Publications by authors named "Gerogianni Irini"

Adenovirus is a common pathogen responsible for respiratory infections, including pneumonia, predominantly in pediatric populations but also in immunocompromised adults. This case report details an 18-year-old immunocompetent male presenting with severe lobar pneumonia and pleural effusion, initially suggesting a bacterial origin. Despite antibiotic treatment, the patient's symptoms persisted, prompting further investigation.

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  • The STEPINCOPD study investigated the factors influencing the escalation or de-escalation of inhaled COPD therapies in clinical practice, especially after updated guidelines were released in 2019 and 2020.
  • Conducted over 12 weeks with 1429 patients from various centers in Greece, the study focused on understanding why patients had changes in their inhaled medication based on GOLD's 2021 recommendations.
  • Findings revealed that reasons for treatment changes included lack of response to previous treatment and COPD exacerbations, with a high adherence rate (over 80%) to the GOLD recommendations among physicians, influenced by factors such as their age and patients' CAT scores.
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  • - Cutaneous tuberculosis (TB) remains a significant global health issue, with Tuberculosis verrucosa cutis (TBVC) being a specific form caused by reinfection in individuals previously sensitized to TB, usually presenting as a single lesion.
  • - The first case of multifocal TBVC in an 81-year-old Greek man has been documented, adding to a total of 14 cases reported, with an average patient age of 47.64 years and most responding well to treatment.
  • - Notably, a history of skin microtrauma was found in 71.4% of cases, underscoring it as a key risk factor, while the tuberculin skin test was positive in most instances and tissue
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Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) places a significant economic burden on national healthcare systems, and the economic effects of diseases have long been known. The study aimed to evaluate the association of parental family financial wealth with current economic prosperity and the combined effect of both on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a sample of patients with COPD. The moderating effect of birth order is further investigated.

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Influenza and pneumococcal pneumonia are major causes of increased morbidity and mortality among elderly and COPD patients. Vaccines against influenza and pneumococcus are recommended for COPD patients according to GOLD 2020 guidelines to prevent serious illnesses. Despite their high morbidity and mortality burden, the vaccination coverage rates remain far below the WHO's recommended targets.

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  • The study aimed to observe the risks of COVID-19 in patients with severe asthma who are treated with biologics during the pandemic.
  • Data was collected from 591 severe asthmatics across Greece, revealing that only 4.4% tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, with a small number requiring hospitalization.
  • Findings suggest that severe asthma patients on biologics do not have a higher risk of COVID-19 infection or adverse outcomes compared to the general population.
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  • Primary care centers play a key role in identifying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among smokers aged 40-65 in Greece, with a study finding a prevalence of 10.6% in a sample of 1,100 people.
  • The research showed that 7.5% of participants were newly diagnosed, with women experiencing more severe respiratory and depressive symptoms despite smoking less, while younger patients under 55 had more frequent wheezing and exacerbations compared to older patients.
  • Overall, the findings highlight the importance of primary healthcare in early COPD detection, particularly among smokers who may not recognize their symptoms or seek medical help.
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Background/aim: Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a therapy-resistant neoplasm of the pleura. Standard chemotherapy consists of a combination of cisplatin (CPDD) and pemetrexed (PEM). The aim of this study was to assess whether inhibition of aerobic glycolysis by 2-deoxy-glucose (2DG) would enhance the effects of standard chemotherapy.

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Spondylodiscitis, the inflammation of the vertebral bodies and the intervertebral disk space, is the reason for low back pain in a minority of cases. This is caused by various pathogens. is responsible for 17-39% of all the cases of spondylodiscitis.

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Introduction: The economic crisis in Greece has substantially affected patients with COPD. The reduction of disposable income has its consequences on patients' ability to afford their medication. The aim of the study is to evaluate the cost of treatment for patients with COPD and the influence of the financial crisis to the patients.

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. Tuberculosis (TB) is a major disease worldwide, caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infection. The Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) pathway plays a crucial role in the recognition of MTB.

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Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) have been found to be widely dispersed in the environment and are being considered potentially pathogenic for humans and animals, while reports of their human to human transmission are absent. Water and aerosols are potential transmission modes of NTM to humans. Hospitalized patients with NTM infections were studied together with drinking water samples from their respective residence areas during 2003-2013.

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Rationale: In the absence of active tuberculosis, a positive tuberculin skin test (TST) or interferon-γ release assay (IGRA) result defines latent infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, although test results may vary depending on immunodeficiency.

Objectives: This study compared the performance of TST and IGRAs in five different groups of immunocompromised patients, and evaluated their ability to identify those at risk for development of tuberculosis.

Methods: Immunocompromised patients with HIV infection, chronic renal failure, rheumatoid arthritis, solid-organ or stem-cell transplantation, and healthy control subjects were evaluated head-to-head by the TST, QuantiFERON-TB-Gold in-tube test (ELISA), and T-SPOT.

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Background: The annual risk of Tuberculosis infection (ARTI) is a key indicator in epidemiology, of the extent of transmission in a community. There have been several suggested methods in order to evaluate the prevalence of Tuberculosis infection using tuberculin skin data. This survey estimates the ARTI in young Hellenic air force recruits.

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IP-10 has potential as a diagnostic marker for infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, with comparable accuracy to QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube test (QFT-IT). The aims were to assess the sensitivity and specificity of IP-10, and to evaluate the impact of co-morbidity on IP-10 and QFT-IT. 168 cases with active TB, 101 healthy controls and 175 non-TB patients were included.

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Introduction: In cases of patients with disseminated lymphadenopathy, the differential diagnosis has to include both benign and malignant causes, including sarcoidosis, metastatic disease, lymphoma and, although rarely present, tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is still one of the most frequently occurring infectious diseases worldwide. However, disseminated mycobacterial lymphadenitis is rare in immunocompetent patients.

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We report a case of endobronchial metastasis from prostate adenocarcinoma. A patient with a history of prostate cancer under complete androgen blockade presented to the respiratory department complaining of dyspnea and dry coughing. Flexible bronchoscopy showed multiple polypoid lesions in the tracheobronchial tree and the immunohistochemical studies on the biopsy specimen determined the diagnosis.

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  • * Among 191 patients, the agreement between QFT-G and TST results was only 68.5%, indicating a discrepancy in their diagnostic performance.
  • * The findings revealed that while QFT-G showed better positivity in patients with active tuberculosis (85.1% vs. 74% for TST), the overall alignment between the two tests was low, especially with cases that were TST-positive but QFT-negative.
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We report the case of a 56-y-old male admitted with a left-sided post-pneumonic empyema. Clostridium sordellii DNA was directly detected in its pleural fluid by a broad-range 16S rRNA PCR, after 24 h of specimen collection. This is the third case of pleural infection caused by C.

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We describe a case of necrotizing pneumonia in Greece caused by a community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) producing Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) carrying the staphylococcal chromosome cassette mec (SCCmec) type V. The pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern of this strain differed significantly from the PVL-positive multi-locus sequence typing (MLST)-80 clone of MRSA, which predominates in Greece and in Europe. Further analysis of this strain revealed that it belonged to the agr1 allele type, and its resistance to tobramycin, gentamicin, and kanamycin was associated to the presence of aac-(6')-Ie+aph(2') gene.

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Objectives: Epidemiological studies have shown an inverse relationship between dietary vitamin A intake and the risk of developing lung cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the vitamin A status in patients with lung cancer, by determining the serum levels of retinoic acid, retinol and retinyl palmitate.

Methods: In total, 36 patients with lung cancer and 27 controls were assessed.

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