The epidemiology, Clinical Manifestations, radiology, microbiology, treatment, and prognosis of echinococcosis: Results of NENEHATUN study

Aim: Echinococcosis, caused by Echinococcus species, is an important zoonotic disease causing major health problems in humans and animals. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the epidemiology, clinical and laboratory parameters, radiological, serological, pathological, and treatment protocols of followed-up cases of hydatidosis. Methods: A total of 550 patients diagnosed with hydatid cyst disease were included in this study. Patients who were positive for one or more of the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or indirect hemagglutination test, pathological results, or radiological findings were examined. The data analyzed were collected from nine centers between 2008 and 2020. Records were examined retrospectively. Results: Among the patients, 292 (53.1%) were women and 258 (46.9%) were men. The patients' mean age was 44.4 +/- 17.4 years. A history of living in rural areas was recorded in 57.4% of the patients. A total of 435 (79.1%) patients were symptomatic. The most common symptoms were abdominal pain in 277 (50.4%), listlessness in 244 (44.4%), and cough in 140 (25.5%) patients. Hepatomegaly was found in 147 (26.7%), and decreased breath sounds were observed in 124 (22.5%) patients. Radiological examination was performed in all cases and serological methods were also applied to 428 (77.8%) patients. The most frequently applied serological test was IHA (37.8%). A single cyst has been found in 66% patients. Hepatic involvement occurred in 327 (59.4%), pulmonary involvement was found in 128 (23.3%), whereas both of them were recorded in 43 (7.8%) patients. Splenic involvement was only detected in nine (1.6%) patients. Echinococcus granulosus (72.5%) was most frequently detected. Cyst diameters of 56.9% of the patients were in the range of 5-10 cm. A total of 414 (75.2%) patients received albendazole as an antiparasitic. Mortality was noted in nine (1.6%) patients. Conclusion: Echinococcosis is an important public health problem in Turkey. It can affect the social, economic, and political structures of the community. Public education and awareness are extremely important

The frequency of Duchenne muscular dystrophy/Becker muscular dystrophy and Pompe disease in children with isolated transaminase elevation: results from the observational VICTORIA study

IntroductionElevated transaminases and/or creatine phosphokinase can indicate underlying muscle disease. Therefore, this study aims to determine the frequency of Duchenne muscular dystrophy/Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD) in male children and Pompe disease (PD) in male and female children with isolated hypertransaminasemia.MethodsThis multi-center, prospective study enrolled patients aged 3–216 months with serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and/or aspartate transaminase (AST) levels >2× the upper limit of normal (ULN) for ≥3 months. Patients with a known history of liver or muscle disease or physical examination findings suggestive of liver disease were excluded. Patients were screened for creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) levels, and molecular genetic tests for DMD/BMD in male patients and enzyme analysis for PD in male and female patients with elevated CPK levels were performed. Genetic analyses confirmed PD. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of the patients were analyzed.ResultsOverall, 589 patients [66.8% male, mean age of 63.4 months (standard deviation: 60.5)] were included. In total, 251 patients (188 male and 63 female) had CPK levels above the ULN. Of the patients assessed, 47% (85/182) of male patients were diagnosed with DMD/BMD and 1% (3/228) of male and female patients were diagnosed with PD. The median ALT, AST, and CPK levels were statistically significantly higher, and the questioned neurological symptoms and previously unnoticed examination findings were more common in DMD/BMD patients than those without DMD/BMD or PD (p < 0.001).DiscussionQuestioning neurological symptoms, conducting a complete physical examination, and testing for CPK levels in patients with isolated hypertransaminasemia will prevent costly and time-consuming investigations for liver diseases and will lead to the diagnosis of occult neuromuscular diseases. Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT04120168

1987-2000 yılları arası Bilkent Üniversitesi Fen Fakültesi tarihi

Ankara : İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent Üniversitesi İktisadi, İdari ve Sosyal Bilimler Fakültesi, Tarih Bölümü, 2016.This work is a student project of the The Department of History, Faculty of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University.by Özer, Abdürrahim

Evaluation of Antinuclear Antibody (ANA) Test And Pattern Distribution in Patients in a University Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

Purpose The antinuclear antibody (ANA) test, despite all the downsides, is still considered and used as the gold standard technique amongst all the other options to diagnose autoimmune diseases. Our aim was to investigate the positivity rate and pattern distribution of ANA test results as well as the relationship between test results and certain demographic characteristics of patients.  Methods In this cross-sectional study, the ANA test results of 3469 adult patients who were diagnosed and classified by rheumatologists, other clinicians were evaluated between JanuaryMay 2022 in Dokuz Eylul University Hospital Immunology Laboratory. All samples were studied with indirect immunofluorescence antibody (IIFA) assay on HEp-2 cells (HEp-2-IIFA) and staining patterns were evaluated. In the analysis of the data, descriptive statistics [mean (sd), median (interquartile range (IQR)), percent (%)], chi-square test and Mann-Whitney u test were used according to their suitability. Statistical significance was quantified at the p Results The median age of the patients included in the study was 52.00 (39.00-65.00) years and 65.9% (n=2286) of the research group consisted of women. When the anti-cell (AC) autoantibodies were evaluated according to The Internatinal Consensus on ANA Patterns; ANA positivity was detected in 59% (n=2048) of the patients, while AC-0 (negative) was found in 41.0% (n=1421) of the patients. "AC-0","AC-4,5","AC-2","AC-8,9,10","AC-21","AC-19,20" patterns were the most frequent patterns observed. ANA positivity was significantly higher in females than males (p Conclusions Nearly three-fifths of the patients studied were HEp-2-IIFA-positive. Individuals aged 50 and over and female patients had more positive results. As a result, female patients and elderly patients may need to be evaluated more carefully in terms of ANA positivity.</p