Publications by authors named "Kolilekas L"

Background And Aim: There is limited data on the prevalence of SARS-COV-2 in sarcoidosis patients and the underlying parameters linked to severity. We aimed to conduct a national multicenter study to explore the prevalence of SARS-COV-2 in sarcoidosis patients and investigate its impact on hospitalization and infection rates, describe the characteristics of the infected population and assess the role of these characteristics in determining the likelihood of infection or hospitalization.

Methods: We recruited all the adult sarcoidosis patients with who were examined across eight Greek Health Interstitial Lung Disease Referral Centers from the beginning of the pandemic until August 1, 2022.

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Background: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is rarer in children (chILD) than adults, but with increasing diagnostic awareness, more cases are being discovered. chILD prognosis is often poor, but increasing numbers are now surviving into adulthood.

Aim: To characterize chILD-survivors and identify their impact on adult-ILD centers.

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Article Synopsis
  • Depression and anxiety are common issues for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), negatively impacting their quality of life, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A study aimed to evaluate how COVID-19 vaccination affects these mental health issues in IPF patients, using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to measure changes before and after vaccination.
  • Results showed a significant improvement in both anxiety and depression scores one month after vaccination, indicating that the vaccine may have beneficial effects on mental health for IPF patients, regardless of factors like age or previous mental health history.
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Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory granulomatous disease of unknown etiology involving any organ or tissue along with any combination of active sites, even the most silent ones clinically. The unpredictable nature of the sites involved in sarcoidosis dictates the highly variable natural history of the disease and the necessity to cluster cases at diagnosis based on clinical and/or imaging common characteristics in an attempt to classify patients based on their more homogeneous phenotypes, possibly with similar clinical behavior, prognosis, outcome, and therefore with therapeutic requirements. In the course of the disease's history, this attempt relates to the availability of a means of detection of the sites involved, from the Karl Wurm and Guy Scadding's chest x-ray staging through the ACCESS, the WASOG Sarcoidosis Organ Assessment Instruments, and the GenPhenReSa study to the F-FDG PET/CT scan phenotyping and far beyond to new technologies and/or the current "omics.

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Purpose: AAntitrypsin deficiency (AATD) pathogenic mutations are expanding beyond the PI*Z and PI*S to a multitude of rare variants.

Aim: to investigate genotype and clinical profile of Greeks with AATD.

Methods: Symptomatic adult-patients with early-emphysema defined by fixed airway obstruction and computerized-tomography scan and lower than normal serum AAT levels were enrolled from reference centers all over Greece.

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Background: Unraveling the genetic background in a significant proportion of patients with both sporadic and familial IPF provided new insights into the pathogenic pathways of pulmonary fibrosis.

Aim: The aim of the present study is to overview the clinical significance of genetics in IPF.

Perspective: It is fascinating to realize the so-far underestimated but dynamically increasing impact that genetics has on aspects related to the pathophysiology, accurate and early diagnosis, and treatment and prevention of this devastating disease.

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Background And Objective: There remains a paucity of large databases for patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and lung cancer. We aimed to create a European registry.

Methods: This was a multicentre, retrospective study across seven European countries between 1 January 2010 and 18 May 2021.

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In childhood, a multitude of causes lead to pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP), an excessive surfactant accumulation in the alveolar space, limiting gas exchange. Autoantibodies against granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) causing autoimmune PAP, the principal aetiology in adults, are rare. In this first case series on autoimmune PAP, we detail the presentation and management issues of four children.

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Background: Monogenic and polygenic inheritances are evidenced for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Pathogenic variations in surfactant protein-related genes, telomere-related genes (TRGs), and a single-nucleotide polymorphism in the promoter of MUC5B gene encoding mucin 5B (rs35705950 T risk allele) are reported. This French-Greek collaborative study, Gen-Phen-Re-GreekS in inheritable IPF (iIPF), aimed to investigate genetic components and patients' characteristics in the Greek national IPF cohort with suspected heritability.

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Aim: To evaluate the distribution of circulating immune cell subsets in peripheral blood of patients with sarcoidosis and investigate if there is an association with an underlying cardiac involvement.

Methods And Results: Eighty-five newly diagnosed treatment-naïve patients with sarcoidosis (50 women) were included in the study. All patients underwent a thorough cardiac investigation, including cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR).

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Sarcoidosis and sarcoid-like reactions have been associated with many solid tumors including malignant melanoma. There are reports of melanoma patients who develop sarcoidosis without having received any antineoplastic treatment, but there are also melanoma patients who have received immunotherapy or targeted therapy and, therefore, develop drug-associated sarcoidosis. Herein, we describe 2 cases of thoracic sarcoidosis which occurred in asymptomatic patients with known malignant melanoma.

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Severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is characterized by an excessive proinflammatory cytokine storm, resulting in acute lung injury and development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The role of corticosteroids is controversial in severe COVID-19 pneumonia and associated hyper-inflammatory syndrome. We reported a case series of six consecutive COVID-19 patients with severe pneumonia, ARDS and laboratory indices of hyper-inflammatory syndrome.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the prevalence and significance of joints-muscles-bones (JMBs) involvement in sarcoidosis using F-FDG-PET/CT imaging in 195 patients.
  • JMBs were found in 15% of patients, with the axial skeleton being the most affected; patients with bone involvement showed higher rates of hypercalciuria.
  • The findings suggest that JMBs involvement is often asymptomatic and coexists with other organ issues, reinforcing the idea that sarcoidosis is a systemic disease rather than a localized one.
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Background: Abundant evidence supports an association between Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) and lung cancer development. Data on diagnosis and management of patients with IPF and lung cancer are still scarce.

Patients And Methods: This was a retrospective multicenter study, enrolling 1016 patients with IPF from eight different centers between 2011 and 2018 in Greece.

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