The state of emergency medicine in Greece: at critical momentum.

Greece is a parliamentary republic in southeastern Europe populated by over 10 million permanent residents: 9 million reside on the mainland, with almost 4 million in the greater Athens area. The remaining 1 million populate the over 1200 Greek islands. In addition, more than 160,000 asylum-seekers reached Greece in 2022, and more than 25 million tourists have visited Greece in the last two years.

Therapeutic strategies and outcomes in neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus: an international multicentre retrospective study.

Objectives: The management of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) poses considerable challenges due to limited clinical trials. Therapeutic decisions are customized based on suspected pathogenic mechanisms and symptoms severity. This study aimed to investigate therapeutic strategies and disease outcome for patients with NPSLE experiencing their first neuropsychiatric (NP) manifestation.

Deciphering the Molecular Mechanism of Flares in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus through Single-Cell Transcriptome Analysis of the Peripheral Blood.

A remarkable, yet poorly explained feature of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is the propensity to flare following a preceding period of disease inactivity. The clinical burden of lupus flares is substantial since they often tend to involve multiple or major organs, and carry a near two-fold increased risk for accrual of irreversible organ damage. The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the progression of SLE from inactive to active state remain ill-defined.

Treatment of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus: clinical challenges and future perspectives.

: Neuropsychiatric (NP) involvement represents an emerging frontier in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), posing significant challenges due to its clinical diversity and obscure pathophysiology. The authors herein discuss selected aspects in the management of NPSLE based on existing literature and our experience, aiming to facilitate routine medical care.: Research related to diagnosis, neuroimaging, treatment and outcome is discussed, focusing on data published in PubMed during the last 5 years.

Development and Implementation of a Pilot Registry for Monitoring the Efficacy and Safety of Novel Therapies in Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus.

The therapeutic armamentarium in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is expanding with the introduction of novel biologic and small-molecule agents. Complementary to randomized controlled trials, registry-based studies are advantageous due to the inclusion of a wider range of patients from daily practice and the potential for long-term monitoring of the efficacy and safety of therapies. Moreover, data from registries can be used to identify disease phenotypes that best respond to biologic agents, and to correlate clinical response with parameters such as co-administered therapies and comorbidities.

Implementation of thyroid function tests algorithms by clinical laboratories: A four-year experience of good clinical and diagnostic practice in a tertiary hospital in Greece.

Introduction: Thyroid Function Tests (TFTs) are among the most commontly ordered tests. Significant overuse of TFTs can occur when instead of using a single TSH test to screen for thyroid disease a full panel (TSH plus FT4 and FT3) is ordered. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the application of a scientifically-established laboratory-controlled algorithm for TFTs to physician's orders for inpatients and to address potential pitfalls of such an approach.

Data on respiratory variables in critically ill patients with acute respiratory failure placed on proportional assist ventilation with load adjustable gain factors (PAV+).

The data show respiratory variables in 108 critically ill patients with acute respiratory failure placed on proportional assist ventilation with load adjustable gain factors (PAV+) after at least 36 h on passive mechanical ventilation. PAV+ was continued for 48 h until the patients met pre-defined criteria either for switching to controlled modes or for breathing without ventilator assistance. Data during passive mechanical ventilation and during PAV+ are reported.

Combined Pulmonary Fibrosis and Emphysema in Scleroderma-Related Lung Disease Has a Major Confounding Effect on Lung Physiology and Screening for Pulmonary Hypertension.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of combined pulmonary fibrosis and emphysema (CPFE) in systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and the effect of CPFE on the pulmonary function tests used to evaluate the severity of SSc-related ILD and the likelihood of pulmonary hypertension (PH).

Methods: High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scans were obtained in 333 patients with SSc-related ILD and were evaluated for the presence of emphysema and the extent of ILD. The effects of emphysema on the associations between pulmonary function variables and the extent of SSc-related ILD as visualized on HRCT and echocardiographic evidence of PH were quantified.

Heparin resistance and coagulation activation rebound effect after anticoagulant withdrawal: beneficiary effect of adjuvant antiplatelet therapy.

Background: Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate biological resistance to enoxaparin and rebound effect after prophylaxis withdrawal, using thrombin generation (TG) assay.

Methods: Fifteen-patients undergoing femoro-popliteal bypass grafting (enoxaparin 4000 antiXaIU+75 mg clopidogrel), and 15-patients undergoing total-hip-replacement (THR) (enoxaparin alone).

Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty combined with phacoemulsification in Chandler syndrome.

Purpose: To report a case of Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) in combination with phacoemulsification and implantation of intraocular lens (IOL) (triple procedure) in a patient with Chandler syndrome.

Methods: A patient with visually significant corneal edema due to Chandler syndrome and cataract underwent DSAEK combined with phacoemulsification and IOL implantation (DSAEK triple procedure).

Results: One year postsurgery, the patient's uncorrected distance visual acuity improved from counting fingers to 20/63, and the corrected distance visual acuity to 20/32.

Expression of the Tpl2/Cot oncogene in human T-cell neoplasias.

Background: Tpl2/Cot oncogene has been identified in murine T-cell lymphomas as a target of MoMuLV insertion. Animal and tissue culture studies have shown that Tpl2/Cot is involved in interleukin-2 (IL-2) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) production by T-cells contributing to T-cell proliferation. In the present report we examined a series of 12 adult patients with various T-cell malignancies, all with predominant leukemic expression in the periphery, for the expression of Tpl2/Cot oncogene in order to determine a possible involvement of Tpl2/Cot in the pathogenesis of these neoplasms.

Evaluation of inflammatory cytokines in malignant and benign pleural effusions.

We measured the levels of inflammatory cytokines interleukin-1alpha (IL-1alpha), interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta), interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in pleural effusions and serum in 65 consecutive patients: 32 with malignant pleural effusion (MPE) (group A), and 33 with inflammatory benign pleural effusion (BPE) (group B). Serum levels of 15 healthy individuals served as control. Concentrations of IL-1alpha were higher in serum compared to pleural fluid in both groups (47.