Retrospective study of choroidal melanomas at the 1(st) Department of Ophthalmology, AHEPA hospital, Thessaloniki, from 2002 to 2011.

AIM: Retrospective study of cases of choroidal melanoma examined at the 1st Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, during the 10-year period, from January 2002 to December 2011. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study group consists of 84 patients (84 eyes) with newly diagnosed choroidal melanoma. The documentation of the location and the dimensions of the melanomas, based on B-Ultrasonography findings (apical height, diameter), were included. A total of 58 patients were referred to a specialized center abroad for conservative irradiation therapy. Twenty six eyes were enucleated due to large size of the tumor and the histopathological type was determined. RESULTS: Of the 84 cases, 44 were located at the posterior pole while 40 anteriorly. Based on size, 6% (5/84) were small, 58% (49/84) were medium and 36% (30/84) large. Based on the histopathological analysis of 22 of the 26 eyes enucleated, 36% were mixed-cell, 32% were spindle cell and 27% were epithelioid cell melanomas. CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first documentation and classification of newly diagnosed cases of choroidal melanomas. The large number of mandatory enucleations, due to large size, is surprising. Patients need to be better informed about preventive fundoscopy for diagnosis of asymptomatic melanoma at an earlier stage.

Congenital ectropion uveae presenting as acute glaucoma in a 3-year-old child.

Congenital ectropion uveae is a rare anomaly commonly associated with neurofibromatosis and occasionally with other ocular abnormalities. Glaucoma related with this condition may be present in infancy, or may develop later in life, and is thought to be due to an associated angle dysgenesis. Diagnosis is frequently delayed due to the subtle signs and the absence of symptoms and management is primarily surgical. We report an unusual case of unilateral congenital ectropion uveae in a 3-year-old child, with no evidence of neurofibromatosis, presenting as acute glaucoma, which was successfully managed by topical treatment only, avoiding surgical intervention.

Liquid based cytology and HPV DNA testing in a Greek population compared to colposcopy and histology.

Screening for cervical cancer in Greece is still unorganised and based on self- motivation. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of cytological findings from a large observational population sample, originating from Western Athens, in association with reflex DNA test, colposcopic estimation, and final histologic diagnosis. The rate of invasive carcinoma, both squamous cell and adenocarcinoma, is indicative of a largely unscreened population. In this study, the estimated overall prevalence of human papilloma virus (HPV) was 41.1%, with HPV positivity at 37.4% of cytologically normal women. HPV testing did not seem to improve sensitivity of cytology for atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASC-US) and low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LGSIL) cases in identifying CIN 2+ lesions, but outperformed cytology in detecting CIN3+ for cytological high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HGSIL) cases. For HGSIL cases sensitivity of colposcopy for detecting CIN3+ was comparable to cytology.

Evaluation of viral co-infections in hospitalized and non-hospitalized children with respiratory infections using microarrays.

The impact of viral co-infections and recently discovered viruses on the epidemiology of respiratory infections in children is still unclear. To simultaneously detect viruses that are involved in the aetiology of respiratory infections, we used a DNA/RNA microarray assay that identifies 17 different viruses or viral subtypes. Rhinopharyngeal washes were taken from 611 children (aged 1 month to 14 years) who presented in the emergency department with respiratory infections from June 2010 to June 2011 and were treated as outpatients (299, 48.9%) or hospitalized (312, 51.1%). Lower respiratory tract infection was diagnosed more often in hospitalized children (68% versus 36%, p 0.001). Of 397 children in which microarrays detected viral infection (70.1%), a single virus was found in 228 (57.4%) and two or more viruses in 169 (42.5%). The most prevalent viruses among children with positive samples were respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in 225 (56.6%), parainfluenza virus (PIV) in 118 (29.7%), rhinovirus (RV) in 73 (18.4%), followed by influenza in 56 (14.1%), adenoviruses in 31 (7.8%), bocavirus in 25 (6.3%), human metapneumovirus in 15 (3.7%) and enteroviruses in 12 (3%). Most common viral co-infections were RSVA-RSVB in 46 children (27.2%), RSV-Influenza in 20 (11.8%), RSV-RV in 18 (10.6%) and PIV-RV in 13 (7.7%). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that viral co-infections were associated with increased probability for hospitalization (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.01-2.29, p 0.04), and previous pneumococcal vaccination was associated with decreased probability for hospitalization (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.33-0.81, p 0.004). We conclude that viral co-infections are involved in a significant proportion of children with an acute respiratory infection and may increase the severity of clinical presentation and the risk for hospitalization.

Molecular epidemiology of HPV infection using a clinical array methodology in 2952 women in Greece.

The molecular epidemiology of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in a sample of Greek women (n = 2952, mean age 42.2 ± 13.3 years) was examined. HPV prevalence was 50.7% (95% confidence interval, 48.8-52.6). The most frequent HPV types were HPV 53, 51 and 66 (10.2%, 9.4% and 9.3%, respectively). HPV positivity was associated with age, age of sexual debut, number of sexual partners and duration of sexual relationship, while marriage or multiparity protected against infection (all p <0.001). Follow-up of this cohort will assist in predicting the effect of vaccination with the new HPV vaccines on future screening with HPV-based tests for cervical cancer.