Vitamin D levels in primary care patients: correlations with clinical, seasonal, and quality-of-life parameters.

Background: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency varies across countries and few data exist in the adult population in Greece.

Objectives: To assess vitamin D levels in unselected patients from primary care and to investigate possible correlations with clinical, seasonal, and quality-of-life parameters.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 389 consecutive patients were included.

Acute scrotum -etiology, clinical presentation and seasonal variation.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the etiology, history, physical examination findings, and seasonal variation of acute scrotal problems in children.

Methods: A retrospective review of all boys, presenting with acute scrotum to the Pediatric Surgery Clinic of the University Hospital Heraklion between January 1989 and December 2006 was performed.

Results: A total of 140 boys presented with scrotal pain were included.

K-ras mutation, HPV infection and smoking or alcohol abuse positively correlate with esophageal squamous carcinoma.

The Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK (MAPK) signal transduction cascade is an important mediator of a number of cellular fates including growth, survival and apoptosis. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of B-raf, Kirsten-ras (K-ras) and Neuroblastoma-ras (N-ras) gene mutations in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in the Greek population. DNA was extracted from 30 ESCC and 32 normal esophageal specimens and screened for V600E B-raf, and K-ras/N-ras codon 12 mutations, by PCR-RFLP based analysis.

Primary care and pattern of skin diseases in a Mediterranean island.

Background: In Greece where primary health care services are not fully developed, patients with simple or minor conditions have to attend to hospitals to be treated. We analysed the data of patients with cutaneous disorders attending the tertiary referral hospital on the Island of Crete, with the aim to identify the most common conditions that patients complain of, in order to define the areas where the education of General Practitioners in Dermatology must focus.

Methods: All patients attending the Dermatology ambulatory office in the Emergency Department of the University General Hospital of Heraklion from January 2003 to December 2003 were included in this retrospective analysis.

Evaluation of the prevalence of human papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas.

The aim of this study was to determine the possible involvement of human papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus in esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) carcinogenesis in the Greek population. DNA was extracted from 30 ESCC and 27 normal esophageal specimens and screened for HPV type-specific or EBV infection by PCR-based assay. Seventeen out of 30 ESCC specimens (56%) were found positive for HPV DNA, of which 15 (88%) were typed as HPV-18 infected, one (5.