Artificial Intelligence in Cardiac Surgery: Transforming Outcomes and Shaping the Future.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative technology in healthcare, with its integration into cardiac surgery offering significant advancements in precision, efficiency, and patient outcomes. However, a comprehensive understanding of AI's applications, benefits, challenges, and future directions in cardiac surgery is needed to inform its safe and effective implementation. A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA guidelines.

Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors and Changes in Epicardial Adipose Tissue: A Systematic Literature Review And Meta-Analysis.

Introduction: Sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors have emerged as a groundbreaking class of antidiabetic medications renowned for their glucose-lowering effects and cardiovascular benefits. Recent studies have suggested that SGLT2 inhibitors may extend their influence beyond glycemic control to impact adipose tissue physiology, particularly within the epicardial adipose depot. Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), an actively secretory organ surrounding the heart, has been implicated in the modulation of cardiovascular risk.

Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Ovary: A Rare Case.

Ovarian squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a rare entity among primary ovarian cancers. This type of cancer typically originates from the transformation of mature cystic teratomas, commonly known as dermoid cysts, and occasionally from associations with endometriosis or Brenner's tumors. The typical clinical scenario involves presentation in postmenopausal women, with symptoms arising from tumor growth or metastasis.

Attitudes of Health and Mental Health Professionals, and Police Staff towards Mentally Ill Offenders in Greece.

Mentally ill offenders face stigma, being perceived as both dangerous and unpredictable. This leads to social discrimination, which causes devaluation, distancing, and unequal treatment towards them. Critical and dismissive attitudes of healthcare professionals and police toward these patients undermine their care, treatment, and prospects for rehabilitation.

Sacroiliac Joint Tuberculosis With Concomitant Iliopsoas Abscess Suggesting a Diagnostic and Therapeutic Challenge: A Case Report.

Sacroiliac joint (SIJ) tuberculosis (TB) is an infrequent clinical entity, especially in developed countries. The symptoms are usually non-specific, and therefore it may mimic a variety of degenerative and non-degenerative diseases, hampering the diagnosis. An interesting case of SIJ infection with psoas abscess in a 77-year-old male is presented in the current article.

Performance of International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) predictive models in preoperative discrimination between benign and malignant adnexal lesions: preliminary outcomes in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Greece.

Objectives: To apply the International Ovarian Tumor Analysis (IOTA) predictive models, the logistic regression model 2 (LR2) and the IOTA Assessment of Different NEoplasias in the adneXa (ADNEX), in patients with ovarian masses and to compare their performance in preoperative discrimination between benign and malignant adnexal lesions.

Methods: This was a retrospective diagnostic accuracy study with prospectively collected data, performed between January 2019 and December 2022, in a single tertiary gynecologic oncology center in Greece. The study included women with an adnexal lesion which underwent surgery within 6 months after of using the LR2 and ADNEX protocol to assess the risk of malignancy.

The Oncologic Value of Transoral Resection in Early-Stage Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Glottis: A Retrospective Study.

Background and objective The treatment of early-stage laryngeal glottic cancer involves surgery or radiotherapy, and both have similar survival rates. However, discrepancies between systematic reviews in the literature point towards the continuous need for more data. In this study, we aimed to investigate the oncologic value of surgery at an ENT university department of a tertiary hospital in Greece.

Inflamed Appendix Protruding Through a Right Broad Ligament Defect: A Case Report.

The protrusion of the appendix through a broad ligament defect suggests an extremely rare clinical entity, especially when the clinical manifestation of this condition is acute appendicitis. The current article presents a case of a 23-year-old female who presented to the emergency department with right lower abdominal pain and nausea, accompanied by elevated white blood cell count. Imaging performed, both ultrasound and computed tomography, reported acute appendicitis, without evidence of a broad ligament defect.

An Immunohistochemical Study of MAGE Proteins in Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one the most common primary malignancies with high mortality and morbidity. The melanoma-associated antigen (MAGE) gene family includes several genes that are highly expressed in numerous human cancers, making many of them part of the cancer-testis antigen (CTA) family. MAGE-C1 is expressed in various malignancies but is absent in normal cells, except for the male germ line.

COVID-19 Presenting as Encephalitis and Myopericarditis: A Report of a Rare Case.

COVID-19 might present with a wide range of clinical manifestations, from mild respiratory distress to severe multi-organ dysfunction. We present a unique case of complex COVID-19 presentation in a 45-year-old female who initially developed general symptoms such as fever, cough, headache, and weakness, which escalated to coma, requiring intubation and ICU admission. A brain MRI revealed lesions compatible with encephalitis, the cause of which remained unexplained after an in-depth clinical, laboratory, and imaging investigation.

Editorial: Immersive media in connected health-volume II.

Immersive media, particularly Extended Reality (XR), is at the forefront of revolutionizing the healthcare industry. Healthcare provides XR with "silver bullet" use cases that add value and societal effect to the technology. Healthcare interventions frequently require imaging or visualization to be applied correctly, and the sensation of presence that XR can provide is crucial as a training aid for healthcare learners.

Parotid Metastasis of Early-Stage Upper Eyelid Sebaceous Carcinoma: A Case Presentation and a Literature Review.

Metastasis from early-stage sebaceous carcinoma of the eyelid to the salivary glands is considered very rare, occurring in less than 3% of early-stage patients. We report the case of a 72-year-old Caucasian man with a parotid tumor. Fine needle aspiration was consistent with a salivary duct carcinoma.

A Hematoma in the Anterior Abdominal Muscle in a Woman Receiving Venlafaxine: A Literature Review of the Reports on Similar Cases.

Introduction: Venlafaxine (VEN) is a selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) that mainly helps treat major depressive disorder and anxiety and panic disorders. It works by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) and noradrenaline (NA) by presynaptic neurons. Additionally, VEN administration has been linked with a bleeding predisposition that may be due to the inhibition of NA and 5-HT uptake by platelets which have their own receptors on their surface and are implicated in platelet aggregation.

A "Tie-Over" Hemostatic Approach in Emergency Department: An Alternative Option for Recurrent Episodes of Postoperative Intraoral Hemorrhage.

Objective: This case series aimed to describe a hemostatic technique that has been applied in patients admitted to emergency department (ED) of a tertiary hospital due to recurrent episodes of intraoral hemorrhage (IOH) after various dentoalveolar operations. The "tie-over" approach involved the intraoral use of Xeroform® gauze (as compressive bolster dressing) and the oral rinsing with a liquid mixture of hemostatic agents.

Materials And Methods: Between February 1, 2014, and July 31, 2017, we retrospectively reviewed the medical data and records of patients in ED who chiefly complained about IOH.

Mesh Rectopexy or Resection Rectopexy for Rectal Prolapse; Is There a Gold Standard Method: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis and Trial Sequential Analysis.

(1) Background: Rectal prolapse is a benign condition that mainly affects females and the elderly. The most common symptoms are constipation and incontinence. The treatment of choice is surgical, but so far, there has been no gold standard method.

Mixed High-Risk Endometrial Carcinoma Initially Presented With Atypical Squamous Cells of Undetermined Significance (ASC-US) Cytology: Lessons to Be Learned.

Endometrial carcinoma represents the most common gynecologic malignancy, affecting mainly postmenopausal women. Early detection and proper management may allow not only a successful treatment but also an acceptable quality of life. Although its usual clinical manifestations, such as vaginal bleeding or a mass stuck out of the cervix, often arouse medical concern, in some cases, there is a dilemma regarding the differential diagnosis of endocervical cancer.

The Role of Carbon Nanoparticles as Lymph Node Tracers in Colorectal Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Colorectal malignancies are the third-most common malignancies worldwide, with a rising incidence. Surgery remains the treatment of choice and adequate lymph node dissection is required for accurate staging. The objective of this study is to assess the use of carbon nanoparticles in lymph node tracing and resection in cases of colorectal cancer.

Critical Assessment of Cancer Characterization and Margin Evaluation Techniques in Brain Malignancies: From Fast Biopsy to Intraoperative Flow Cytometry.

Brain malignancies, given their intricate nature and location, present significant challenges in both diagnosis and treatment. This review critically assesses a range of diagnostic and surgical techniques that have emerged as transformative tools in brain malignancy management. Fast biopsy techniques, prioritizing rapid and minimally invasive tissue sampling, have revolutionized initial diagnostic stages.

Ischemia Possibly Associated with High Degree Atrioventricular Block.

Conduction restoration in second- and third-degree atrioventricular (AV) block after revascularization in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) setting is well established, however this is not the case in non-ACS setting. We present a case of a patient referred for permanent pacemaker implantation, due to high degree AV block (HAVB), who restored his conduction possibly due to targeted revascularization. Thus, this case sheds insight in the reversibility potential of HAVB after revascularization in non-ACS patients, which although signified in current literature, is still far from being a recommendation, due to lack of robust scientific confirmation.