AICARM NEWS – September 2025

Dear friends of AICARM,

Marina, Valerio, and the Listening Hearts volunteers discuss the impact of artificial intelligence in cardiomyopathy diagnosis and a focus on gender medicine ahead of our November course. I'm particularly pleased to reopen the dialogue with you in the first newsletter of the fall season, offering you the best of the work of our volunteers and experts.

The numbers confirm the growth trend of the Listening Hearts service, the flagship of AICARM Aps' offering. Young psychologist Marina Cacchionni, who decided to volunteer after realizing its importance as a patient, recounts her experience, which began when doctors told her she needed a defibrillator. "The moment they found out I was a patient, it was as if there was something more in the psychological relationship," she says.

A story of healthcare that works. Valerio Pelini tells it, about a thirty-year friendship and care with his cardiologist, and the constant remote monitoring provided by a subcutaneous defibrillator, "a silent companion that has never really bothered me, except for the annual renewal of my driver's license," and which has been crucial in preventing the negative effects of atrial fibrillation episodes. "An invisible alarm, sounded by a little white box, saves your life without you even realizing it."

In recent years, we've heard a lot about Artificial Intelligence (AI). From phones to search engines, from social networks to hospitals: AI is changing our world. In medicine, its arrival has raised many questions, especially among patients: Will AI help doctors? Will it replace them? Or will it make every patient their own doctor?

Gender medicine was born in the last decade of the last century when the international medical community recognized that gender differences influence the onset of pathologies and their clinical manifestations.

Until the 90s, for example, medicine neglected cardiovascular diseases in women, rarely including them in clinical trials. Today, it's clear to everyone that the implications of gender medicine cut across every specialty. However, experts agree that the road to truly equitable medicine is still long.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26nd
18:30 – Vittoria – Cloister of Graces
Presentation of the book "The Big Heart" Stories of patients and families who have transformed cardiomyopathy into growth and awareness.
In collaboration with Soroptimist Club Vittoria

SATURDAY 27 SEPTEMBER
9:30 – Ragusa – Hotel Poggio del Sole

• Training Course for Experienced PatientsKnowledge and support for those living with inherited cardiomyopathies.
• CPR course for patients' relatives – Hosted by Dr. Gaetano Giarratana

To enroll in each of the courses, registration on the website is mandatory. www.aicarm.it

Saturday November 8

AICARM organizes, in collaboration with the SOROPTIMIST CLUB FIRENZE DUE, the in-person course: “Women's Hearts – Diversity in Cardiomyopathies".

The Course will take place in Florence, in the Salone Brunelleschi, at the Istituto degli Innocenti.

To enroll in the course, registration on the website is mandatory. www.aicarm.it starting October 8, 2025.

Regional Law No. 53 of August 21, 2025, for the prevention of sudden cardiac death It was published in issue 54 of BURT (Official Bulletin of the Tuscany Region) published on August 28, 2025.

The law, approved unanimously by the Regional Council, makes Tuscany the first Italian region with a comprehensive law for the prevention of sudden cardiac death among young people. The measure, developed with the contribution of the Cardiomyopathy Unit at Careggi Hospital, led by Professor Iacopo Olivotto (member of the AICARM Scientific Committee), introduces an integrated model, resuscitation courses, and the establishment of a dedicated regional technical commission.