Leonardo Vecchiet, MD

Leonardo Vecchiet, MD, died on February 9, 2007, after several months of illness and suffering faced with courage and dignity, at the "SS. Annunziata" University Hospital of Chieti, the same hospital that had been his workplace for almost 40 years.
He was an outstanding scientific personality, a clinician with inborn medical intuition, a warm-hearted and compassionate human being.

Born in Trieste [Italy] on May 2, 1933, he completed all his medical studies in Florence, getting his MD and specializations in Internal Medicine, Rheumatic and Cardiovascular Diseases and Sports Medicine. There he started his interest and research work in the field of pain - visceral and musculoskeletal pain, headache - soon becoming one of the most important representatives of the worldwide known Florentine Pain School. Later on in his career and life, he became "abruzzese" by adoption, coming to the Abruzzo region with his family at the end of the sixties. They lived in Pescara, close to Chieti, where he came everyday for his work at the "G. D'Annunzio" University. In Chieti he was Professor of Internal Medicine, Head of the Department of Medicine and Science of Aging, and Director of the University Center for Sports Medicine. In his Department he had founded the Centers for the Study of Fibromyalgia and Musculoskeletal Pain Disorders, the Headache Center and Pathophysiology of Pain Laboratory. He was also Director of the University Course in PHysiotherapy and of the Specialization Schools in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine.
Leonardo Vecchiet devoted his entire life to the study and better understanding of pain phenomena and mechanisms, through clinical but also basic science research studies, being the author of over 500 publications, most of which appeared in international journals and books. One of the themes he studied most was referred muscle pain. On this topic he organized a whole International Congress in 1992 in Chieti, which grouped the major experts in the field from all over the world, and also edited the resulting book of proceedings [by Elsevier] the following year, titled "New Trends in Referred Pain and Hyperalgesia". This important volume became a real point of reference for all the experts in the field from then onwards. It is his merit to have raised the level of consciousness and interest worldwide in a theme that had so far been relatively neglected by the international literature. Since then a new enthusiasm and flourishing of papers/initiatives has taken place on the subject of referred muscle pain and hyperalgesia.
Leonardo Vecchiet's activity in promoting research and interest in the pain field was continuous, as also testified by his involvement and key positions in pain societies; he was President of the Italian Association for the Study of Pain for the 3-year period 1997-2000, Councillor of the European Federation of IASP Chapters for the same period and a member of the Committee of Finance of the International Association for the Study of Pain for the period of 1999-2002.
In 1998 he became President of the International MYOPAIN Society [1998-2001] and in the same year organized the 4th World Congress on Myofascial Pain and Fibromyalgia, which was held in Silvi Marina [TE], hosting a high number of participants from all over the world. He was then the editor of the book of Proceedings from the same Congress, which grouped a high number of important contributions in the field.
Although Leonardo Vecchiet's work was mainly in the fields of musculoskeletal pain, visceral pain and headache, he was also involved in studies related to Sports Medicine and pain due to sport activity, not forgetting his task as doctor of the Italian National Soccer Team for over 25 years, being in charge in the exciting period when Italy won the World Cup in Spain in 1982.
Apart from his professional achievements and merits, Leonardo Vecchiet was an extraordinary human being to his family, friends, co-workers and colleagues. His humanity in his unique approach to patients was remarkable, and his sensitive way of dealing with ill people made him a very special person to them. He was enthusiastic, full of endless energy when at work, always ready to invest himself in new research ideas, always encouraging and stimulating his co-workers. But he was also attentive and caring about other people's necessities and feelings, representing a point of reference not only in the medical profession, but also in life, to everyone in contact with him.
Leonardo Vecchiet leaves his wife, Maddalena, their two sons, Federico and Jacopo, now both medical doctors with prestigious academic positions at the Chieti University, and two grandchildren, little Magdi and Leonardo, Jr., of wom he was exceptionally proud.
He was a special human being who will forever remain in the hearts of all those who had the privilige to know him.

Maria Adele Giamberardino

Selected References:

- Vecchiet L, Giamberardino MA, Dragani L, Albe-Fessard D, Pain from renal-ureteral calculosis: evaluation of sensory thresholds in the lumbar area, Pain, 36 [1989]:289-295.

- Vecchiet L, Di Lisa F, Pieralisi G, Ripari P, Menabo R, Giamberardino MA, Siliprandi N, Influence of L-carnitine administration on maximal physical exercise, Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol, 61 [1990]:486-490.

- Vecchiel L, Giamberardino MA, Saggini R, Myofascial pain syndromes: clinical and pathophysiological aspects, Clin J Pain, 7[1991]:16-22.

- Vecchiel L, Giamberardino MA, de Bigontina P, Referred pain from viscera: when the symptom persists despite the extinction of the visceral focus, Adv Pain Res Ther, 20[1992]:101-110.

- Vecchiel L, Albe-Fessard D, Lindblom U, Giamberardino MA [Eds.], New Trends in Referred Pain and Hyperalgeisa, Pain Research and Clinical Management, Vol 7, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1993, pp. 239-249.

- Vecchiet L, Giamberardino MA, de Bigontina P, Dragani L, Comparative sensory evaluation of parietal tissues in painful and nonpainful areas in fibromyalgia and myofascial pain syndrome. In: GF Gebhardt, DL Hansmond and TS Jensen [Eds]. Proceedings of the 7th World Congress on Pain, Progress in Pain Research and Management, IASP Press, Seattle, Vol. 2, 1994, pp. 177-185.

- Giamberardino MA, Valente R, de Bigontina P, Vecchiet L, Artificial ureteral calculosis in rats: behavioural characterization of visceral pain episodes and their relationship with referred lumbar muscle hyperalgesia, Pain, 61[1995]:459-469.

- Vecchiel L, Montanari G, Pizzigallo E, Iezzi S, de Bigontina P, Dragani L, Vecchiet J, Giamberardino MA, Sensory characterization of somatic parietal tissues in humans with chronic fatigue syndrome, Naurosci Lett, 208[1996]:117-120.

- Vecchiel L, Vecchiet J, Giamberardino MA. Referred Muscle Pain: Clinical and Pathophysiologic Aspects, Curr Rev Pain, 3[1999]:489-498.

- Vecchiet L, Giamberardino MA [Eds], Muscle Pain, Myofascial Pain, and Fibromyalgia: Recent Advances. The Haworth Medical Press, New York, London, Oxford, 1999.

- Belia S, Vecchiet J, Vecchiet L, Fiano G, Modifications of Ca2+ transport induced by glutathione in sarcoplasmic reticulum membranes of frog skeletal muscle, J Muscle Res Cell Motil, 21[2000]:279-283.

- Di Monda V, Nicolodi M, Aloisio A, Del Bianco P, Fonzari M, Grazioli I, Uslenghi C, Vecchiet L, Sicunteri F, Efficacy of a fixed combination of indomethacin, prochlorperazine, and caffeine versus sumatriptan in acute treatment of multiple migraine attacks: a multicenter, randomized, crossover trial, Headache, 43[2003]:835-844.

- Fulle S, Protasi F, Di Tano G, Pietrangelo T, Beltramin A, Boncompagni S, Vecchiet L, Fano G, The contribution of reactive oxygen species to sarcopenia and muscle ageing, Exp Gerontol, 39[2004]:17-24.