Professor Luigi Padeletti passed away, unexpectedly, on 15 December 2017 at the age of 70. He was born in Gubbio one of the most beautiful towns in Umbria, in the centre of Italy, and he always stayed closely in touch with his natal region.
Luigi did his medical studies at the University of Florence, where he graduated in 1971 and then became a specialist in Cardiology, focusing his interests on cardiac arrhythmia and electrophysiology. He was then appointed Full Professor in Cardiology and headed the Postgraduate School in Cardiology of the University of Florence from 1998 to 2015. He recently moved to Milan, with the role of Director of the Cardiovascular department at the MultiMedica Research Group.
Luigi was President of the Italian Association of Arrhythmias and Cardiac pacing (AIAC) in 2012–2014 and during his presidency he promoted the planning of new clinical studies under the guidance of the association and profoundly re-organized the association. Luigi also covered important positions within the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA): he was a member of the Board, as chairman of the national Societies Committee in 2013–2015 and member of the Nominating Committee in 2015–2017. As an EHRA member, Luigi was in charge of writing the Expert consensus document on Management of Devices in patients Living End of Life or requesting withdrawal of therapy.1 He was also a member of the task force that wrote the 2013 Guidelines on cardiac pacing and cardiac resynchronization therapy of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), developed in collaboration with EHRA.2
All the Scientific contributions of Luigi were of great value, being both innovative and original. Among more than 350 papers published in peer-reviewed international journals, special mention is deserved for the original investigations of the effects of interatrial septum pacing in preventing atrial tachyarrhythmias and atrial fibrillation3 and for the studies on the haemodynamic effects of left ventricular pacing, biventricular pacing, and His bundle pacing.4,5 Luigi acted as Senior Investigator of the MINERVA trial, one of the few randomized clinical trials in the field of bradyarrhythmias performed in recent years, that validated the role of new algorithms for the management of atrial fibrillation and atrial tachyarrhythmias in patients with brady-tachy syndrome.6,7
But what was really special in Luigi was his natural propensity and willingness to help young physicians entering the difficult field of cardiac electrophysiology, by giving them appropriate advice and by stimulating them to proceed despite the typical hurdles and difficulties that characterize any attempt to enter this complex field. In consideration of his ability to help, stimulate and guide young electrophysiologists and young researchers, Luigi Padeletti has been unanimously recognized as a true leader among the Italian community of cardiologists.
Luigi had many connections with researchers across the world and was involved in many collaborative studies involving physicians from Europe, North America, and Asia. It was common during International Cardiology meetings to see his tall figure surrounded by many other researchers, while debating new ideas, new projects and new developments, often in front of some good pasta or a tasty steak. But if the discussion became difficult or challenging, with divergence of ideas or some contrasts among the participants, then Luigi always succeeded with his natural sense of humour to break the barriers and finally find a good solution for everybody. The same sense of humour always characterized his frequent interventions as chairman of speakers at the major meetings of electrophysiology across the world.
The Italian and European communities of cardiologists who had the privilege to work with Luigi and to share friendly relationships with him express heartfelt condolences to his family, particularly to his loving wife Annarosa, his daughter Margherita, a cardiologist working in Florence, and his son Edoardo, an engineer working in the USA.
Many thanks, Gigi, for your teaching, your guidance and your friendship.
