A Case of Cranial Meningioma with Symptoms Similar to Nasopharyngeal Mass

Meningiomas are generally slow-growing benign tumors associated with the dura. They form lumps that mostly grow extra-axially, by repulsing, rather than infiltrating the surrounding neural parenchyma. Majority of meningiomas are intracranial. However, although rare, meningioma formation has been reported in almost all other organs. We report the case of a patient with an extra- neuraxial meningioma presenting as a nasopharyngeal mas

Assessment of psychopathological aspects and psychiatric comorbidities in patients affected by tinnitus

WOS: 000252798800003PubMed: 17999075The aim of present study was to determine the psychiatric symptoms and comorbidities in patients affected by tinnitus. The study sample, between June 2004 and September 2005, consisted of 180 Turkish adults living in Elazig. Ninety consecutive tinnitus patients were enrolled on their first visit to the outpatients clinic. Control subjects were recruited partly from the social surroundings of the authors. All subjects with significant medical and/or psychiatric pathologies, such as schizophrenia, manic-depressive psychosis, dementia, and behavioural disorders with social withdrawal or suicidal risk, were excluded, as were those unwilling to take part in the study. For the psychopathological examination, patients underwent the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID-I, SCID-II). Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Symptom Check list-90 (Revised) (SCL-90-R) were also administered to patients with tinnitus and control subjects. SCL-90-R subscales scores, Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory scores were significantly higher in tinnitus patients than in normal control subjects. Twenty-four patients (26.70%) with tinnitus had at least one psychiatric diagnosis. Five control subjects (5.60%) had at least one psychiatric diagnosis. There were significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.001). Anxiety disorders and somatoform disorders were significantly higher in tinnitus patients than in normal control subjects. We conclude that psychiatric symptoms (such as symptoms of anxiety, depression or somatization) among patients with tinnitus should alert clinicians for the presence of a chronic and complex psychiatric condition (Axis-I and Axis-II disorders)

Relation of isolated tonsillar hypertrophy with body mass index

PubMed ID: 16549938Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between tonsillar hypertrophy and body mass index (BMI). Material and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which was conducted in three primary schools located in Duzce. A total of 1,282 children between 7 and 12 years of age were evaluated and the size of their tonsils was investigated with regard to height and weight. This study was performed in the course of school screening, and the correlation between estimated tonsil size and BMIs of the children was investigated. Results: Sixteen of 1,282 students were excluded from the study, leaving 1,266 children in the study. The mean (±SD) age of the children was 9.13 ± 1.45 (range 7-12) years. The mean height of the 1,266 children was 129.07 ± 9.95 (range 105-163) cm, the mean weight was 28.81 ± 6.96 (range 15-68) kg, and the mean BMI was 17.09 ± 2.33 (range 12.07-30.0) kg/m2. There was no statistically significant effect of tonsil size on BMI. We could not find a significant relation of isolated tonsillar hypertrophy with BMI. Conclusions: No relation could be found between tonsillar hypertrophy and BMI. Copyright © 2006 S. Karger AG

Evaluation of deaf children in a large series in Turkey

WOS: 000227668200011PubMed: 15733596Objective: Evaluation of the deafness etiology, ear examination findings and hearing levels of deaf children in a large series. Patients and methods: We studied 840 deaf primary school children (486 mate, 354 female, mean age 12.69 +/- 3.52, range 5-22). A questionaire investigating the prenatal, perinatal and postnatal etiological causes was prepared and pedigree analysis was performed. After ENT examination, odyologic tests were performed. Results: The etiological features of deafness were found for genetic causes as 429 cases (51.1%), 127 children (15.1%) for acquired group and 284 children (33.8%) for unknown group. We confirmed 136 (15.5%) syndromic deaf children and 19 of them (13.9%) were autosomal recessive (AR), 105 of them (77.2%) were autosomal dominant (AD), six (4.4%) of them were X-linked. Two hundred and ninety-three deaf (33.4%) children were in the familial nonsyndromic group. In this group, the inheritance of 255 (87%) were AR, 23 (7.8%) were AD and 15 (5.2%) were X-linked recessive. Febrile convulsion was identified as the most common etiology in 36 (4.3%) cases in the acquired group. Three hundred and twenty-two (67.7%) children had profound HL (above 91 dB), 111 (23.3%) had severe HL and 43 (9%) had moderately severe HL. Sensorineural. HL was found in 439 (92.2%) and mixed type hearing loss was seen 37 (7.8%) of 476 cases. We found many major and minor abnormalities and ocular, ear and dental pathologies. The prevalence of ear diseases was found in 203 (24.2%) of children. Impacted wax was found in 80 (9.5%) of 840 children with otoscopic examination and was the most common pathology, retraction in 70 (8.3%) and perforation in 15 (1.8%) followed it. Conclusion: Preventable ear disease are important health problems among school children for the deaf because these diseases can affect the real level and type of deafness, so determining early diagnostic criteria, ear diseases and minor abnormalities is important for early rehabilitation. Syndromes can be prevented in pregnancy, infections can be prevented in prenatal or postnatal period but unknown group cannot be prevented although the unknown etiology can be reduced by multidiciplinary approach. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on mood status: A comparison of hemodialysis and oncology patients

Introduction Coronavirus related lockdown measures had a severe psychological toll. We investigated the effects of population-wide infection control measures on hemodialysis (HD) and oncology patients' mood statuses. Methods An electronic survey was used to collect data. We used the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) to measure the mood statuses. Results The study groups composed of 400 HD, 234 oncology patients, and 276 controls. HADS anxiety and total POMS scores were significantly higher in the control group than that of both HD and oncology patients, a finding consistent with a worse mood status. In multivariate models, the male gender and the perception of having received appropriate medical support during the pandemic period were independent predictors of better POMS and HADS-anxiety and depression scores. Conclusion HD and oncology patients appear to be less affected by the psychological stress induced by social distancing and lockdown periods