Vogazianos, Paris

2021, Eleni Xenophontos, Ifigenia Konstantinou, Kountourakis, Panteleimon a, Vassiliou, Vassilios, Polyviou, Petros, Vogazianos, Paris

Background The Bank of Cyprus Oncology Center is the largest cancer center in Cyprus, providing standalone oncology services to a population of just under a million. Methods The aim of the study was to calculate disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) for consecutive patients with stage I-III colon cancer over a 10-year period, by collecting retrospective data from patients’ medical charts. Results We identified 556 patients with a median age at diagnosis of 67 (range 18-88). The majority of them were male (60%). Just over half of stage II patients received chemotherapy: capecitabine (44%) and FOLFOX/CapeOx (7%). Treatment administered in stage III was as follows: CapeOx (48%); FOLFOX (28%); capecitabine (12%); 5-fluorouracil (4%); and 8% received no treatment. DFS at 5 years was: stage I 90%; stage II 85%; and stage III 69%. Cancer-specific OS at 5 years was: stage I 94%; stage II 93%; and stage III 81%. Favorable outcomes were also maintained at 10 years (stage I 94%; stage II 84%; and stage III 70%). On multivariate analysis, only stage was statistically significant as a prognostic factor, whereas high-risk features (pT4±pN2), disease location (right vs. left), and age >70 years old did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions Despite our country’s fragmented healthcare system, with multiple referring surgeons from the private and public sectors, the outcomes achieved were highly consistent with those published in the international literature. This can be attributed to optimal multidisciplinary management and follow-up care.

2005-06-01, Vogazianos, Paris, Fiala, Jindřich, Vogazianos, Marios

Cigarette smoking during pregnancy has been causally associated with an increased risk of both intrauterine growth retardation and preterm delivery but most strongly with low birth weight. No such study to date had ever dealt with the Cypriot population. In interviews with their gynaecologists 65,530 pregnant women were asked between January 1990 and August 1996 to answer two questions, whether they had been smoking before and whether they had been smoking during pregnancy. Data from 59,014 births were considered to have valid birth weight data for this investigation. In 81.2% of the cases the mother explicitly declared that she had neither smoked before or during pregnancy whereas in 1.4% of the cases the mother said that she had smoked both before and during pregnancy and in 1.4% of the cases the mother said that she had smoked before but not during pregnancy. Finally, in 15.3% of the cases no answer to "smoking question" was given, whereas in 0.7% of the cases the answer that was given was deemed as not clear. The average birth weight of babies born to women who had stopped smoking was insignificantly different than that of those born to never smokers. The average birth weight of babies born to women who smoked during pregnancy was lower compared to babies born to non smokers' babies by 92 grams, 66 grams, and 109 grams for all babies, singleton boys and singleton girls respectively. The greatest effect to their mean birth weights was observed in babies whose mothers did not answer the question on smoking. Their babies had birth weights lower than non smokers' babies by 203 grams, 197 grams, and 201 grams for all babies, singleton boys and singleton girls respectively.

2016-08-01, Porfyridis, Ilias, Georgiadis, Georgios, Michael, Michalis, Frangopoulos, Frangiskos, Vogazianos, Paris, Papadopoulos, Alexis, Kara, Panayiota, Charalampous, Charis, Georgiou, Andreas G., Porfyridis, Ilias

Background and objective: Medical thoracoscopy (MT) is useful for the management of pleural disease. Rapid on-site evaluation (ROSE) of transbronchial needle aspirates proved to be useful during bronchoscopy. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of ROSE of MT biopsy specimens and thoracoscopists' impression of the macroscopic appearance and assess the intermodality agreement between ROSE and final histopathologic diagnosis. Methods: Sixty two patients with exudative pleural effusions further investigated with MT were enrolled. MT was performed under local anaesthesia and conscious sedation, using the rigid pleuroscope. ROSE with the Hemacolor rapid staining method of the biopsy specimens was performed. Thoracoscopists' impression of the macroscopic appearance was recorded. The final diagnosis was established following histopathological examination. Results: Thoracoscopic pleural biopsies were diagnosed in 61 patients (98.4%). Group A (n = 25) consisted of patients with malignancy and group B (n = 37) with benign disorders. Area under the curve of ROSE for the diagnosis of malignancy was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.76–0.96, P < 0.001), with a sensitivity of 79.17%, specificity of 94.59%, diagnostic accuracy of 88.5%, positive predictive value of 90.5% and negative predictive value of 87.5%. Intermodality agreement between ROSE and histopathology was good (κ ± SE = 0.615 ± 0.084, P < 0.001). Area under the curve of the thoracoscopists' impression of macroscopic appearance was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.58–0.85, P = 0.001), with a sensitivity of 100%, specificity of 44.7%, positive predictive value of 53.33% and negative predictive value of 100%. Conclusion: Rapid on-site evaluation during MT was found to have high accuracy for predicting malignancy. ROSE can provide the thoracoscopist with an on-site preliminary diagnosis, especially in cases with inconclusive macroscopic appearance.

2007-12-01, Vogazianos, Paris, Vogazianos, Ermis, Janeček, Dalibor, Šlapák, Ivo, Fiala, Jindřich, Vogazianos, Ermis

This study was designed to examine whether atopy is associated with acute otitis media (AOM). Material and methods: The study was performed with the help of a questionnaire handed out to the parents of 262 children, all residents of Brno, who attended our department for adenoidectomy. The questionnaire was designed to establish any history of atopy and / or AOM in each child, as well as any family history of atopy. The information was compared to the existing data in our database of medical records. The children with one or more AOM events were used as the study group and the children with no AOM infections as a control group. The incidence of atopy in each of these two groups was then statistically analysed. The history of atopy in the family was also compared in each of these two groups. Results: No significant difference was found in the incidence of atopy when children with AOM and children without AOM episodes were compared. Furthermore, no significant difference was found in the family history of atopy, when children with AOM and children without AOM episodes were compared. Conclusion: Our data have shown no connection between AOM episodes and atopy incidence in children or their families, thus atopy or family history of atopy do not seem to play any role in the incidence of AOM.

2022, K. Konstantopoulos, P. Vogazianos, Y. Christou, M. Pisinou, Vogazianos, Paris

Introduction: The aim of the present study was to provide normative data in Greek, regarding sequential motion rate (SMR) and oral reading rate (ORR), and to show the sensitivity of both tasks to predict Parkinson’s disease (PD). Methods: The speech rate of sixty-five healthy control participants was recorded and analyzed using speech acoustics. The speech rate of a subsample of 20 healthy control participants was compared to the speech rate of 20 pair-matched dysarthric parkinsonian participants. All participants produced the syllables /pataka/ (SMR task) as quickly as possible and read aloud a standard Greek passage (ORR task). Results: In normative data, the mean score for the SMR variable was 4.91 syllables per second (SD = 0.73) and for the ORR variable was 4.42 syllables per second (SD = 0.87). The Mann–Whitney test showed significant differences between the two groups of participants in the SMR (U = 64.000, Z = –4.60, p <.001) and ORR (U = 77.000, Z = –4.36, p <.001). Multiple binary logistic regression analysis examined the combined effect of ORR and SMR on the occurrence of the disease. The sensitivity of both tasks to predict PD was found to be 0.88 and the specificity 0.90. The optimal screening cutoff point was found to be 4.66 syllables/second for the SMR task and 2.79 syllables/second for the ORR task. Conclusions: This study provided Greek normative data in SMR and ORR tasks. Both tasks showed high sensitivity and specificity to predict PD in the Greek sample of participants.

2022-02, Vogazianos, Paris, Saqib Hassan, Marika A. Kaakinen, Harmen Draisma, Liudmila Zudina, Mohd A. Ganie, Aafia Rashid, Zhanna Balkhiyarova, George S. Kiran, Christos Shammas, Joseph Selvin, Athos Antoniades, Ayse Demirkan, Inga Prokopenko

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a very common endocrine condition in women in India. Gut microbiome alterations were shown to be involved in PCOS, yet it is remarkably un-derstudied in Indian women who have a higher incidence of PCOS as compared to other ethnic populations. During the regional PCOS screening program among young women, we recruited 19 drug naive women with PCOS and 20 control women at the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, Kashmir, North India. We profiled the gut microbiome in faecal samples by 16S rRNA sequencing and included 40/58 operational taxonomic units (OTUs) detected in at least 1/3 of the subjects with relative abundance (RA) ≥ 0.1%. We compared the RAs at a family/genus level in PCOS/non-PCOS groups and their correlation with 33 metabolic and hormonal factors, and corrected for multiple testing, while taking the variation in day of menstrual cycle at sample collection, age and BMI into account. Five genera were significantly enriched in PCOS cases: Sarcina, Megasphaera, and previously reported for PCOS Bifidobacterium, Collinsella and Paraprevotella confirmed by different statistical models. At the family level, the relative abundance of Bifidobacteriaceae was enriched, whereas Peptococcaceae was decreased among cases. We observed increased relative abundance of Collinsella and Paraprevotella with higher fasting blood glucose levels, and Paraprevotella and Alkalibacterium with larger hip, waist circumference, weight, and Peptococcaceae with lower prolactin levels. We also detected a novel association between Eubacterium and follicle-stimulating hormone levels and between Bifidobacterium and alkaline phosphatase, independently of the BMI of the participants. Our report supports that there is a relationship between gut microbiome composition and PCOS with links to specific reproductive health metabolic and hormonal predictors in Indian women.

2020-01-01, Vogazianos, Paris, Nafih Cherappurath, Masilamani Elayaraja, Dilshith A. Kabeer, Amila Anjum, Athos Antoniades

Tennis is one of the most popular and widely played sports enjoyed by players of different age groups and genders as a profession as well as a mode of recreation. A novel method, PETTLEP imagery combines both conventional and non-conventional style of training of an athlete and improves one's performance. This study aimed to analyze the tennis service performance of junior tennis players based on PETTLEP imagery training. Forty-four junior male tennis players (M age=13.22 years, SD=0.42) were selected for the study. The investigator handed over the MIQ-R questionnaire to all the participants in which they scored 16 and above points as per previous research. The participants were equally divided (n=11) into three experimental groups (E1, E2, and E3) and a control group. The service performance outcomes of all the players were compared before and after a training session. The three experimental groups were assigned with service-specific training, service-specific training combined with PETTLEP imagery training, and PETTLEP imagery training alone, respectively, for three days per week for 12 weeks. They were tested on their service accuracy based on the International tennis number (ITN) manual on-court assessment test. The data were assessed for normality and analyzed using non-parametric methods to reveal main effects (each training method alone) as well as to calculate the combined effect of PETTLEP and service-specific training. Certain significant improvements in tennis service were observed with service-specific training alone. Though it marginally outperformed the PETTLEP imagery method, the most improved services were observed with both PETTLEP and service-specific training utilized together. This implies an additive effect when both methods are used together.

2020-04, Vogazianos, Paris, Elpiniki Nikolaou, Elena Kamilari, Dragana Savkov, Artemy Sergeev, Irina Zakharova, Marios Tomazou, Athos Antoniades, Christos Shammas

Background: Next-generation sequencing has revolutionized our perspective on the gut microbiome composition, revealing the true extent of the adverse effects of antibiotics. The impact of antibiotic treatment on gut microbiota must be considered and researched to provide grounds for establishing new treatment strategies that are less devastating on commensal bacteria. This study investigates the impact on gut microbiome when a commonly used antibiotic, azithromycin is administered, as well as uncovers the benefits induced when it is used in combination with lactulose, a prebiotic known to enhance the proliferation of commensal microbes. Methods: 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis of stool samples obtained from 87 children treated with azithromycin in combination with or without lactulose have been determined. Children’s gut microbial profile was established at the pre- and post-treatment stage. Results: Azithromycin caused an increase in the relative abundance of opportunistic pathogens such as Streptococcus that was evident 60 days after treatment. While few days after treatment, children who also received lactulose started to show a higher relative abundance of saccharolytic bacteria such as Lactobacillus, Enterococcus, Anaerostipes, Blautia and Roseburia, providing a protective role against opportunistic pathogens. In addition, azithromycin-prebiotic combination was able to provide a phylogenetic profile more similar to the pre-treatment stage. Conclusion: It is suggested that during azithromycin treatment, lactulose is able to reinstate the microbiome equilibrium much faster as it promotes saccharolytic microbes and provides a homeostatic effect that minimizes the opportunistic pathogen colonization.

2005-10-10, Vogazianos, Paris, Fiala, Jindřich, Vogazianos, Marios

Many factors including maternal, pregnancy-specific, physiological, genetic, pathological, and environmental can influence foetal weight. Although they have been well studied in most EU countries, no such studies are specifically available on Cyprus. This study was based on the raw data, concerning births and birth-weights for the period of 1990-2002, which we managed to obtain from the database of the "Centre for Preventive Paediatrics", a non-governmental foundation on Cyprus. This first-ever study on the distribution of birth-weights in the Republic of Cyprus shows a downward trend in the birth-weights in the early 1990s (from the mean 3238 grams in 1991 to 3152 in 2002). The study also confirmed significant weight decrements for babies born prematurely, as a result of multifoetal pregnancies or to smoking mothers (mean decrement of 886 grams in the period of 1990-98 and 821 grams in the period of 1998-2002). Most importantly, this study shows a significant increase in the proportion of caesarean sections, which in 2002 reached almost four times the maximum number of caesarean sections recommended by the WHO (increase from 18 % in 1990 to 39 % in 2002). Furthermore, babies born by caesarean section were found to be significantly lighter than those born by natural delivery (by a mean of 147 grams for 1990-1996 and 212 grams for 1998-2002). An indirect result of this study also suggests that the overall proportion of Cypriot women who smoke, as reflected by the pregnant women, is much higher than previously thought. This study highlights the need for further investigations into these determinants of birth-weight in the Cypriot population.

2015-11-02, Konstantopoulos, Kostas, Vogazianos, Paris, Thodi, Chryssoula D., Nikopoulou-Smyrni, Panagiota, Konstantopoulos, Kostas

Background: The Children's Color Trails Test (CCTT) is a neuropsychological test that measures attention, divided attention, and speed of mental processing. It has been increasingly used in the assessment of children in cross-cultural environments for neurological and psychiatric disorders such as seizures and closed head injuries, learning and/or language disabilities, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, children with manganese exposure, and children diagnosed with HIV virus. However, there is a paucity of studies presenting normative data. The aim of the present study was to provide normative data for the CCTT in the Cypriot population. Methods: A total of 709 native Cypriot children aged 7-16 years, recruited from various public schools across the island, took part in the study. Exclusion criteria involved the existence of neurological, psychiatric, cardiological, and metabolic diseases, premature birth, history of maternal alcohol and drug abuse during pregnancy, low birth weight, hearing loss, visual problems, native language other than Greek, and abnormality in fine-motor movements. Results: Age and gender were found to be important factors for the interpretation of scores in all CCTT variables. Older children required less time and exhibited fewer errors, near misses, and prompts compared to younger children. There was a consistent pattern of a 3-4 seconds improvement (less time in seconds) in the CCTT completion time as age increased. Conclusions: CCTT is a promising tool for the measurement of attention in the native Cypriot population. Further research is needed in children diagnosed with various neurological and psychiatric diseases in order to estimate validity of the CCTT in clinical populations.