Introduction

Cardiac pathologies are a critical health issue affecting millions of people worldwide with a constant mortality rate in particular in the elderly, a difficult prognosis, and a worsening in quality life of affected people. In fact, they tend to become chronic and lead to several complications that may affect other vital organs such as brain, lungs, and kidneys. Indeed cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are globally the number one cause of death: more people die every year from CVDs than from any other cause (17.5 million deaths, an estimation of 31% of all deaths worldwide). People with cardiovascular pathologies or who are at high cardiovascular risk need early detection since the 80% of premature heart diseases are preventable [1]. Among the complications of these pathologies there are pulmonary edema or respiratory tract infections, kidney insufficiency, and stroke. In children, cardiovascular diseases or congenital heart malformations can lead to pulmonary hypertension and neurodevelopmental problems due to the lack of oxygen supply [2]. The pathophysiology of heart pathologies is complex. Indeed, recent findings pointed out a possible pivotal role of mitochondrial dysfunction and the subsequent altered energy metabolism in cardiac diseases, in particular in case of heart failure [3]. In general, patient management could be quite challenging and demanding; thus there is a need for the clinician to have the best tools that can improve and facilitate the diagnosis and the prognosis for these diseases.