Publications by authors named "Kotsafti O"
Article Synopsis
- Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a long-term skin condition that greatly affects patients' lives, and this study explored the link between inflammation markers in the blood and various measures of quality of life, emotional health, and loneliness.
- The research involved 37 HS patients, tracking inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate at multiple times, alongside assessments using tools like the Dermatology Life Quality Index.
- Findings showed that higher levels of inflammation (ESR and CRP) were linked to worse quality of life and greater psychological distress, highlighting the need for more investigation into these connections.
Article Synopsis
- COVID-19 vaccinations, particularly mRNA vaccines, have been linked to exacerbations of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases like psoriasis and hidradenitis suppurativa.
- Patients with hidradenitis suppurativa who received mRNA vaccines are 3.5 times more likely to experience disease flares compared to those who received non-mRNA vaccines.
- Additional studies are needed to confirm these findings across larger populations and to better understand the relationship between COVID-19 vaccines and other inflammatory conditions.
Background: In the era of precision medicine, identification of possible predictive factors of clinical response to treatment is fundamental. This need is particularly strong for anogenital warts (AGW), because there are several treatment modalities with different clearance and recurrence rates. However, data regarding the effect of mental health parameters on response to treatment in patients with AGW are lacking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To compare rod function among diabetic patients without and with mild nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (DR) and healthy controls by means of scotopic microperimetry and dark-adapted electroretinography.
Methods: Sixty-one diabetic patients and 30 age-matched controls (control group) underwent complete ophthalmic examination, scotopic microperimetry, and dark-adapted 0.01 electroretinography (DA-ERG).
Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of near-infrared (NIR) imaging acquisition in a large sample of consecutive pediatric patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), to evaluate the diagnostic performance of NF1-related choroidal abnormalities as a diagnostic criterion of the disease, and to compare this criterion with other standard National Institutes of Health (NIH) diagnostic criteria.
Methods: A total of 140 consecutive pediatric patients (0-16 years old) affected by NF1 (at least two diagnostic criteria), 59 suspected (a single diagnostic criterion), and 42 healthy subjects (no diagnostic criterion) were consecutively included. Each patient underwent genetic, dermatologic, and ophthalmologic examination to evaluate the presence/absence of each NIH diagnostic criterion.
The objective of this study was to investigate if early syphilis infection affects markers of HIV infection; CD4 T cells and viral load (VL). A retrospective study was performed on 160 HIV-positive patients (111 receiving antiretroviral therapy [ART] and 49 without ART). Early syphilis diagnosis was made in HIV patients during their follow-up at the HIV/AIDS Unit at a Greek Dermatology and Venereology Unit.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: To determine whether scanning laser ophthalmoscope in the retromode (RM-SLO) is useful to evaluate the extent of diabetic macular edema (DME) and its functional characteristics.
Methods: Comparative case series of 37 eyes (27 patients with diabetes). Inclusion criteria were: center involving DME determined by optical coherence tomography; RM-SLO, optical coherence tomography, fluorescein angiography (FA), and microperimetry performed on the same day; no significant media opacities.
Optical coherence tomography in the diagnosis of optic pathway gliomas.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci
December 2013
Purpose: To compare visual function assessment, optic disc evaluation by indirect ophthalmoscopy, and retinal nerve fiber layer analysis by optical coherence tomography (OCT) for the screening of optic pathway gliomas in pediatric patients (2-15 years old) affected by neurofibromatosis type 1.
Methods: Fifty-seven consecutive patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 with recent (<6 months) orbital/brain magnetic resonance images (MRI) were included. Patients underwent visual function assessment (Hyvarinen symbols chart and/or Snellen charts) and optic disc evaluation by indirect ophthalmoscopy performed by experienced, masked pediatric ophthalmologists.
Objective: To compare static (during a pure fixation task) versus dynamic (during microperimetry) quantification of fixation stability using microperimetry in normal and pathologic eyes, by means of 2 available (clinical and bivariate contour ellipse area [BCEA]) classification methods.
Design: Prospective comparative observational study.
Participants: One hundred and forty-nine eyes (110 patients) with different macular diseases and 171 normal eyes (109 subjects).
Purpose: To review the most important metabolic effects and clinical safety data of subthreshold micropulse diode laser (D-MPL) in diabetic macular edema (DME).
Methods: Review of the literature about the mechanisms of action and role of D-MPL in DME.
Results: The MPL treatment does not damage the retina and is selectively absorbed by the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).
Purpose: To report the outcomes of choroidal nevi monitoring and to compare the detection of ultrasonographic hollowness, a risk factor of malignant transformation, from a B-scan with results from an A-scan examination.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Methods: Standardized A- and B-scan echography and ophthalmoscopy in 358 consecutive patients with median age 69 years and baseline choroidal nevus higher or lower than 1.
Purpose: This study aimed to assess vascular endothelial function in patients with ocular hypertension (OHT) or primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) by measuring: (a) endothelium-dependent flow-mediated vasodilation (FMD) of the brachial artery, and (b) circulating endothelial progenitor cells, which are believed to support the integrity of the vascular endothelium.
Methods: We enrolled 25 patients with OHT, 23 with POAG and 26 control subjects, all of whom were aged < 65 years and had no medical history of cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors. All subjects underwent a complete ophthalmological examination, biochemistry study, assessment of cardiovascular parameters, brachial artery ultrasound assessment of endothelium-dependent FMD, generic circulating progenitor cell (CPC) and circulating endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) count with the use of flow cytometry.