Publications by authors named "Georgios Spanos"

Intravenous iron administration has emerged as a crucial intervention for managing patients with cardiorenal syndrome (CRS) and iron deficiency, with or without the presence of anemia. Multiple studies have demonstrated the benefits of intravenous iron supplementation in improving anemia, symptoms, and functional capacity in patients with HF and iron deficiency. Furthermore, iron supplementation has been associated with a reduction in hospitalizations for HF exacerbation and the improvement of patients' quality of life and clinical outcomes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aim: To evaluate the response (titers of anti-COVID-19 antibodies) to COVID-19 mRNA vaccine of patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and normal individuals.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-four patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis and 51 normal individuals were studied after the third dose of the vaccine.

Results: Patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis showed significantly higher immune response after the third dose of the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine compared with normal individuals (p = 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) results from the extension of hematopoietic tissue beyond the confines of the bones. Since the initiation of regular transfusion programs from an early age for all thalassemia major (ΤΜ) patients, EMH has not been considered a clinical issue anymore. The present study aims to record the prevalence of EMH in chronically transfused ΤΜ patients followed at our institution and to investigate possible risk factors associated with its occurrence.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Myocardial siderosis in β-thalassemia major (β-TM) remains the leading cause of death. Deferasirox (DFX), a new iron chelation treatment, has proved to be effective in reducing or preventing cardiac iron burden in thalassemic patients according to clinical trials with maximum duration of up to 3 years except one that was recently published and lasted 5 years. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of DFX in reducing or preventing cardiac iron burden in 23 patients with β-TM after 5 years of therapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: It has been suggested that aliskiren has a long half-life and maintains a blood pressure (BP)-lowering effect following a missed dose. We tested the hypothesis that every other day (eod) administration of aliskiren has the same effects as the once daily (od) dosing in albuminuric hypertensive patients.

Methods: Fifteen hypertensive patients, after a 4-week wash-out period on clonidine, received 300 mg aliskiren od as the sole treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) is a rare but serious complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD), characterized by extensive intraperitoneal fibrosis and encasement of bowel loops. It typically associates with long-term PD and progressive loss of ultrafiltration. The management of EPS has evolved substantially from the original report of this entity and now includes immunosuppressive agents, antifibrotic agents, nutritional support, and surgical intervention.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Blockade of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a critical approach to the management of hypertension, especially in proteinuric patients. It is well proven that the direct renin inhibitor aliskiren shows comparable clinical efficacy to the angiotensin II receptor blocker valsartan on blood pressure control and albuminuria. However, there is only limited data on the hand-to-hand effectiveness of these two RAS blockers in improving arterial stiffness.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Diminished functional capacity is common in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), although the underlying mechanisms are complicated. We studied the prevalence of chronotropic incompetence and its relation to exercise intolerance in patients with HCM.

Methods: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing was performed in 68 patients with HCM (age 44.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence and prognosis of patients incidentally diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC). We studied 380 consecutive patients with HC (49.3 +/- 17.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an extremely heterogeneous disease. An under recognized and very often missed subgroup within this broad spectrum concerns patients with left ventricular (LV) apical aneurysms in the absence of coronary artery disease.

Case Presentation: We describe a case of HCM with midventricular obstruction and apical aneurysm formation in 3 patients coming from a single family.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

A 56-year-old asymptomatic man was referred for further evaluation because he displayed a rapid T-wave change on the ECG, from positive T waves to giant negative T waves in the anterolateral precordial leads, within 2 years. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed mild left ventricular apical hypertrophy without obstruction. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging showed apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with focal hyperenhancement of the non-hypertrophic basal lateral segment of the left ventricle and absence of hyperenhancement of the hypertrophied apical segments.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF