The current role of radiotherapy in vertebral hemangiomas without neurological signs. A case report and a review of literature

Vertebral hemangiomas (VH) are benign vascular lesions occurring in spine. They are slowly growing tumors, sometimes causing local pain in the spine and/or neurologic disorders. Though vertebral hemangiomas are frequently seen, they are rarely symptomatic. Pain is the commonest symptom. Radiotherapy has been shown effective in many studies in terms of pain relief and at times in cord compression, too. We report a case with vertebral hemangioma without neurological signs, which has been treated in the Radiation Oncology Department of AHEPA University Hospital

The current role of radiotherapy in “Bilateral exophthalmos in Graves’ disease’’

Bilateral exophthalmos in Graves’ disease is a rare occurrence. It is highest in patients with Thyroid ophthal­mopathy. We report a case in witch a bilateral malignant exophthalmos in the course of Graves Basedow disease has been irradiated at the Radiotherapy Department of the Aristotle University Hospital AHEPA of Thessaloniki

The current role of radiotherapy in paraplegia due to extramedullary hematopoiesis in thalassemia. A case report and a review of the literature

Spinal cord compression as a consequence of mass lesions due to extramedullary hematopoiesis is a well - described but rare syndrome occurring in thalassemia and some other hematologic conditions. Generally presents as parapa­resis with sensory impairment. Treatment option mostly includes surgery and/or radiotherapy. After low-dose radiotherapy a rapid and durable response occurred in a patient with thalassemia. No side effects were encountered and the patient has been stable neurologically. We hereby report a case of thalassemia with paraplegia treated successfully with low-dose radiotherapy

The current role of radiotherapy in chloroma: Report of two cases and review of the literature

Chloroma (myeloid sarcoma) is a rare extramedullary manifestation of haematologic malignancy, most com­monly acute myeloid leukemia(AML).It can occur in association with Myelogenous leukemia myeloproliferative disorders, and myelodysplasia.Myeloid sarcoma has different modalities of presentation and can affect any organ. We report two cases which has been irradiated in the Radiotherapy Oncology Department in Aristotle University Hospital AHEPA of Thessaloniki

Development of Toehold Switches as a Novel Ribodiagnostic Method for West Nile Virus

West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging neurotropic RNA virus and a member of the genus Flavivirus. Naturally, the virus is maintained in an enzootic cycle involving mosquitoes as vectors and birds that are the principal amplifying virus hosts. In humans, the incubation period for WNV disease ranges from 3 to 14 days, with an estimated 80% of infected persons being asymptomatic, around 19% developing a mild febrile infection and less than 1% developing neuroinvasive disease. Laboratory diagnosis of WNV infection is generally accomplished by cross-reacting serological methods or highly sensitive yet expensive molecular approaches. Therefore, current diagnostic tools hinder widespread surveillance of WNV in birds and mosquitoes that serve as viral reservoirs for infecting secondary hosts, such as humans and equines. We have developed a synthetic biology-based method for sensitive and low-cost detection of WNV. This method relies on toehold riboswitches designed to detect WNV genomic RNA as transcriptional input and process it to GFP fluorescence as translational output. Our methodology offers a non-invasive tool with reduced operating cost and high diagnostic value that can be used for field surveillance of WNV in humans as well as in bird and mosquito populations