Publications by authors named "Giakoustidis A"

: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy constitutes the current "gold standard" treatment of symptomatic gallstone disease. In order to avoid intraoperative vasculobiliary injuries, it is mandatory to establish the "critical view of safety". In cases of poor identification of the cystic duct and artery leading to a missed intraoperative injury, patients present with elevated liver function tests (LFTs) or increased bilirubin postoperatively.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: Acute necrotizing pancreatitis (ANP) is the acute inflammation of pancreatic parenchyma, most commonly due to alcohol abuse or cholelithiasis. The treatment can be either conservative or invasive, including a variety of techniques; however, it has not yet been established if the intervention should be early or if it should be delayed. The aim of this review is to investigate the optimal time for intervention in ANP.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive tumors, and the most common cause of cancer-related deaths. In the past, vascular infiltration of the tumor rendered the disease unresectable. However, today, venous or arterial involvement of a PDAC is classified as borderline resectable (BR) or locally advanced (LA) disease.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide, and 20-30% of patients will develop liver metastases (CRLM) during their lifetime. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is also one of the most common cancers worldwide with increasing incidence. Hepatic resection represents the most effective treatment approach for both CRLM and HCC.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Gastric cancer is the third most common cause of cancer related death worldwide. Surgery with or without chemotherapy is the most common approach with curative intent; however, the prognosis is poor as mortality rates remain high. Several indexes have been proposed in the past few years in order to estimate the survival of patients undergoing gastrectomy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Small bowel non-Meckelian diverticulosis is a rare condition with only a few published cases despite being described over 200 years ago. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, studies suggested that many patients may experience gastrointestinal manifestations. Intestinal symptoms could worsen the inflammation and infection associated with small bowel diverticulitis.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between distress, psychological adjustment, and quality of life in patients with colon cancer.

Method: This study employed a cross-sectional design and included 104 colon cancer patients treated at AHEPA Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece. The assessment tools used encompassed the Distress Thermometer, MINI-MAC scale, and FACT-C to evaluate distress, psychological adjustment, and quality of life.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • Gastric cancer is a significant global health issue, with surgical resection and chemotherapy serving as primary treatments, though the best approach varies by individual and remains debated in guidelines for locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC).
  • The aim of the study was to compare the effects of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAT) versus upfront surgery (US) on overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), morbidity, and mortality in LAGC patients.
  • The review included 18 studies with nearly 4,840 patients, showing that the NAT group had higher OS rates (41.6% to 74.2%) compared to the US group (30.9% to 74%), along with better DFS outcomes
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The median arcuate ligament syndrome (MALS) is recognized as a rare clinical entity, characterized by chronic post-prandial abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and unintentional weight loss. Due to its vague symptomatology, it is mainly regarded as a diagnosis of exclusion. Patients can often be misdiagnosed for several years before a correct diagnosis is established, also due to a medical team's clinical suspicion.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - Neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are a diverse group of tumors that vary in growth rate and symptoms, often leading to late diagnosis; prompt identification is critical for effective treatment.
  • - Diagnosis relies heavily on histopathology, which includes markers like chromogranin A and the Ki-67 index, while newer methods such as measuring NEN-related transcripts and circulating tumor cells are becoming more prominent.
  • - Imaging techniques, including CT, MRI, and advanced scans like Ga-DOTA-Octreotate and FDG PET, along with endoscopic procedures, are essential for diagnosing and staging gastroenteropancreatic NENs, highlighting the complexity of these tumors and the need for tailored diagnostic strategies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Neutrophil and T-cell recruitment contribute to hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury. The initial inflammatory response is orchestrated by Kupffer cells and liver sinusoid endothelial cells. However, other cell types, including γδ-Τ cells, seem to be key mediators in further inflammatory cell recruitment and proinflammatory cytokine release, including IL17a.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Colorectal cancer significantly affects the quality of life of patients, while at the same time contributing to the development of symptoms of psychopathology. The aim of this prospective study, is to investigate the role of the disease in the quality of life of patients with colon cancer and in the appearance of symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as the connection of the above characteristics during the recovery process, given the distress symptoms experienced by the patients.

Methods: In the present study, HADS, FACT - C, well as the DT are use, in a sample of 118 patients of an average age of 70.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The inflammatory response to tumor has been proven to be closely related to the prognosis of colorectal cancer. Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a widely available inflammatory biomarker that may have prognostic value for patients with colorectal liver metastasis (CRLM).

Aim: To assess the role of NLR as a prognostic factor of survival and tumor recurrence in patients with CRLM.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Primary and secondary gallbladder melanomas are rare, and only 58 cases have been reported in scientific literature to date. This paper aimed to explore the role of minimally invasive surgery in the management of gallbladder metastatic melanomas.

Case: Herein, we present the case of a 68-year-old man with metastatic gallbladder melanoma who was treated with laparoscopic cholecystectomy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recently, our group showed that Romidepsin, a histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi), suppressed diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in mice. In the present study, we investigated the effect of Romidepsin-treatment on gene expression levels of components of Bmp and Notch signaling pathways, which are both known to be aberrantly regulated in hepatocarcinogenesis. Total RNA from liver tissue samples and paraffin-embedded livers were retrieved from a recent experiment where C57BL/6 mice were treated with Romidepsin 10 months after DEN challenge and sacrificed 2 months later.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a frequently diagnosed cancer and a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Its rapid progression, combined with the limited treatment options at late stages, imposes the need for early detection and aggressive intervention. Based on the knowledge that hepatocarcinogenesis is significantly influenced by histone acetylation, we directed our search for novel HCC therapeutics among histone deacetylation inhibitors (HDACi).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the most aggressive tumors, with a low rate of survival, likely due to the tendency of the tumor for early local and distant spread. Pancreatic cancer accounts for about 3% of all cancers in the US and about 7% of all cancer deaths. Surgical resection still represents the best curative treatment for PDAC, although only 10-20% of patients are upfront resectable at diagnosis, 50% has metastatic disease and 35% locally advanced cancer.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Radiofrequency (RF)-assisted liver resection allows non-anatomical liver resection with reduced blood loss and offers the opportunity for a combination of resection and ablation. However, there are still concerns with regard to postoperative complications related to this technique. In the present study, we discuss the technical aspects of RF-assisted liver resections and analyse the rate of perioperative complications, focusing on post-hepatectomy liver failure (PLF), bile leak and abscess, and mortality.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates the roles of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the platelets-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) as prognostic indicators for overall survival (OS) in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) undergoing surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy or not.
  • A total of 127 patients were analyzed, revealing that high NLR and PLR are linked to lower OS; however, only high NLR emerged as a reliable independent predictor for decreased survival in the multivariate analysis.
  • The findings indicate that patients with a normal NLR and PLR had a 48% three-year OS rate, while those with high
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide; whilst approximately 20% of patients have hepatic disease at presentation. Hepatic resection remains the gold standard of care; however, it is associated with significant morbidity. We sought to establish whether the lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) could help predict post-operative complications, thus improving patient outcomes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Elective liver resection (LR) in Jehovah's Witness (JW) patients, for whom transfusion is not an option, involves complex ethical and medical issues and surgical difficulties.

Methods: Consecutive data from a LR program for liver tumors in JWs performed between 2014 and 2017 were retrospectively reviewed. A systematic review of the literature with a pooled analysis was performed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

: To elucidate the expression of Aurora kinases (AURK) and the anticancer effects of pan-aurora kinase inhibitor Danusertib in hepatocarcinogenesis model in C56Bl6 mice. : Thirty mice C56Bl6 were randomly divided into Group A or control, Group B animals who underwent experimental hepatocarcinogenesis with diethylnitrosamine (DEN), and Group C animals with DEN-induced hepatocarcinogenenesis that treated with pan-aurora kinase inhibitor Danusertib. Primary antibodies for immunochistochemistry (IHC) included rabbit antibodies against Ki-67, DKK1, INCENP, cleaved caspase-3, NF-κB p65, c-Jun, β-catenin.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Survival advantage following trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is variable in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We combined pre-TACE radiologic features to derive a novel prognostic signature in HCC.

Methods: A multi-institutional dataset of 98 patients was generated from two retrospective cohorts from United Kingdom (65%) and Italy (36%).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Objectives: Approximately 30-50% of patients with colorectal cancer develop liver metastasis for which liver resection is the only hope for potential cure. However, hepatic resection is associated with considerable morbidity. The aim was to detect early complications by utilising the neutrophil: lymphocyte ratio (NLR).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF