Patients' and Clinicians' Experiences Using a Real-Time Remote Monitoring System for Chemotherapy Symptom Management (ASyMS): Qualitative Study.

Background: Patients receiving chemotherapy require ongoing symptom monitoring and management to optimize their outcomes. In recent years, digital remote monitoring interventions have emerged to provide enhanced cancer care delivery experiences to patients and clinicians. However, patient and clinician experiential evaluations of these technologies are rare.

Patients' and Clinicians' Perceptions of the Clinical Utility of Predictive Risk Models for Chemotherapy-Related Symptom Management: Qualitative Exploration Using Focus Groups and Interviews.

Background: Interest in the application of predictive risk models (PRMs) in health care to identify people most likely to experience disease and treatment-related complications is increasing. In cancer care, these techniques are focused primarily on the prediction of survival or life-threatening toxicities (eg, febrile neutropenia). Fewer studies focus on the use of PRMs for symptoms or supportive care needs.

Translation and cultural adaptation of the Greek integrated palliative care outcome scale (IPOS): challenges in a six-phase process.

Aim: To translate and culturally adapt IPOS to the Greek population.

Methods: A four phases- sequential study, which included verification of conceptual equivalence, double forward- backward translations and conceptual cognitive debriefing. Focus group interviews used 'think aloud' and 'verbal probing' techniques.

Psychometric Properties of the Greek Version of Demoralization Scale-II (DS-II) in Patients with Cancer.

Introduction: The concept of demoralization is used to describe situations of existential distress and self-perceived inability to effectively deal with stressors. The Demoralization Scale-II (DS-II) is a short and modified version of the original DS that measures the level of demoralization in patients. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Greek version of the Greek Demoralisation Scale-II (DS-II GR) in the population of patients with cancer.

Real time remote symptom monitoring during chemotherapy for cancer: European multicentre randomised controlled trial (eSMART).

Objective: To evaluate effects of remote monitoring of adjuvant chemotherapy related side effects via the Advanced Symptom Management System (ASyMS) on symptom burden, quality of life, supportive care needs, anxiety, self-efficacy, and work limitations.

Design: Multicentre, repeated measures, parallel group, evaluator masked, stratified randomised controlled trial.

Setting: Twelve cancer centres in Austria, Greece, Norway, Republic of Ireland, and UK.

A Systematic Review of Sexuality and Depression of Cervical Cancer Patients.

The goal of this article is to investigate the correlation between sexuality and depression of cervical cancer (CC) patients. A bibliographical search was carried out in the databases CINAHL, PubMed, and Cochrane Library with the following terms in English for the years 2006 to 2017: , , , , , , , . Fourteen studies were included.

Adaptation and Implementation of a Mobile Phone-Based Remote Symptom Monitoring System for People With Cancer in Europe.

Background: There has been an international shift in health care, which has seen an increasing focus and development of technological and personalized at-home interventions that aim to improve health outcomes and patient-clinician communication. However, there is a notable lack of empirical evidence describing the preparatory steps of adapting and implementing technology of this kind across multiple countries and clinical settings.

Objective: This study aimed to describe the steps undertaken in the preparation of a multinational, multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test a mobile phone-based remote symptom monitoring system, that is, Advanced Symptom Management System (ASyMS), designed to enhance management of chemotherapy toxicities among people with cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy versus standard cancer center care.

Network Analysis of the Multidimensional Symptom Experience of Oncology.

Oncology patients undergoing cancer treatment experience an average of fifteen unrelieved symptoms that are highly variable in both their severity and distress. Recent advances in Network Analysis (NA) provide a novel approach to gain insights into the complex nature of co-occurring symptoms and symptom clusters and identify core symptoms. We present findings from the first study that used NA to examine the relationships among 38 common symptoms in a large sample of oncology patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Learning from data to predict future symptoms of oncology patients.

Effective symptom management is a critical component of cancer treatment. Computational tools that predict the course and severity of these symptoms have the potential to assist oncology clinicians to personalize the patient's treatment regimen more efficiently and provide more aggressive and timely interventions. Three common and inter-related symptoms in cancer patients are depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance.

Undergraduate nursing students' knowledge about palliative care and attitudes towards end-of-life care: A three-cohort, cross-sectional survey.

Background: Ensuring adequate knowledge about palliative care and positive attitudes towards death and dying are crucial educational aspects when preparing undergraduate nursing students to respond effectively to the complexities of care for people affected by a progressive, life-limiting illness. In undergraduate nursing education in Greece, the level of students' attained knowledge and developed attitudes towards palliative and end-of-life care remain unknown.

Purpose: To investigate undergraduate nursing students' knowledge about palliative care and attitudes towards death and end-of-life care, and explore demographic and academic factors as potential moderators of student knowledge and attitudes.

Nurses' Caring Behaviors Toward Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy in Greece: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Background: Nurses' caring behaviors are central in the quality of care of patients undergoing sophisticated chemotherapy protocols. However, there is a scarcity of research regarding these behaviors in non-Anglo-Saxon countries.

Objective: The aim of this study was to explore caring behaviors that nurses perceive as important in caring for patients in Greece receiving chemotherapy.

Advanced Cancer Patients' Perceptions of Dignity: The Impact of Psychologically Distressing Symptoms and Preparatory Grief.

Purpose: The present study assesses the relationship between patient dignity in advanced cancer and the following variables: psychological distress, preparatory grief, and sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

Methods: The sample consisted of 120 patients with advanced cancer. The self-administered questionnaires were as follows: the Preparatory Grief in Advanced Cancer Patients (PGAC), the Patient Dignity Inventory-Greek (PDI-Gr), the Greek Schedule for Attitudes toward Hastened Death (G-SAHD), and the Greek version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (G-HADS).

Congruence Between Latent Class and K-Modes Analyses in the Identification of Oncology Patients With Distinct Symptom Experiences.

Context: Risk profiling of oncology patients based on their symptom experience assists clinicians to provide more personalized symptom management interventions. Recent findings suggest that oncology patients with distinct symptom profiles can be identified using a variety of analytic methods.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the concordance between the number and types of subgroups of patients with distinct symptom profiles using latent class analysis and K-modes analysis.

Psychometric Properties of the Greek Version of the Patient Dignity Inventory in Advanced Cancer Patients.

Context: The patient dignity inventory (PDI) is an instrument to measure dignity distressing aspects at the end of life.

Objectives: The aims of the present study were the translation of the PDI in Greek language as well as to measure its psychometric aspects in a palliative care unit.

Methods: A back-translation method was obtained at the Greek version.

The eSMART study protocol: a randomised controlled trial to evaluate electronic symptom management using the advanced symptom management system (ASyMS) remote technology for patients with cancer.

Introduction: While some evidence exists that real-time remote symptom monitoring devices can decrease morbidity and prevent unplanned admissions in oncology patients, overall, these studies have significant methodological weaknesses. The electronic Symptom Management using the Advanced Symptom Management System (ASyMS) Remote Technology (eSMART) study is designed to specifically address these weaknesses with an appropriately powered, repeated-measures, parallel-group stratified randomised controlled trial of oncology patients.

Methods And Analysis: A total of 1108 patients scheduled to commence first-line chemotherapy (CTX) for breast, colorectal or haematological cancer will be recruited from multiple sites across five European countries.

Hybrid Treatment of an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm with Severe Calcification of the Neck and Aortic Bifurcation.

Background: Severe calcification of the aorta or iliac vessels remains a major concern when planning open or endovascular treatment of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Therefore, we present a unique case of an AAA with concomitant severe calcification of the entire infrarenal aortoiliac region and discuss on proper management.

Case Report: A 70-year-old patient with a symptomatic AAA was scheduled for repair.

Nursing Care Plans Based on NANDA, Nursing Interventions Classification, and Nursing Outcomes Classification: The Investigation of the Effectiveness of an Educational Intervention in Greece.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of an educational intervention on home nursing care plans based on NANDA, Nursing Interventions Classification, and Nursing Outcomes Classification for registered nurses working at primary healthcare settings in Greece.

Methods: This is a quasi-experimental study without a control group. The sample consisted of 19 registered nurses.

The prognostic role of carotid plaque ultrasonography in cardiac damage after carotid endarterectomy: carotid plaque and cardiac risk.

Background: This study evaluates the correlation of ultrasound determined carotid plaque morphology with coronary risk and cardiac damage after carotid endarterectomy.

Methods: Fifty patients (in a series of 162) scheduled for carotid endarterectomy had the indication for coronary CT-angiography preoperatively and were included in this study. Patients were classified according to ultrasonographic characteristics of carotid plaque.

Cardiac troponin I after carotid endarterectomy in different cardiac risk patients.

Background: We compared postoperative cardiac damage, defined as cardiac troponin I (cTnI) elevation, in low, medium, and high cardiac risk patients, after carotid endarterectomy (CEA).

Methods: The Vascular Study Group of New England Cardiac Risk Index (VSG-CRI) criteria for stratifying patients considered for vascular surgery into low, medium, and high cardiac risk groups were used prospectively. For all patients (n = 324), cTnI value assessments were made before surgery and on postoperative days 1, 3, and 7.

Effects of patient and personal demographic, clinical and psychosocial characteristics on the burden of family members caring for patients with advanced cancer in Greece.

Purpose: Caregiving burden affects the lives of family members providing care to patients with advanced cancer, with a host of factors possibly contributing to this. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of patient and caregiver variables on the perceptions of burden in families caring for a loved one living with advanced cancer in Greece.

Methods: A convenience sample of 100 pairs of patients receiving palliative radiotherapy for advanced cancer and their respective primary family caregivers were consecutively recruited at one radiotherapy centre.

Predictive role of stress echocardiography before carotid endarterectomy in patients with coronary artery disease.

Objectives: Our aim was to examine the predictive value of preoperative stress echocardiography regarding early myocardial ischemia and late cardiac events after carotid endarterectomy (CEA).

Methods: Patients with coronary artery disease undergoing CEA were prospectively included in this study. All patients (n = 162) were classified into low, medium, and high cardiac risk group, according to preoperative stress echocardiography.

High serum CA 19-9 but not tumor size should select patients for staging laparoscopy in radiological resectable pancreas head and peri-ampullary cancer.

Background: The objective of this study was to validate current recommendations for the selective use of staging laparoscopy in patients with radiological resectable pancreas head and peri-ampullary tumors.

Methods: Data from a prospectively collected database (2007-2013) of 136 patients with peri-pancreatic head cancer were analyzed.

Results: Over a 6 year time period, 136 patients were evaluated, 126 patients were deemed radiological resectable and underwent laparotomy and 10 patients were characterized radiological unresectable.

Does tissue ischemia actually contribute to leak after sleeve gastrectomy? An experimental study.

Background: Staple line leak, although rare, is among the most common postoperative complications after sleeve gastrectomy (SG) and usually occurs in the gastroesophageal (GE) junction. Increased intragastric pressure, regional ischemia, and technical failure of stapling devices have been reported as the main risk factors of postoperative leak. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of ischemia and intraluminal pressure in leak appearance.

A new pancreaticojejunostomy technique: a battle against postoperative pancreatic fistula.

Aim: To present a new technique of end-to-side, duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy with seromuscular jejunal flap formation, and insertion of a silicone stent.

Methods: We present an end-to-side, duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy with seromuscular jejunal flap formation, and the insertion of a silicone stent. This technique was performed in thirty-two consecutive patients who underwent a pancreaticoduodenectomy procedure by the same surgical team, from January 2005 to March 2011.