Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C Constantoyannis.
The case is described of a fatal injury to a young amateur boxer. The number of deaths from boxing have decreased in recent years. However, new rules devised to promote safety, such as limitation of the number of rounds, mandatory use of safety head guards, and better medical control during the match, seem to be of limited value in preventing severe head injuries from boxing.
The present work aims to display the use of groupware as a tool for better management of the available resources (human, computing and imaging) within the University Hospital of Patras, Greece for the task of managing patients with postoperative residual brain tumour. Emphasis is given to the additional information that can be revealed and taken into account from novel image processing techniques, developed by our group, and the central role of the Medical Physicist in the groupware. Fused images, produced by the combination of CT, MR and SPECT representations of the brain, contain both anatomical and functional information and comprise a new representation of reality. Medical experts, unfamiliar with this new representation, form a groupware for the task of interpreting them and providing better services to the patient. Groupware procedures, facilitated by modern network technology, bring experts' tacit knowledge to the surface and facilitate its exchange.
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of the present study is to compare the frequency and nature of expected symptoms in Greece (a country where the chronic post-concussive syndrome is largely unknown) with that in Canada. METHODS: A symptom checklist was administered to two subject groups selected from local companies in Patras, Greece, and Edmonton, Canada, respectively. Subjects were asked to imagine having suffered head trauma with loss of consciousness in a motor vehicle accident and to check off symptoms, they expected might arise from the injury. For symptoms they anticipated, they were asked to select the period of time they expected those symptoms to persist. RESULTS: In both the Greek and Edmontonian groups, the pattern of symptoms anticipated closely resembled the acute symptoms commonly reported by accident victims with minor head injury. Yet, while many Edmontonians also anticipated symptoms to last months or years, very few Greek subjects selected any symptoms as being likely to persist in a chronic manner. CONCLUSIONS: In Greece, despite the frequent experience of minor head injury in motor vehicle accidents, there is a very low rate of expectation of any chronic sequelae from such an injury, contrasting greatly with the response shown in Canada, where the prevalence of the chronic post-concussive syndrome is higher. Symptom expectation in some countries may be an important factor in the development of the chronic post-concussive syndrome.
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Internuclear ophthalmoplegia (INO) is a common sign of multiple sclerosis in young patients and of vascular diseases in older people. Traumatic bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia following severe head injuries may occur. We present the unusual case of a young patient suffered from bilateral INO as an isolated finding after a minor head injury, without other signs of brain stem or cortical injury. The ophthalmoplegia has persisted for 22 months.
OBJECTIVE: An earlier pilot study suggested that the late whiplash syndrome is uncommon in Greece. The purpose of the present study is to extend the evaluation to a larger sample, and include the prevalence of specific symptoms in the evaluation. METHODS: In a prospective, cohort study, a total of 180 accident victims were consecutively recruited following Emergency ward presentation. A standard questionnaire asked about neck pain, headache, shoulder pain, limb numbness or pain, and dizziness. Accident victims were followed for 6 months. RESULTS: In the initial 4 weeks after the accident, accident victims reported neck pain, headache, shoulder pain, arm numbness or pain, and dizziness, but at 4 weeks more than 90% had recovered from these, the remainder of the subjects having minor symptoms (not requiring therapy), and returning to their pre-accident state of health (which included minor symptoms). There were no cases of chronic disability. CONCLUSION: In Greece, symptoms after an acute whiplash injury are self-limiting, brief, and do not appear to evolve into the so-called late whiplash syndrome.