To identify the prevalence of findings in optical coherence tomography (OCT) sections before intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME), and to evaluate the ...relationship between these findings and final visual acuity and number of injections.
This retrospective study included 296 eyes of 191 patients (104 male, 87 female) who started intravitreal ranibizumab treatment after being diagnosed with DME in the retina unit between January 2013 and April 2017 were included the study. Spectral domain OCT findings at the time of presentation such as presence of serous macular detachment (SD), vitreomacular traction (VMT), and epiretinal membrane (ERM) were recorded. In addition, the regularity of the ellipsoid zone (EZ) and inner retinal layers was also studied.
The mean central retinal thickness measured in SD-OCT was 449±81 μm before treatment and 350±96 μm after treatment (p<0.001). SD was detected in 155 eyes (52.4%), ERM in 67 eyes (22.6%), and VMT in 9 eyes (3%). Thirty eyes (10.1%) had disorganization of the retinal inner layers (DRIL) and 54 eyes (18.2%) had EZ deterioration. The presence of ERM, EZ irregularity, and DRIL were associated with significantly lower final visual acuity (p<0.0001), while there was no relationship between pre-treatment SD and final visual acuity (p=0.11). Injection number was higher in eyes with SD and ERM compared to those without, but this difference was statistically significant only in the presence of SD (p=0.01 and p=0.59, respectively). There was no difference in injection number according to EZ irregularity or presence of DRIL.
The coexistence of SD with DME was associated with increased need for treatment but not with final visual acuity. EZ irregularities, DRIL, and ERM are findings that negatively affect visual acuity.
Tissue damage, inflammatory response, and hematologic abnormalities may occur in snakebite envenomation. This study aimed to evaluate the predictive ability of platelet distribution width (PDW) and ...platelet distribution width to lymphocyte ratio (PDWLR) in the severity and outcome of envenomation in patients with snakebites in the emergency department (ED).
All adult patients admitted to the ED after a snakebite were retrospectively evaluated. Patients were classified according to the severity of envenomation. The relationship between the PDW and PDWLR and envenomation severity and patient outcomes was analyzed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the predictors of severe envenomation. Results were presented as 95% CIs with odds ratios. Statistical significance was accepted at P<0.05.
Envenomation was classified as none/minimal in 42 patients and moderate/severe in 29. PDW and PDWLR were significantly higher in the moderate/severe group (P=0.016 and P<0.001, respectively). Cut-off values of 16.5 for PDW and 6.15 for PDWLR were related to more severe envenomation (area under the curve 0.67, 95% CI 0.55–0.78 and area under the curve 0.85, 95% CI: 0.74–0.92, respectively). Blood product replacement, thrombocytopenia, hematologic abnormality, advanced local findings, compartment syndrome/fasciotomy, antivenom dosing, and moderate/severe envenomation were associated with PDWLR >6.15 (P<0.05). In multivariate analysis, PDWLR (odds ratio 1.19 95% CI 1–1.4; P=0.04) was an independent predictor of severe envenomation.
Higher PDW and PDWLR were associated with severe envenomation in patients with snakebites in the ED. PDWLR may be used as a predictor of severe envenomation and adverse outcomes.
Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) affect mortality and morbidity in critically ill patients. There have been few studies examining the prevalence of AKI and mortality after successful cardiopulmonary ...resuscitation. In the present study, we investigated the association between AKI and mortality in post-cardiac arrest patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Our retrospective analysis included 109 patients, admitted to the ICU following successful cardiopulmonary resuscitation between 2014 and 2016. We compared two scoring systems to estimate mortality.
AKI were diagnosed in 46.7% (n = 51) of the patients based on the RIFLE criteria and 66.1% (n = 72) using the KDIGO. Mortality rate was significantly higher among patients with AKI diagnosed according to the RIFLE criteria (p = 0.012) and those with AKI diagnosed using KDIGO criteria (p = 0.003). Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that both scoring systems were able to successfully detect mortality (Area under the ROC curve = 0.693 for RIFLE and 0.731 for KDIGO).
AKI increases mortality and morbidity rates after cardiac arrest. Although more renal injury and mortality were detected with KDIGO, the sensitivity and specificity of both scoring systems were similar in predicting mortality in patients with Return of Spontaneous Circulation (ROSC).
Vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) is a multifunctional protein that plays a role in chronic liver diseases and fibrogenesis. The present study aimed to investigate the possible association of VAP-1 ...levels with the severity of disease progression in chronic hepatitis (CH) B and C patients with differing stages of fibrosis (F0–4), CHB/CHC-related cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The VAP-1 concentration in patient sera was determined by ELISA. The VAP-1 levels were compared between the F0 group and the F1, F2, F3, F4, cirrhosis, and HCC groups of CHB patients and between the F1 group and the F2, F3, F4, cirrhosis, and HCC groups of CHC patients. The levels of VAP-1 were significantly increased in CHB patients with progressive stages of fibrosis, with the highest concentration being found in those with stage F4 (severe fibrosis). A statistically significant difference was found between F0 and F4 in patients with CHB, but no statistically significant difference was observed between F1 and F4 in patients with CHC. Interestingly, there was no statistically significant difference in VAP-1 levels between patients with cirrhosis and HCC (either CHB or CHC, independently). Moreover, no relationship was found between VAP-1 and ALT levels in either CHC or CHB patients. In general, the VAP-1 levels were significantly higher in CHB than in CHC patients (
P
< 0.01). In conclusion, we suggest that the VAP-1 level may be a noninvasive biomarker for monitoring the severity of fibrogenesis in patients with hepatitis B infection.
Objective: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairment in social skills and communication with repetitive behaviors. Etiology is still unclear although ...it is thought to develop with interaction of genes and environmental factors. Oxytocin has extensive effects on intrauterine brain development. Vitamin D, affects neural development and differentiation and contributes to the regulation of around 900 genes including oxytocin receptor gene. In the present study, the contribution of D vitamin receptor and oxytocin receptor gene polymorphisms in the development of ASD in Turkish community was investigated. To our knowledge, this is the first study examining these two associated genes together in the literature.
Methods: Eighty-five patients diagnosed with ASD according to DSM-5 who were referred to outpatient clinics of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of Başkent University and Mersin University and 52 healthy, age and gender-matched controls were included in the present study. Vitamin D receptor gene rs731236 (Taq1), rs2228570 (Fok1), rs1544410 (Bsm1), rs7975232 (Apa1) polymorphisms and oxytocin receptor gene rs1042778 and rs2268493 polymorphisms were investigated using real time polymerase chain reaction method.
Results: No significant difference between groups in terms of distribution of genotype and alleles in each of polymorphisms for these genes could be found.
Conclusion: Knowledge of genes and polymorphisms associated with the development of ASD may be beneficial for early diagnosis and future treatment. Further studies with larger populations are required to demonstrate molecular pathways which may play part in the development of ASD in Turkey. KCI Citation Count: 2
Preoperative anxiety has been related with postoperative behaviour changes, and it is characterised by subjective feelings. The modified Yale Preoperative Anxiety Scale (mYPAS) is a tool, which ...indicates preoperative anxiety in children older than 2 years. The objective of this study was to investigate factors affecting the level of preoperative anxiety after conduct validity and reliability of the Turkish version of mYPAS.
After obtaining approval from the ethics committee, 330 children aged 5-16 years were included in the study. Relationships between possible anxiety factors and anxiety levels were evaluated after validity and interrater reliability of the Turkish version.
The intraclass correlation coefficient between the three observers was 0.9949 (95% confidence interval CI: 0.9939-0.9958) for the playroom assessments and 0.9952 (95% CI: 0.9942-0.9960) for the operating room assessments. The anxiety level was significantly lower in premedicated patients (p<0.001). There was a negative correlation between age and anxiety level (p<0.001, r=-0.350).
The Turkish version of mYPAS has high validity and reliability and is suitable for use in the paediatric population of our country. Premedication significantly decreased preoperative anxiety, and younger patients tended to have higher anxiety level. For the 5-12 years age range, the level of anxiety decreased with age. More clinical studies are needed to investigate factors that contribute to preoperative anxiety.
Polycystic ovary syndrome is the most frequently seen endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age with a prevalence of about 10%.
To investigate the efficiency of growth differentiation factor 9 ...and bone morphogenetic protein 15 during folliculogenesis in a dehydroepiandrosterone-induced mouse Polycystic ovary syndrome model.
Animal experimentation.
Mice were divided into 3 groups: control, vehicle and Polycystic ovary syndrome. Polycystic ovary syndrome model mice were developed by the injection of dehydroepiandrosterone dissolved in 0.1 mL of sesame oil. Ovarian tissues were examined for growth differentiation factor 9 and bone morphogenetic protein 15 using immunofluorescent labelling and electron microscopic examinations.
The immunoreactivity of growth differentiation factor 9 and bone morphogenetic protein 15 proteins decreased (p<0.05) in the Polycystic ovary syndrome group (27.73±8.43 and 24.85±7.03, respectively) compared with the control group (33.72±11.22 and 31.12±11.05, respectively) and vehicle group (33.95±10.75 and 29.99±10.72, respectively). Apoptotic changes were observed in granulosa cells, lipid vacuoles increased in Theca cells and thickening and irregularities were noted in the basal lamina of granulosa cells. An increased electron density in the zona pellucida in some of the multilaminar primary and secondary follicles in the Polycystic ovary syndrome model was also observed at the ultrastructural level.
These results suggest that the decrease in the growth differentiation factor 9 and bone morphogenetic protein 15 expression initiated at the primary follicle stage effect the follicle development and zona pellucida structure and may cause subfertility or infertility in Polycystic ovary syndrome.
The aim of this study is to determine the demographic characteristics of pediatric open globe injuries, evaluate the ocular trauma scores (OTS), and predict the visual outcomes.
All patients with ...pediatric open globe injuries who applied to Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Mersin University between January 2018 and December 2019 were included in this study. Age, gender, type of injury, time of admission, time to surgery, OTS, and pediatric ocular trauma score (POTS) were calculated for each patient. The relation between these findings and final visual acuity (VA) after 12 months of follow-up was examined.
Forty-two eyes of 41 patients were included in this study. The most common injuries observed were sharp objects such as knives (23.8%) and stones (23.8%). The wound locations were zone I in 36 patients (85.7%) and zone II in 6 patients (14.3%). The most common concomitant eye pathologies were iris prolapse in 37 (88.1%) and hyphema in 29 (69.1%). The mean original OTS was 77.21 and the mean POTS was 46.78. Association between OTS/POTS and final VA was very good (Kendall Tau-b = 0.665, P < 0.001, Kendall Tau-b = 0.505, P < 0.001, respectively). The level of agreement between the predicted VA for OTS and that for POTS was almost perfect (kappa = 0.8726).
This study shows that the original OTS is still the gold standard in pediatric cases.
Background . We investigated the demographic, aetiological and clinical characteristics of patients who presented to the emergency department and had severe hyponatraemia. Methods . We ...retrospectively evaluated 1171 patients who presented to the emergency department and were diagnosed with severe hyponatraemia. Results . Over half the patients studied were women (53.5%). The mean age of women was higher (p<0.0001). The most common complaint was dyspnoea (16.8%) and 42.5% of the patients had an oral intake disorder. In addition, 22.3% of the patients were on loop diuretics. About 76.3% of patients were conscious, and the mean sodium level of these patients was higher than the mean sodium level of those who responded to verbal and painful stimuli (p<0.001). Severe isolated hyponatraemia was observed in 61.8% of the patients. The mortality rate was 12.8%. There was no difference between the mean sodium levels of the deceased and discharged patients (p=1.0). The mortality rate was higher in patients who had a history of cirrhosis and cancer, but was lower in patients with a history of coronary artery disease (p=0.0002, p<0.0001 and p=0.04, respectively). Conclusion . Severe hyponatraemia was more prevalent in women, serum sodium levels were higher in conscious patients, and the mortality rate was higher in patients who had a history of cirrhosis and cancer. We found that the mean serum sodium levels did not help in distinguishing between the deceased and discharged patients.
Limited data about the importance of cranial autonomic features of migraines and migrainous features of cluster headaches are available.
We enrolled 2955 patients with migraine and 93 patients with ...cluster headache. We explored the autonomic features, including ptosis, lacrimation, rhinorrhea, facial swelling, conjunctival injection, and pupil changes. The presence of migrainous features, such as nausea, vomiting, photophobia, and phonophobia, in cluster headache patients were noted.
Migraine patients with underlying autonomic symptoms (MwuAS) and those without differed significantly. Unilaterality, periocular localization of headaches provoked by starvation, and history of abdominal pain significantly increased the risk of MwuAS. The parameters with the highest sensitivity (94.38%) and specificity (99.89%) for the diagnosis of MwuAS were lacrimation, facial swelling, and conjunctival injection.
Migraine and cluster headache are considered two different entities with different pathophysiologies. The assessment of autonomic symptoms is essential, and specialists must consider such an overlap in clinical practice in order to obtain accurate prevalence rates. In particular, lacrimation, conjunctival injection, and facial swelling are widely experienced by migraineurs.
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