Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Intergrata di Trieste

The Cardiology Unit of Trieste, Italy, was founded in 1966, under the direction of Prof. Fulvio Camerini. Since 1999 it has been directed by Prof. Gianfranco Sinagra, head of the newly formed Cardiothoracovascular Department of the “Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Giuliano Isontina”. This modern Cardiology Unit has a clinical ward with 30 inpatients and an Intensive Cardiac Care Unit with 12 inpatients. Our structure is equipped with 2 cath laboratories and 1 electrophysiology lab. Our advanced echocardiography lab is able to perform more than 10.000 Echocardiographic exams per year (including advanced 3-D analysis, Transoesophageal echocardiograms, speckle tracking analysis etc).

The Cardiothoracovascular Department serves as a Hub for cardiovascular diseases and as a referral center for cardiomyopathies in Italy. Genetic screening is extensively performed in the diagnostic workups of cardiomyopathies thanks to our collaboration with the Genetic Laboratory of the “Hospital for mothers and children Burlo Garofolo” of Trieste.

Our service of Cardiosurgery run by dr. Enzo Mazzaro, is Hub center for cardiosurgery and microcardiosurgery of the adults. The Heart team takes place weekly for collegial discussions of patients with surgical indications.

Multidisciplinary teams are active to share clinical cases with professionals working at the Hospital of Trieste or at the Center for Heart transplantation of the Hospital of Udine for the advanced care of the patients affected by Cardiomyopathies, inflammatory heart diseases and Heart Failure using advanced technologies such as ECMO, LVAd or BiVAD.

The tight collaboration with the Institute of Pathology of the University of Trieste (Prof. R. Bussani) guarantees reliable pathological, immunohistochemical and molecular analysis of endomyocardial biopsies. A collaboration with ICGEB (International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology) is been active since 2010.

Very intense is our activity in the field of research with many papers published on important peer reviewed journals. The department also hosts the school of specialization in cardiovascular diseases of the University of Trieste, which is directed by Prof. Gianfranco Sinagra.

Our mission is to answer to those in need with excellence and attention to the person.

Prof. Gianfranco Sinagra, head of the newly formed Cardiothoracovascular Department of the “Azienda Sanitaria Universitaria Giuliano Isontina”.