Publications by authors named "Maria Venianaki"

Preoperative risk stratification in the elderly surgical patient is an essential part of contemporary perioperative care and can be done with the use of the American College of Surgeons Surgical Risk Calculator (ACS-SRC). However, data on the generalizability of the ACS-SRC in the elderly is scarce. In this study, we report an external validation of the ACS-RC in a geriatric cohort.

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The optimal malnutrition screening tool in geriatric surgery has yet to be determined. Herein, we compare two main tools in older patients undergoing general surgery operations. Older patients (>65 years old) who underwent general surgery operations between 2012 and 2017 in a tertiary centre were included.

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Article Synopsis
  • Isolated pancreatic injuries with duct transection typically require resections, but there’s limited high-level evidence for this treatment.
  • A case is presented of a 33-year-old who underwent a successful primary repair of a complete pancreatic rupture after blunt abdominal trauma, involving an end-to-end anastomosis with minimal necrosis.
  • Post-operative issues included a 6 cm pseudocyst and a low-output pancreatic fistula, both of which resolved on their own; literature review highlighted 17 similar cases with complications mostly being fistulas and pseudocysts.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study examines malnutrition risk among older patients (65+) undergoing general surgery and its connection to treatment outcomes, highlighting a significant prevalence of malnutrition in this population.* -
  • Of the 501 patients analyzed, 28.6% were at intermediate malnutrition risk and 14.6% at high risk, with factors like smoking, type of surgery, and poor physical status contributing to malnutrition risk.* -
  • Higher malnutrition scores were linked to increased chances of postoperative death and longer hospital stays, indicating that malnutrition significantly affects recovery and outcomes in geriatric surgery.*
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This study aims to examine a time-extended dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) protocol and report a comparative study with three different pharmacokinetic (PK) models, for accurate determination of subtle blood-brain barrier (BBB) disruption in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). This time-extended DCE-MRI perfusion protocol, called Snaps, was applied on 24 active demyelinating lesions of 12 MS patients. Statistical analysis was performed for both protocols through three different PK models.

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Imaging biomarkers (IBs) play a critical role in the clinical management of breast cancer (BRCA) patients throughout the cancer continuum for screening, diagnosis, and therapy assessment, especially in the neoadjuvant setting. However, certain model-based IBs suffer from significant variability due to the complex workflows involved in their computation, whereas model-free IBs have not been properly studied regarding clinical outcome. In this study, IBs from 35 BRCA patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) were extracted from dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging (DCE-MRI) data with two different approaches, a model-free approach based on pattern recognition (PR), and a model-based one using pharmacokinetic compartmental modeling.

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One of the most common malignant tumors in humans, colorectal cancer has been extensively studied during the past few decades. Staging colorectal cancer allows clinicians to obtain precise prognostic information and apply specific treatment procedures. Apart from remote metastases, the depth of tumor infiltration and lymph node involvement have traditionally been recognized as the most important factors predicting outcome.

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Background: Frailty in a surgical geriatric population may identify patients at increased risk of complications. However, the optimal method to diagnose it remains to be identified. This study aims to compare two common frailty models and assess their association with postoperative adverse outcomes in elderly patients undergoing general surgical procedures.

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Background: Frailty is a phenotype characterized by complex and challenging medical problems and higher susceptibility to adverse health outcomes. It can be derived at by a multidimensional process known as comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA), which assesses the functional reserves of the elderly. In this study we report for the first time on a prospective evaluation of the association between CGA and postoperative complications after elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy for biliary disease.

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Background: The exclusion of cancer in endemic goiter is often difficult mainly because of the high number of nodules and the as-yet unclear natural history of diagnosed cancer in endemic goiter patients. In a large number of consecutive patients who were to undergo total thyroidectomy for endemic multinodular goiter, we assessed indications for surgery and thyroid cancer outcome.

Methods: All patients who were to undergo total thyroidectomy for diffuse multinodular goiter on histological examination between January 1990 and October 2008 were evaluated.

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Introduction: Prolapse of abdominal viscera into the thoracic subcutis through the chest wall is known as transdiaphragmatic intercostal hernia (TIH). Herein, we present the first case of spontaneous TIH presenting as a thoracoabdominal emergency.

Presentation Of Case: A 78-year-old male presented with acute left thoracoabdominal pain following a sudden bulge at the left posterolateral chest wall corresponding to a partially reducible soft tissue mass with ecchymosis at the overlying skin.

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