Telemedicine in Collaborative Diagnosis and Care of Congenital Heart Malformations

Health cooperation with Balkan Countries in diagnosis and care of congenital heart malformations was developed since 2008 by the Heart Hospital of "Gabriele Monasterio" Tuscany Foundation (FTGM) jointly with the Association "Un Cuore un Mondo" and with the support of the Tuscany Region. A tele-echocardiography network was implemented interconnecting the Heart Hospital in Massa with selected Pediatric and Gynecology centers in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, and Romania. Up to 100 patients were transferred to Massa from Balkan countries for specialized care or cardiac surgery. This initiative was recently empowered in the frame of European IPA program by the AdriHealthMob project, aimed at providing cross border healthcare services in the Adriatic area, and since 2015 a telemedicine network for heart malformations has being developed (namely, "Arriviamo al Cuore di Tutti") in Tuscany with the financial support of Lions Clubs and their International Foundation (LCIF), jointly with regional healthcare authorities.