Türkiye’de inme hastalarında atrial fibrilasyonun yönetimi: NöroTek çalışması gerçek hayat verileri

Objective: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common directly preventable cause of ischemic stroke. There is no dependable neurology-based data on the spectrum of stroke caused by AF in Turkiye. Within the scope of NoroTek-Turkiye (TR), hospital-based data on acute stroke patients with AF were collected to contribute to the creation of acute-stroke algorithms.Materials and Methods: On May 10, 2018 (World Stroke Awareness Day), 1,790 patients hospitalized at 87 neurology units in 30 health regions were prospectively evaluated. A total of 929 patients [859 acute ischemic stroke, 70 transient ischemic attack (TIA)] from this study were included in this analysis.Results: The rate of AF in patients hospitalized for ischemic stroke/TIA was 29.8%, of which 65% were known before stroke, 5% were paroxysmal, and 30% were diagnosed after hospital admission. The proportion of patients with AF who received "effective" treatment [international normalization ratio >= 2.0 warfarin or non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs) at a guideline dose] was 25.3%, and, either no medication or only antiplatelet was used in 42.5% of the cases. The low dose rate was 50% in 42 patients who had a stroke while taking NOACs. Anticoagulant was prescribed to the patient at discharge at a rate of 94.6%; low molecular weight or unfractionated heparin was prescribed in 28.1%, warfarin in 32.5%, and NOACs in 31%. The dose was in the low category in 22% of the cases discharged with NOACs, and half of the cases, who received NOACs at admission, were discharged with the same drug.Conclusion: NoroTekTR revealed the high but expected frequency of AF in acute stroke in Turkiye, as well as the aspects that could be improved in the management of secondary prophylaxis. AF is found in approximately one-third of hospitalized acute stroke cases in Turkiye. Effective anticoagulant therapy was not used in three-quarters of acute stroke cases with known AF. In AF, heparin, warfarin, and NOACs are planned at a similar frequency (one-third) within the scope of stroke secondary prophylaxis, and the prescribed NOAC dose is subtherapeutic in a quarter of the cases. Non-medical and medical education appears necessary to prevent stroke caused by AF.Amaç: Atrial fibrilasyon (AF) iskemik inmenin doğrudan önlenebilir en sık nedendir. Ülkemizde AF nedenli inme spektrumuna dair nöroloji kaynaklı geniş ölçekte bir veri bulunmamaktadır. NöroTek-Türkiye (TR) kapsamında akut inme algoritmalarının oluşturulmasına katkı yapması beklenen AF tespit edilen akut inme hastalarına dair hastane verisi toplanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: 10 Mayıs 2018 Dünya İnme Farkındalık Günü’nde 30 sağlık bölgesine yer alan 87 nöroloji biriminde yatmakta olan 1.790 hasta prospektif olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Çalışmada yer alan toplam 929 hasta [859 akut iskemik inme, 70 geçici iskemik atak (GİA)] bu analize dahil edilmiştir. Bulgular: İskemik inme/GİA sebebiyle ile interne edilmiş hastalarda AF oranı %29,8 olup bunların %65’i bilinmekte olan, %5’i paroksismal ve %30’u yeni tanıdır. AF tanısı ile gelen hastalarda “etkin” tedavi [internasyonel normalizasyon oranı ≥2,0 varfarin veya rehber dozunda non-vitamin K antagonist oral antikoagülan (NOAK)] alanların oranı %25,3 olup, %42,5 olguda ya hiç ilaç kullanılmamakta ya da sadece antiplatelet kullanılmaktaydı. Düşük doz kullanım oranı 42 NOAK alırken inme geçirmiş olguda %50 idi. Taburcu edilirken antikoagülan %94,6 (düşük molekül ağırlıklı veya non-fraksiyone heparin %28,1; varfarin %32,5 ve NOAK %31) hastaya reçete edilmişti. NOAK ile taburcu edilen olguların %22’sinde doz düşük kategoride olup gelişte NOAK almakta olan olguların yarısı aynı ilaçla taburcu edilmiştir. Sonuç: NöroTekTR ülkemizde AF’nin akut inmedeki sıklığı yanı sıra sekonder proflaksi perspektifinde yönetiminin geliştirilebilecek yönlerini ortaya koydu. Türkiye’de hastanede yatan akut inme olgularının yaklaşık üçte birinde AF saptanmıştır. AF’si bilinen akut inme olgularının dörtte üçünde etkin antikoagülan tedavi kullanılmamaktaydı. AF’de inme sekonder proflaksisi kapsamında heparin, varfarin ve NOAK planlaması benzer sıklıkta (üçte bir) olup reçete edilen NOAK dozu dörtte bir olguda subterapötiktir. AF’ye bağlı inmenin önlenebilmesi non-medikal ve medikal eğitim gerekli görünmektedir

Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Practices in Patients Admitted to The Pediatric Neurology Outpatient Clinic

Introduction: Despite the developments in pharmacologic treatments, traditional and complementary therapies have recently gained popularity in our country, as well as around the world. Aim: To question complementary and alternative medicine practices CAMP during clinical visits of pediatric neurology patients, to raise awareness of families and patients about the use of complementary and alternative medicine, and to prevent possible negative interactions. Methods: This prospective survey study was conducted with the parents of 300 pediatric patients aged between 6 months and 18 years, who were being treated at the Child Neurology Clinic between March 1st and May 30th, 2020. For the study, 360 patients’ parents who came to the Pediatric Neurology clinic for treatment were randomly selected, and a face-to-face survey lasting 2 minutes was conducted with 300 patients’ parents who agreed to participate in the study. This study was approved with the decision number E-20-12-62 at the meeting dated 21.12.2020 of the Clinical Research Ethics Committee of SBU Ankara Dr Sami Ulus Gynecology and Childhood Health and Diseases Training and Research Hospital. Results: Three hundred parents (56% women) participated in the study. Just over half (55.3%) of the patients were followed up with a diagnosis of epilepsy, 56.6% of the parents stated that they had used traditional and complementary therapy methods before, 43.4% stated that they did not use it, 46.54% stated that they used prayer and 23,9% used vitamin methods, respectively. Conclusion: In neurologic diseases, parents use traditional and complementary therapies as treatment methods, creating an alternative to modern medicine. Families and patients should be informed by investigating the reasons and frequency of using traditional and complementary therapies, raising the awareness of parents, and determining the possible harm caused by traditional and complementary therapies

The evaluation of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity: Comparison of Doppler and tissue Doppler-derived myocardial performance index

Background: Doxorubicin is a chemotherapeutic agent used in a wide spectrum of cancers. However, cardiotoxic effects have limited its clinical use. The early detection of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity is crucial. The purpose of our study was to assess values of Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI)-derived myocardial performance index (MPI) in adult cancer patients receiving doxorubicin treatment. Methods: A total of 45 patients underwent echocardiographic examinations before any doxorubicin had been administered and then after doxorubicin. Doppler and TDI-derived MPI of left ventricular (LV) were determined in the evaluation of cardiotoxicity. Additionally, TDI-derived MPI of right ventricular (RV) was determined. Results: All patients underwent control echocardiographic examination after mean 5 ± 1.7 months. The LV MPI obtained by both Doppler and TDI were increased after doxorubicin treatment (0.56 ± 0.11, 0.61 ± 0.10, p = 0,005 vs 0.51 ± 0.09, 0.59 ± 0.09, p = 0.001, respectively). There was no correlation between Doppler-derived MPI and cumulative doxorubicin dose (coefficient of correlation 0.11, p = 0.6). TDI-derived MPI was correlated with cumulative doxorubicin dose (coefficient of correlation 0.35, p = 0.015), but this correlation is weak (r = 0.38). The study population was divided into two groups according to doxorubicin dose (below and above 300 mg level). There was a moderate correlation between TDI-derived MPI and less than 300 mg of doxorubicin dose (coefficient of correlation 0.51, p = 0.028). However, Doppler-derived MPI was not correlated with less than 300 mg of doxorubicin dose (coefficient of correlation 0.38, p = 0.123). Also, there was no significant change in the TDI-derived RV-MPI (0.49 ± 0.14, 0.50 ± 0.12, p = 0.56). Conclusions: TDI-derived MPI is a useful parameter and an early indicator compared with Doppler-derived MPI in the detection of cardiotoxicity during the early stages. Also, doxorubicin administration does not affect RV function

COVID-19 in pediatric nephrology centers in Turkey

Background/aim: There is limited data on COVID-19 disease in children with kidney disease. We aimed to investigate the characteristics and prognosis of COVID-19 in pediatric nephrology patients in Turkey. Materials and methods: This was a national, multicenter, retrospective cohort study based on an online survey evaluating the data between 11th March 2020 and 11th March 2021 as an initial step of a detailed pediatric nephrology COVID-19 registry. Results: Two hundred and three patients (89 girls and 114 boys) were diagnosed with COVID-19. One-third of these patients (36.9%) were between 10–15 years old. Half of the patients were on kidney replacement therapy: kidney transplant (KTx) recipients (n = 56, 27.5%), patients receiving chronic hemodialysis (n = 33, 16.3%) and those on peritoneal dialysis (PD) (n = 18, 8.9%). Fifty-four (26.6%) children were asymptomatic. Eighty-two (40.3%) patients were hospitalized and 23 (28%) needed intensive care unit admission. Fifty-five percent of the patients were not treated, while the remaining was given favipiravir (20.7%), steroid (16.3%), and hydroxychloroquine (11.3%). Acute kidney injury developed in 19.5% of hospitalized patients. Five (2.4%) had MIS-C. Eighty-three percent of the patients were discharged without any apparent sequelae, while 7 (3.4%) died. One hundred and eight health care staff were infected during the study period. Conclusion: COVID-19 was most commonly seen in patients who underwent KTx and received HD. The combined immunosuppressive therapy and frequent exposure to the hospital setting may increase these patients’ susceptibility. Staff infections before vaccination era were alarming, various precautions should be taken for infection control, particularly optimal vaccination coverage

Detection and identification of mean shift using independent component analysis in multivariate processes

WOS:000731224700001Multivariate Statistical Process Control (MSPC) methods are used commonly to detect and identify shifts in multivariate industrial processes. However, these methods are limited by assumptions and complexities. In this study, a new two-stage MSPC approach based on independent component analysis is proposed. The proposed method aims to provide solutions to both the determination and the identification of the shift in the mean vector of a multivariate process. In the first step of this new method, independent components extracted by ICA were used as monitoring statistics in the MSPC chart to detect the shift in the process. The second step of the method started to deal with the problem of identifying the source of this shift by decomposing the monitoring statistics. The simulation results show the superiority of the new method over traditional methods in both determining and identifying the shift in the process mean vector