Antonella Arrotta

Dr. Antonella Arrotta


Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

5Years (2022-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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29 September 2022 in Current Oncology
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
ASAlfonso Sorrentino
Alfonso Sorrentino
FFFrancesco Ferragina
Francesco Ferragina
IBIda Barca
Ida Barca
AAAntonella Arrotta
Antonella Arrotta
Maria Giulia CristofaroMaria Giulia Cristofaro
Maria Giulia Cristofaro
Disease Overview: Lymphomas, both Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas, are one of the most common cancers in the head and neck area. The extra-nodal variant of lymphoma is rare, but it is the most common non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (ENHL). Furthermore, it is difficult to diagnose due to its non-specific clinical and radiological features, which can mimic other benign or malignant clinical manifestations. The study: This retrospective study involved 72 patients affected by head and neck ENHL in the period between 2003 and 2017. All patients underwent a diagnostic-therapeutic procedure according to the guidelines, and a 5-year follow-up. Based on the location of the swelling at the time of diagnosis, patients were divided into two groups: oral and non-oral ENHLs. Statistical analysis was performed using Kaplan–Meier analysis with the log-rank test. In addition, Fisher’s exact test was applied to the two groups to evaluate and compare variances (the acceptable significance level was set at p < 0.05). Conclusion: ENHL with oral localization is much more aggressive than ENHL with non-oral localization, with a death rate of 40% (versus 4.76 for the non-oral one). In fact, between the two groups, there is a statistically significant difference in mortality, with a p-value of 0.0001 and 0.0002, respectively.

20 September 2022 in Life
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
FFFrancesco Ferragina
Francesco Ferragina
IBIda Barca
Ida Barca
ASAlfonso Sorrentino
Alfonso Sorrentino
Elvis KallaverjaElvis Kallaverja
Elvis Kallaverja
SPSara Piloni
Sara Piloni
Maria Giulia CristofaroMaria Giulia Cristofaro
Maria Giulia Cristofaro
Background: This retrospective study aims to identify the potential reasons for the increase in maxillofacial trauma from domestic violence in the first COVID-19 lockdown and propose some strategies that could be effective in fighting it during any future pandemic events. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on patients with maxillofacial trauma who arrived at the Maxillofacial Unit of the Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro from 9 March to 3 May 2020, who were compared with those registered in the same period in 2019. Inclusion criteria were: patients of both sexes and admission diagnosed with maxillofacial trauma with or without bone fracture. Exclusion criteria were: patients less than 7 years of age, maxillofacial trauma that occurred outside the established period, and patients unconscious or with unclear clinical history. Patients were divided into two groups according to the mechanism of injury (MOI): “domestic” and “non-domestic” trauma. Both descriptive and regressive statistical analysis was conducted using a Student’s t-test with a significance level set at p < 0.05. Results: The total number of maxillofacial fractures in 2020 was similar to 2019 (31 pcs in 2020 vs. 38 pcs in 2019). Before the lockdown, most of the trauma occurred in non-domestic settings (25% in 2020 vs. 76.67% in 2019), especially in road accidents (4.17% in 2020 vs. 20% in 2019). During the lockdown, most of the trauma occurred in a domestic setting (75% in 2020 vs. 23.33% in 2019), especially interpersonal violence (31.58% in 2020 vs. 14.28% in 2019). There were 7 cases of interpersonal violence recorded in 2020 (1 male and 6 female), compared to only one case (female) recorded in 2019, with a statistically significant p-Value (0.0475). Conclusions: The first COVID-19 lockdown has provided the opportunity to study the aetiology of domestic trauma due to interpersonal violence attributable to economic and social problems, all of which were aggravated by the impediment to requesting help due to the difficulty of contacting the services and the general slowdown in the ways out of violence. The analysis conducted and compared with data in the literature suggests the adoption of a proactive (and non-reactive) approach to combat domestic violence during pandemic events.

IBIda Barca
Ida Barca
FFFrancesco Ferragina
Francesco Ferragina
Elvis KallaverjaElvis Kallaverja
Elvis Kallaverja
AAAntonella Arrotta
Antonella Arrotta
Maria Giulia CristofaroMaria Giulia Cristofaro
Maria Giulia Cristofaro
Advanced oral squamous cell carcinomas represent a major challenge for maxillofacial surgeons, oncologists and radiation therapists. They also account for a large share of healthcare costs. They respond little and/or poorly to conventional therapies (surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy). Electrochemotherapy is a new method used as a palliative treatment in patients with advanced cancer of the neck/head region who are not eligible for standard therapies. It combines the use of cytotoxic drugs with the physical principle of electroporation; it effectively controls the tumour locally and preserves organ function. To date, ECT has been little used for oral mucosal tumours, as this is difficult to access for electrodes. We report six cases of advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma treated with electrochemotherapy. This study aims to assess the debulking effect of cancer via ECT in patients with advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma. It also aims to assess the safety and tolerability of this treatment.

12 September 2024 in Diagnostics
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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Maria Giulia CristofaroMaria Giulia Cristofaro
Maria Giulia Cristofaro
WCWalter Colangeli
Walter Colangeli
FFFrancesco Ferragina
Francesco Ferragina
GTGiuseppe Tarallo
Giuseppe Tarallo
ASAngelo Sottile
Angelo Sottile
IBIda Barca
Ida Barca
Background: Facial nerve injury (FNI) is the most common complication of parotid surgery and manifests as FN paralysis. The use of intraoperative facial nerve monitoring (IFNM) is becoming an established intraoperative aid for surgeons, assisting in the identification of the location and dissection of the facial nerve trunk or branches. The postoperative outcomes of parotid surgery with and without monitoring have been addressed in only a limited number of studies. Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the incidence of postoperative paralysis in patients undergoing extracapsular dissection (ED) for benign parotid tumors concerning the use or non-use of IFNM. Materials and Methods: The retrospective study was conducted at the Maxillo-Facial Department of the Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro. The patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 consisted of patients who underwent surgery without IFNM (1 January 2015 to 31 December 2018); Group 2, on the other hand, consisted of patients who underwent surgery with IFNM (1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022). Group 2 employed the Nerve Integrity Monitor (Medtronic’s NIM®). To classify the FN function, we employed the modified House–Brackmann classification system. To evaluate the dependence between the “use of IFNM” and “postoperative paralysis”, a descriptive analysis was conducted, including applying the Chi-squared test and calculating the Pearson correlation. Subsequently, a binary logistic regression model was applied to further evaluate the correlation between the latter. The level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 276 patients were included in the study: 120 subjects were assigned to Group 1 (43.5%, comprising 60 men and 60 women) and 156 subjects were assigned to Group 2 (56.5%, comprising 93 men and 63 women). In 91.7% of the cases (n. 253, precisely 105 in Group 1 and 148 in Group 2), no FNI occurred. In 8.33% of the cases (n. 23, specifically 15 in Group 1 and 8 in Group 2), postoperative paralysis was observed. Of these subjects, only two in Group 1 had permanent paralysis (8.69%); therefore, 91.31% had transient paralysis. As a result, 91.31% of the subjects exhibited transient paralysis. In the case of FNI, 78% of the cases involved the marginal mandibular branch (n. 18), 13% involved the temporo-zygomatic branch (n. 3), and 7% involved more than one branch (n = 2). The results of the multivariable binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the use of IFNM was a statistically significant influencing factor, with an estimated reduction in postoperative paralysis of approximately 62% (OR 0.378; 95% CI: 0.155–0.92). In Group 2, the occurrence of transient complications was significantly reduced (OR 0.387; 95% CI: 0.149–1.002 with p < 0.05). Discussion and Conclusions: The use of IFNM in the ED for benign parotid tumors significantly reduces the rate of FNI and, consequently, postoperative FN paralysis. On the other hand, the use of monitoring systems must not replace the experience and anatomical knowledge of the surgeon.

21 April 2025 in Cancers
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
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Maria Giulia CristofaroMaria Giulia Cristofaro
Maria Giulia Cristofaro
FFFrancesco Ferragina
Francesco Ferragina
SSSamuel Stagliano
Samuel Stagliano
AAAntonella Arrotta
Antonella Arrotta
MDMarianna D’Amico
Marianna D’Amico
IBIda Barca
Ida Barca
Background: Malignant tumors of minor salivary glands (MGSTs) are rare and exhibit significant heterogeneity in terms of etiology, histology and prognosis. Methods: This retrospective analysis of 48 resected MGSTs employed Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves and logistic regression models to evaluate the association between the systemic inflammatory response index (SIRI), the systemic immuno-inflammation index (SII), the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and the platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) with overall survival (OS). Although these biomarkers showed some correlation with OS, none were statistically significant when considered individually. Results: Significant correlation was observed between the SIRI, SII, and NLR with overall survival (OS). Among these, SIRI was the most reliable predictor, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.713, 80% sensitivity, and 70% specificity. Conclusions: While these inflammatory biomarkers correlate with the prognosis and risk stratification of MGSTs, there is currently no clinical utility in decision making due to the lack of standardization and their limited application in clinical practice.

22 October 2026 in Journal of Clinical Medicine
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Elvis KallaverjaElvis Kallaverja
Elvis Kallaverja
IBIda Barca
Ida Barca
FFFrancesco Ferragina
Francesco Ferragina
SPSara Piloni
Sara Piloni
AAAntonella Arrotta
Antonella Arrotta
Maria Giulia CristofaroMaria Giulia Cristofaro
Maria Giulia Cristofaro
Background: Orbital floor fractures (OFFs) represent a challenging reconstructive problem because of the complex three-dimensional anatomy of the orbit. Building upon our group’s 2024 preliminary pilot study, which initially proposed an “In-House” digital framework, this retrospective study aims to definitively validate and scale up that protocol. Methods: This retrospective single-center comparative cohort study evaluated an in-house workflow, on patients treated for OFF at the “Magna Graecia” University Hospital of Catanzaro from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2025, in which titanium mesh was pre-contoured on a patient-specific 3D-printed stereolithographic model, compared with conventional intraoperative manual contouring. Results: Twenty-nine patients met the surgical inclusion criteria: 7 were treated conventionally (G1a) and 22 with the 3D-planned workflow (G1b). Twenty-nine patients with intact orbital structures served as a descriptive control cohort (G2). In G1, 87 volumetric measurements were obtained: preoperative measurements of the healthy contralateral and fractured orbits and postoperative measurements of the reconstructed orbit. The primary comparative volumetric outcome was the absolute postoperative residual discrepancy between the reconstructed orbit and the healthy contralateral orbit. Because of the small and unequal groups, the comparison between G1a and G1b was performed using an exact two-sided Mann–Whitney U test. G1b showed a lower median absolute postoperative residual discrepancy than G1a (0.4668 vs. 1.3370 cm3; U = 139; p = 0.00072). Operative time was also shorter in G1b (mean 41.4 vs. 80.7 min; exact Mann–Whitney p < 0.00001). The control cohort showed a mean absolute inter-orbital difference of 0.6177 ± 0.29 cm3; the interval 0.3277–0.9077 cm3 represents mean ± SD and is reported only as an exploratory descriptive band, not as a validated clinical reference interval or therapeutic threshold. All G1b patients had resolution of diplopia by one year, but the observational design does not establish a causal relationship between a specific volumetric value and functional recovery. Conclusion: These findings suggest an association between the in-house 3D workflow and improved volumetric matching and shorter operative time, while the small conventional subgroup and temporal differences between treatment periods require confirmation in larger prospective studies.