Hypertension and Cardiac Organ Damage

This book identifies the key determinants in the management of hypertensive outpatients with Cardiac Target Organ Damage. It sheds light on current international guidelines by directly applying them to six representative clinical cases that reflect situations frequently encountered during clinical routine rather than emergencies or rare occurrences.
The book enables cardiologists and angiologists alike to gain an overview of the most frequent cardiac dysfunctions related to hypertension: left atrial enlargement, aortic root dilatation, diastolic dysfunction, systolic dysfunction, left and right ventricular enlargement. Each case is illustrated and analyzed in detail – from family and personal history to treatment and follow-up – providing readers with valuable guidance that will help them to select the best suited diagnostic tool and treatment for each patient.

Raffaele Izzo graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the Second University of Naples and subsequently specialized in Cardiology at the “Federico II” University of Naples, where he attended the Non Invasive Hemodynamic Laboratory at the Hypertension Center and worked on functional endothelial changes in humans.

He was granted a Research Fellowship in Cardiovascular Physiopathology at the “Tor Vegata” University of Rome and he won a National Scholarship at the Italian Society of Hypertension.

He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Cardiology department and Chief of the Non Invasive Hemodynamic Laboratory at the Hypertension Center of the “Federico II” University. He has been a member of the Italian Society of Hypertension since 1995, and of the Italian Society of Cardiology since 1996. He is the author of roughly 75 publications and attended as lecturer several international scientific meetings.

His research chiefly focuses on arterial hypertension, on the role of the sympathetic system, and on the regulation and progression of cardiovascular structural changes.