Nursing staff anxiety versus smoking habits.

The aim of this study was to assess smoking habits versus anxiety levels of 114 female nurses. The Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Scale (STAI, Questions 21-40) was used. Current smokers (n=52) had the highest levels of anxiety (STAI score: mean+/-SD, 43.

Effects of severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease on thyroid function.

To investigate thyroid function in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 46 consecutive patients (35 men) with stable, mild-to-severe disease, having a mean (SD) age of 67 +/- 7 years were studied. All subjects underwent pulmonary function tests (PFTs), arterial blood gas determination, and measurement of serum total thyroxine (TT4), total triiodothyronine (TT3), resin T3 uptake (RT3U), reverse triiodothyronine (rT3), and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels. The free thyroxine and free triiodothyronine indexes (FT4I = RT3U/30TT4 and FT3I = RT3U/30TT3, respectively) along with the TT3/TT4 ratio were calculated; the latter was used as a marker of peripheral conversion of thyroxine into triiodothyronine.

Sustained remission of metastatic adrenal carcinoma during long-term administration of low-dose mitotane.

We present our experience with two female patients suffering from metastatic, recurrent adrenocortical carcinomas, to whom o,p'-DDD (mitotane) was administered for unusually long duration. The first patient received mitotane as monotherapy after relapse (in doses ranging from 3 to 6 g/day initially and 1 g/day thereafter, for 13 yr). The second patient presented with metastatic disease and underwent radical surgical excision of the adrenal.

Perception of family support is correlated with glycemic control in Greeks with diabetes mellitus.

We studied 98 native Greek patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus. Their degree of glycemic control, evaluated with glycated hemoglobin A1c levels, was correlated with perceived family support, assessed with the Family Support Scale. The different social context of Greece--and its corresponding perception of family support--influence glycemic control in a way that is at variance from data of some studies of Anglo-Saxon families.

A cohort study on Helicobacter pylori serology before and after induction in the Hellenic Navy.

Background And Aims: To determine whether military personnel are at increased risk of Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection in proportion to their occupation during their national service in the armed forces.

Materials And Methods: Serum samples were obtained from 142 young male Hellenic Navy recruits (mean age, 23.6 years; range, 20-30 years).

Thyroid function of former opioid addicts on naltrexone treatment.

In order to assess thyroid function in former opioid addicts undergoing adjunctive naltrexone (NA) p.o. treatment, we studied 24 subjects (BMI +/- SD: 23.

Scintigraphic evaluation of primary congenital hypothyroidism: results of the Greek screening program.

The Greek screening program for primary congenital hypothyroidism was initiated in 1979. By early 2000, thyrotropin measurements had been performed in 1,976,719 newborns, using dried blood spots obtained by heel prick. Among these children, 584 were diagnosed with congenital hypothyroidism (incidence: 1/3,384 births) and were given L-thyroxine (L-T4) replacement therapy.

Hypercalcaemia in Greek patients with tuberculosis before the initiation of anti-tuberculosis treatment.

Hypercalcaemia has been known to occur in association with granulomatous diseases. The aim of this study was to ascertain the incidence of hypercalcaemia and determine the prevalence of symptoms associated with it in Greek patients with newly-diagnosed tuberculosis (TB), before the initiation of anti-tuberculosis treatment. We prospectively evaluated all patients with newly-diagnosed TB presenting, either as inpatients or as outpatients, to our hospital, during a 3-year period.

Relationship between interleukin-6 (IL-6) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis hormones in rheumatoid arthritis.

Systemic symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are mediated, at least in part, by elevated levels of circulating interleukin 6 (IL-6), which is a potent activator of the human hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. In a recent study, we observed that the 24 h time-integrated plasma ACTH and cortisol, as well as urinary free cortisol levels of untreated RA patients were not significantly different from control subjects, in spite of their active disease. However, an earlier morning surge of plasma ACTH and cortisol in RA patients was found.

Case report. Chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis in a non-neutropenic patient treated with liposomal amphotericin B.

Chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis is a rare infection encountered mainly in immunocompromised patients. We present the case of a young woman where the diagnosis of chronic necrotizing pulmonary aspergillosis was established after an open biopsy of the right lung. Liposomal amphotericin B was administered postoperatively for 10 days with moderate success.

Maternal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in pregnancy and the postpartum period. Postpartum-related disorders.

During pregnancy, placenta-derived CRH increases exponentially in the plasma. Circulating levels of CRH-binding protein decrease considerably in the last trimester of pregnancy, resulting in further elevation of bioavailable plasma CRH. The adrenal glands during pregnancy gradually become hypertrophic because of the increase in ACTH, which parallels that of CRH.

Combined protocols for myocardial perfusion imaging in patients with hypertension.

Objective: Patients diagnosed previously with hypertension submitted to exercise testing for myocardial scintigraphy often respond with excessive elevation of the blood pressure, even when baseline blood pressure is normal, resulting in interruption of the test or false positive results for coronary artery disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the haemodynamic changes and the safety of the combined examination protocols of dipyridamole plus handgrip exercise and of dipyridamole plus symptom-limited exercise testing on a treadmill in patients with hypertension.

Methods And Results: We performed scintigraphic myocardial single photon emission computed tomography in 240 patients with hypertension as follows: in 27 patients who were administered dipyridamole alone, in 126 patients who were administered dipyridamole and were also submitted to isometric handgrip exercise and in 87 patients who were administered dipyridamole and were also submitted to treadmill, symptom-limited exercise (modified Bruce protocol).

Soluble interleukin 2 receptors' levels versus thyroid hormones levels in nonthyroidal disease.

Serum soluble interleukin-2 receptor levels, basal thyrotropin, total thyroxine, total triiodothyronine and free triodothyronine were assayed in 29--otherwise healthy--patients with pulmonary tuberculosis before initiation of anti-tuberculosis treatment and after two weeks of therapy. Twenty seven out of 29 patients presented low-normal total triiodothyronine levels, showing a statistical elevation after anti-tuberculosis therapy. Total triiodothyronine levels before anti-tuberculosis therapy were inversely correlated with levels of serum soluble interleukin-2 receptors.

Thyroid disease associated with rheumatoid arthritis is not adequately screened with a sensitive chemiluminescence thyrotrophin assay.

The objective of this study was to screen for thyroidopathies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Screening for thyroid disorders is advocated in patients with autoimmune diseases, and rheumatoid arthritis has been linked to thyroid autoimmune disorders, more particularly Hashimoto's thyroiditis and sometimes Graves' disease. We performed thyroid disease screening in 69 patients with RA free of medication for at least a 2 weeks period, not in remission, and in 65 patients with osteoarthritis (OA).

Mediastinal B-cell high grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma with sclerosis: report of three cases.

Mediastinal large B-cell lymphomas are uncommon haematologic malignancies seen mostly in women. We report our recent experience with three patients, only one of whom survived after an autologous bone marrow transplantation.

Thyroid function and autoimmunity in sarcoidosis: a case-control study.

Aim: To evaluate thyroid function and the presence of antithyroid autoantibodies in patients with sarcoidosis, compared to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (controls).

Methods: Sera were obtained from 26 patients (19 women and 7 men) with active sarcoidosis, age and sex matched to 26 patients with diagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Baseline thyrotropin, total triiodothyronine and thyroxine, antithyroglobulin autoantibodies, and antithyroid peroxidase autoantibodies were analyzed.

Pulmonary tuberculosis and its therapy do not significantly affect thyroid function tests.

Basal thyrotropin, total thyroxine, total tri-iodothyronine and free tri-iodothyronine were measured in 30 HIV-negative patients with focal pulmonary tuberculosis upon starting and after one and two weeks of isoniazid, rifampicin and pyrazinamide therapy. Rapid and statistically significant elevations in free tri-iodothyronine and total tri-iodothyronine were noted after the first and second week of treatment respectively. For most patients, however, hormone levels remained within normal limits throughout the study.