergo cardiac transplantation, and to observe any variations after the procedure. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive psychological-clinical assessment involving 40 patients, focusing on psychosocial functioning, cognitive reserves, mental health, and coping strategies. Tools such as the Stanford Integrated Psychosocial Assessment for Transplantation (SIPAT), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), General Anxiety Disorder 7 (GAD-7), and Medical Outcomes Survey Short Form 36 (SF-36) were employed to evaluate readiness for transplantation and post-transplant adaptation. Results: Results showed high levels of clinical anxiety (52.5%) and low perceived physical health (98%) before the transplant, while post-operative evaluations indicated reduced anxiety (13.51%) and depressive symptoms (10.81%), along with improved psychological well-being and reintegration into daily life. Conclusions: These results show improvement in physical and cognitive levels, accompanied by a state of enhanced psychological well-being after transplantation. A longitudinal psychological approach, from pre-transplant screening to post-discharge follow-up, is needed to address distress, improve coping mechanisms, and promote treatment adherence. This integrative strategy is critical to improving the quality of life and long-term outcomes for heart transplant recipients.

Background: To address organ shortage and reduce waitlist mortality, the use of extended criteria donors (ECDs) in heart transplantation is increasing. Methods: We retrospectively analysed outcomes in 236 heart transplant recipients: 140 received standard donor (SD) hearts and 96 received ECD hearts. Results: No significant differences were found in early or mid-term survival between the SD and ECD groups with a 30-day mortality rates of 13% vs. 10% (p = 0.662) and estimated 1-year survival of 75% (95% CI: 62.3–78.3%) and 71% (95% CI: 55.3–76.2%) (p = 0.556), respectively. Mechanical ventilation prior to transplant (p < 0.001), ischemic time (p = 0.022), peripheral vascular disease (p = 0.011), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (p = 0.022) were the only independent predictors of mortality. Conclusions: In our cohort, heart transplantation using ECD was not associated with increased early or mid-term adverse events. This approach may help expand the donor pool without compromising post-transplant outcomes.

This report presents a rare case of a 60‐year‐old man with acute respiratory failure due to a giant lipoma‐like liposarcoma. Following the successful surgical removal of the 2850‐g mass, the patient's respiratory function improved immediately. This case highlights the importance of diagnosis and surgical intervention in managing large mediastinal tumors.

Background: Galectin-3 (Gal-3) overexpression is associated with fibroblastic proliferation and the production of collagen, resulting in increased cardiac fibrosis and remodelling. Aim of the study was to investigate on the expression of Gal-3 in hypertrophic hearts. We examined 19 surgical specimens taken from interventricular septum of 8 patients with Tetralogy of Fallot, 4 patients with aortic valve stenosis, 1 cardiac explant affected from dilated cardiomyopathy, and 6 myocardial biopsies of patients submitted to heart transplantation. Methods: All the samples were routinely processed, stained with Hematoxylin-Eosin, Trichromic stain and elastic fiber stain and selected by having the morphological features of myocardial hy-pertrophy: myocytolysis, nuclear pleomorphism, interstitial fibrosis. Results: At immunohistochemistry, myocardial fibers showed cytoplasmic expression of Gal-3 in the 4 patients with aortic valve stenosis (diffuse in 3 and mild in 1), in the 1 patient with cardiac explant (mild) and in the 4/6 transplanted hearts (mild and focal in 3 and diffuse in 1). The 8 patients affected from Tetralogy of Fallot and 2 patients with transplanted hearts resulted negative. Conclusions: The results agreed with the hypothesis that Gal-3 may play a role in cardiac hyper-trophy; its expression in myocardial fibers is not related with the morphological aspects as suggested by the absence in pediatric cases. The presence in myocardial biopsies taken from transplanted hearts would suggest a possible role in predicting clinical outcome of such patients.

Background/objectives: Heart transplantation remains the definitive treatment for end-stage heart failure. However, donor shortages and the increasing age of candidates present significant challenges. This report aims to highlight the feasibility and successful outcome of heart transplantation in an elderly patient, questioning traditional age-based eligibility criteria.Methods: A 76-year-old male with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy and severe heart failure underwent orthotopic heart transplantation. Preoperative assessments included right heart catheterization, echocardiography, and cardiac index evaluation. A suitable 66-year-old female donor was identified, and transplantation was performed using the bicaval technique. Postoperative outcomes were monitored through echocardiography and biopsy analysis.Results: The patient had an uneventful postoperative course, with extubation on day 1 and discharge on postoperative day 30. Follow-up at 14 months showed excellent clinical recovery, with an improved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) of 58% and global longitudinal strain (GLS) of −20.8%. No signs of rejection were observed on biopsy.Conclusions: This case represents the oldest documented successful heart transplant recipient discharged home. The findings suggest that age alone should not be a limiting factor in transplantation eligibility. Expanding criteria to include well-selected elderly patients could help address the growing demand for donor hearts.