Publications by authors named "Toulis K"

The QRISK cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment model is not currently optimized for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). We aim to identify if the abundantly available repeatedly measured data for patients with T2D improves the predictive capability of QRISK to support the decision-making process regarding CVD prevention in patients with T2DM. We identified patients with T2DM aged 25 to 85, not on statin treatment and without pre-existing CVD from the IQVIA Medical Research Data United Kingdom primary care database and then followed them up until the first diagnosis of CVD, ischemic heart disease, or stroke/transient ischemic attack.

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Background: Due to increasing life expectancy, almost half of people with type 2 diabetes are aged 65 years or over worldwide. When metformin alone does not control blood sugar, the choice of which second-line therapy to prescribe next is not clear from currently available evidence. The existence of frailty and comorbidities in older adults further increases the complexity of medical decision-making.

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The QRISK cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk assessment model is not currently optimized for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We aim to identify if the abundantly available repeatedly measured data for patients with T2D improves the predictive capability of QRISK to support the decision-making process regarding CVD prevention in patients with T2DM. We identified patients with T2DM aged 25 to 85, not on statin treatment and without pre-existing CVD from the IQVIA Medical Research Data United Kingdom primary care database and then followed them up until the first diagnosis of CVD, ischemic heart disease, or stroke/transient ischemic attack.

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Objective: To evaluate the associations between socioeconomic deprivation and sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR) in individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Research Design And Methods: Data from 175,628 individuals with diabetes in the Health Improvement Network were used to assess the risk of STDR across Townsend Deprivation Index quantiles using Cox proportional hazard regression.

Results: Among individuals with T1D, the risk of STDR was three times higher (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 2.

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We present a methodological framework for conducting and interpreting subgroup meta-analyses. Methodological steps comprised evaluation of clinical heterogeneity regarding the definition of subpopulations, credibility assessment of subgroup meta-analysis, and translation of relative into absolute treatment effects. We used subgroup data from type 2 diabetes cardiovascular outcomes trials (CVOTs) with glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors for patients with established cardiovascular disease and those at high cardiovascular risk without manifest cardiovascular disease.

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Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most frequent complication of type 2 diabetes and remains the leading cause of preventable blindness. Current clinical decisions regarding the administration of antidiabetic drugs do not sufficiently incorporate the risk of DR due to the inconclusive evidence from preceding meta-analyses. This umbrella review aimed to systematically evaluate the effects of antidiabetic drugs on DR in people with type 2 diabetes.

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Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate various therapeutic approaches, identify potential predictive factors for the recurrence and development of hypothyroidism, and examine specific clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with subacute thyroiditis (SAT) due to SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 226 patients with confirmed SAT diagnosed from January 2020 to November 2022.

Results: The mean age was 48.

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Objective: To provide a systematic review, critical appraisal, assessment of performance and generalisability of all the reported prognostic models for heart failure (HF) in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Methods: We performed a literature search in Medline, Embase, Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Scopus (from inception to July 2022) and grey literature to identify any study developing and/or validating models predicting HF applicable to patients with T2D. We extracted data on study characteristics, modelling methods and measures of performance, and we performed a random-effects meta-analysis to pool discrimination in models with multiple validation studies.

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Background: Somatostatin analogues (SSAs) are the cornerstone of treatment for carcinoid syndrome (CS)-related symptoms. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the percentage of patients achieving partial (PR) or complete response (CR) with the use of long-acting SSAs in patients with CS.

Methods: A systematic electronic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane, and Scopus to identify eligible studies.

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Aim: To conduct a pharmacoepidemiological study to explore the association between sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors and gout in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

Materials And Methods: A retrospective open cohort study using the IQVIA Medical Research Data UK database was performed between November 1, 2012 and December 31, 2018, estimating the risk of gout in patients with T2DM who were new users of SGLT2 inhibitors, compared to propensity-score-matched new users of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors.

Results: A total of 85 incident cases of gout were recorded over 30 389 person-years of observation in 13 617 new users of SGLT2 inhibitors and 29 426 new users of DPP-4 inhibitors.

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Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects up to one in five women of childbearing age. Observational studies assessing the association between maternal PCOS and adverse obstetric outcomes have reported varying results, depending on patient population, diagnostic criteria for PCOS and covariates accounted for in their analyses. We aimed to assess the risk of obstetric outcomes among a population-based representative cohort of women with PCOS compared to an age-matched cohort of women without PCOS.

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Although papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is considered to have an excellent prognosis, some recently identified more aggressive variants show reduced overall survival rates. Hobnail PTC (HPTC) was newly recognized as one of these aggressive forms, affecting recurrence, metastasis, and overall survival rates. Herein, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies including cases or case series with patients with HPTC.

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Introduction: In Europe, primary hyperparathyroidism is mainly considered an asymptomatic disorder, although there is evidence that patients' health-related quality of life is impaired. This aspect is mostly evaluated using Pasieka's Questionnaire: a disease-specific diagnostic tool. The purpose of this study was to translate the Pasieka's Questionnaire into the Greek language and adapt it to the Greek population.

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Introduction: Pseudohypoparathyroidism (PHP) is a heterogeneous group of rare, genetically related, endocrine disorders, characterized by end-organ resistance to parathyroid hormone (PTH) action and other G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) related hormones. The clinical variants of PHP are classified according to the presence of features of Albright's hereditary osteodystrophy (AHO) and in vivo response to exogenous PTH. Autosomal dominant PHP1b is often caused by a deletion in the syntaxin-16 (STX16) gene, leading to a loss of methylation in the A/B exon of the guanine nucleotide-binding protein a-stimulating polypeptide (GNAS) complex.

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Introduction: To assess if in adults with COVID-19, whether those with diabetes and complications (DM+C) present with a more severe clinical profile and if that relates to increased mortality, compared to those with diabetes with no complications (DM-NC) and those without diabetes.

Methods: Service-level data was used from 996 adults with laboratory confirmed COVID-19 who presented to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, UK, from March to June 2020. All individuals were categorized into DM+C, DM-NC, and non-diabetes groups.

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Objective: Irregular menstrual cycles are associated with increased cardiovascular mortality. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by androgen excess and irregular menses; androgens are drivers of increased metabolic risk in women with PCOS. Combined oral contraceptive pills (COCPs) are used in PCOS both for cycle regulation and to reduce the biologically active androgen fraction.

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Objectives: To estimate the current disease burden, trends and future projections for diabetes mellitus (DM) and diabetic retinopathy (DR) in the IQVIA Medical Research Data (IMRD).

Participants/design/setting: We performed a cross-sectional study of patients aged 12 and above to determine the prevalence of DM and DR from the IMRD database (primary care database) in January 2017, involving a total population of 1 80 824 patients with DM. We also carried out a series of cross-sectional studies to investigate prevalence trends, and then applied a double exponential smoothing model to forecast the future burden of DM and DR in the UK.

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Pregnancy- and lactation-associated osteoporosis (PLO) is a rare disease, presenting in most cases with severe back pain due to low energy vertebral fractures (VFs). Our purpose was to assess the effect of teriparatide (TPTD) vs. conventional management on areal bone mineral density (aBMD) and trabecular bone score (TBS) in patients with PLO.

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Introduction: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have been used in patients with advanced medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC); however, data on their effectiveness and safety are limited. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to document clinical response and toxicities of TKIs in advanced MTC.

Methods: We systematically searched major databases for articles or abstracts on TKI use in MTC patients until May 2018.

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Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) represents the most common form of thyroid neoplasms and is becoming increasingly prevalent. Evidence suggests a possible relationship between DTC diagnosis and subsequent atrial fibrillation (AF). If confirmed, this may present an alarming health risk (AF) in an otherwise condition with a relatively good prognosis (DTC).

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Objective: Impaired quality of life (QoL) is considered as a nonclassical manifestation of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). This study aimed to detect and compare changes in the QoL of patients with asymptomatic PHPT who had successful curative parathyroidectomy (PTX) 3 months and 3 years after the procedure.

Methods: Patients with diagnosed PHPT were eligible for the study.

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Objective: Several recent observational studies have linked metabolic comorbidities to an increased risk from COVID-19. Here we investigated whether women with PCOS are at an increased risk of COVID-19 infection.

Design: Population-based closed cohort study between 31 January 2020 and 22 July 2020 in the setting of a UK primary care database (The Health Improvement Network, THIN).

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Objective: Diabetes has emerged as an important risk factor for mortality from COVID-19. Metformin, the most commonly prescribed glucose-lowering agent, has been proposed to influence susceptibility to and outcomes of COVID-19 via multiple mechanisms. We investigated whether, in patients with diabetes, metformin is associated with susceptibility to COVID-19 and its outcomes.

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Objective: To assess the impact of bariatric surgery (BS) on incident microvascular complications of diabetes-related foot disease (DFD), sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR), and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Research Design And Methods: A retrospective matched, controlled population-based cohort study was conducted of adults with type 2 diabetes between 1 January 1990 and 31 January 2018 using IQVIA Medical Research Data (IMRD), a database of primary care electronic records. Each patient with type 2 diabetes who subsequently had BS (surgical group) was matched on the index date with up to two patients with type 2 diabetes who did not have BS (nonsurgical group) within the same general practice by age, sex, preindex BMI, and diabetes duration.

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Diabetes mellitus (DM) is an established risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD), and patients with DM are at a two to four-fold higher cardiovascular risk, including myocardial infraction, unstable angina, stroke, and heart failure. All of the above have arisen interest in CVD preventive strategies by the use of non-invasive methods, such as risk scores. The most common approach is to consider DM as a CVD equivalent and, therefore, to treat patients with DM in a similar way to those who required secondary CVD prevention.

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