ACHAIKI IATRIKI | 2020; 39(1):6–7
Letter from the Editor
Dear colleagues
The Governing Board of The Medical Society of Western Greece and Peloponnesus (IEDEP) honored me with the duty to serve this journal. As the new Editor in Chief of ‘Achaiki Iatriki’, first of all, I would like to thank Professor N. Kounis for his contribution to the journal. He carefully and diligently endeavored to establish the journal’s uninterrupted presence with consistency, validity and scientific prestige. My effort will be to continue his important work and I rely on his help.
The journal has an excellent editorial board consisting of internationally renowned scientists. But its course depends on your own support. Please send us clinical notes, case reports, reviews and original articles and we will be happy to accept them following a peer review process. We address all healthcare professionals in both the private and public sector. Our goal is to present high-quality reliable data, thus disseminating novel, valuable knowledge on the one hand and providing clinicians with an important tool for their patients’ everyday management on the other hand. This journal will be published every three months in the English language.
Dear colleagues, Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) with global spread, currently characterized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). Ιn the current issue you will find emerging new data on the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. The editorial by Tsounis et al., describes the potential mechanisms that contribute to the development of SARS-CoV-2-related liver damage, the association of the virus with liver diseases and the relation of the ongoing therapeutic strategies of COVID-19 with the potential induction of hepatotoxicity. The review by Anastasopoulou et al., summarizes up-to date information on the biological basis of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, including genomic differences between the pre-existing coronaviruses and the novel virus and a detailed description of its structure and the mechanisms it uses to adhere and enter the host cell. Lastly, the review by Syrokosta et al., summarizes current knowledge about the virology, pathophysiology and clinical characteristics of the COVID-19 infection.
In addition, this issue includes an editorial by Kounis et al. that focuses on cardio-oncoimmunology as an emerging medical discipline, discussing the cardiovascular effects of chemotherapeutics, and especially of chemotherapy-induced cardiac toxicity and hypersensitivity. The third editorial of this issue by Ntouvas et al., concerns the intermittent claudication in young adults and discusses the most common causes of this condition beyond atherosclerosis and its differential diagnosis.
Two original studies are also included in this first issue. The first study by Karaivazoglou et al., aims to determine the presence of the broad autism phenotype in parents of children with developmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder and developmental language and speech disorders and detect potential associations. The second study by Tourkochristou et al., aims to estimate the prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies in prisoners at a detention center in Southwestern Greece. The introduction of direct-acting antiviral agents revolutionized the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The strategy is now being adapted into national hepatitis elimination plans and our country is on track to reach the targets. Treating HCV infection in prisoners can play a pivotal role in the implementation of the HCV National Plan and in the efforts to reach the goal of HCV elimination. Lastly, this issue includes an interesting case report by Konstantakis et al., presenting a rare cause of abdominal pain which was attributed to a foreign body in the biliary tract.
Dear colleagues, Covid-19 is a disease that makes no exemptions. Solidarity is an important weapon to fight this enemy and move forward. A system based on solidarity largely relies on participants’ responsible behavior. Nonetheless, we should not focus exclusively on solidarity within the healthcare setting. Citizens are entitled to high-quality healthcare services. Providing healthcare efficiently requires financial resources to be properly balanced. Importantly, both categories of the fundamental health system inputs, namely human resources and consumables, should be provided. Many of you are finding your academic and clinical duties affected by the virus. But crisis moments also represent opportunities; for example current circumstances call for a more sophisticated and flexible use of technology and virtual meetings in standard clinical practice. Our country is struggling with the pandemic and healthcare professionals are at the forefront of this fight. All together we will overcome the crisis. May this situation be an opportunity for our country’s health system to come out stronger.
I wish you all the best and invite you all to support our Journal.
C. Triantos
Assistant Professor in Internal Medicine
and Gastroenterology Faculty of Medicine,
School of Health Sciences, University of Patras
Editor-in-Chief of the journal “ACHAIKI IATRIKI”