Evaluation of vertebral bone mineral density in scoliosis by using quantitative computed tomography

Purpose: Scoliosis is described as a lateral curvature of the spine. We aimed to evaluate bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with scoliosis by using quantitative computed tomography (QCT) and compare the BMD of idiopathic and congenital scoliosis patients. Material and methods: Forty-three patients aged 1 to 40 years with idiopathic, congenital, or neuromuscular scoliosis and 41 matched controls of the same sex and approximate age were included in the study. Measurements of BMD were performed by QCT analysis for each vertebral body from T12 to L5, and mean BMD was calculated for each case. Results: Twenty-two of the patients with scoliosis were idiopathic, 15 were congenital, four were neuromuscular, and two were neurofibromatosis. The mean BMD values of patients with scoliosis were significantly lower compared with the control group (106.8 ± 33.4 mg/cm3 vs. 124.9 ± 29.1 mg/cm3, p = 0.009). No significant difference in BMD values was found between idiopathic and congenital scoliosis patients (p > 0.05). Conclusions: This study illustrated that the vertebral body BMD values of the patients with scoliosis were significantly lower than those seen in the control group

Comparison of interferon-gamma whole blood assay with tuberculin skin test for the diagnosis of tuberculosis infection in tuberculosis contacts

WOS: 000246913000004PubMed ID: 17682705Tuberculin skin test which is used for the detection of latent tuberculosis (TB), has many disadvantages such as false positivities due to cross reactions between environmental mycobacteria and BCG strain, false negativities due to immunosuppression and malpractice, and also difficulties in application and evaluation. Recently a new diagnostic test which measures the production of interferon (IFN)gamma in whole blood upon stimulation with specific ESAT-6 and CFP-10 antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been introduced. Since most of the mycobacteria other than tuberculosis and BCG strain do not contain these antigens, the detection of IFN-gamma levels indicates the specific T-cell response against M.tuberculosis. The aim of the study was to compare the tuberculin skin test and whole blood IFN-gamma assay (QuantiFERON (R)-TB Gold, Cellestis Ltd, Carnegie, Victoria, Australia) for the identification of latent TB infection in the contacts with active TB patients. The tests results were evaluated by using Kappa (K) analysis, and K coefficients of 0.75 were accepted as poor, moderate and excellent agreements, respectively. A total of 233 subjects from three risk groups were included to the study. Group 1 included the household members (n=133) who had contact with smear positive index cases, Group 2 included the subjects from community (n=46) who had contact with smear positive index cases, and Group 3 included health care workers (n=74) who had contact with TB patients or their specimens. The positivity rates of tuberculin skin test and IFN-gamma assay in the cases were found as 37% and 42%, respectively. There were no significant differences among the three patient groups with regard to the results of the tuberculin skin test (p > 0.05). However, the positive result of the IFN-gamma assay in Group 1 was found statistically higher than the other groups (51.3%, p=0.013). A poor agreement between the two tests was detected in the results taken from 233 subjects (65.7%, K=0.28), while agreement was moderate in unvaccinated group (72.7%, K=0.44). Evaluation of agreement rates of the tests according to the risk groups yielded 64.6% (K=0.3) for Group 1, 71.7% (K=0.32) for Group 2, and 63.5% (K=0.21) for Group 3, which all coefficients showed poor agreement. Although IFN-gamma blood assay has many advantages such as objective and quantitative results, no interference with vaccination due to the use of specific antigens and being practical, the high cost and the need for well-equipped laboratory are its disadvantages. As a result it was concluded that, IFN-gamma blood assay has limited value for the detection of latent TB infection in our country, since the prevalence of TB infection and BCG vaccination rates are high in Turkey

Evaluation of 2015-2016 MOTAKK HBV DNA and HCV RNA External Quality Assessment National Program Results

MOTAKK, as a national external quality control program has been launched to evaluate the molecular detection of viral infections including HBV DNA and HCV RNA in molecular microbiology diagnostic laboratories in Turkey. This program is prepared in compliance with ISO 17043:2010 (Conformity assessment general requirements for proficiency testing) standards, and aims to take the place of external quality control programs from abroad, contributing to standardization and accuracy of molecular diagnostic tests in our country. The aim of this study was to evaluate 2015 and 2016 results of the MOTAKK External Quality Control Program for HBV DNA and HCV RNA viral load. The calls were announced on the web page of MOTAKK (www.motakk.org). The quality control samples were sent to participating laboratories in 2015 and 2016. Main stocks were prepared from patients with chronic hepatitis B and C who had viral load detection with reference methods according to WHO reference materials for viral load studies to improve quality control sera. From these main stocks, samples with different viral loads were prepared from dilutions of plasma with HBV, HCV, HAV, HIV, Parvovirus B19 and CMV negative serologic markers. Quality control samples were sent to the participating laboratories along with the negative samples in the cold chain. The laboratories accomplished the related tests within 2-3 weeks and entered their results on the MOTAKK web page. These results were analysed according to ISO 13528 (Statistical methods for use in proficiency testing by interlaboratory comparison) and scoring reports were created by a software developed by MOTAKK and sent to participating labs. Each laboratory evaluated their own results in comparison with the other laboratory results, reassessed the tests via observing the distance from the mean result and the reference values. The number of laboratories participating in the HBV DNA and HCV RNA external quality control program was 70-73 in 2015-2016. Participants were able to comply with the program tools, registering, entering results and receiving the results reports problem. In HBV panel, 72.6-89.1% and 84.7-90.3% of the participant laboratories were in 1 standard deviation (SD) in 2015-2016, respectively. In HCV panel, 70.8-89.1% and 84.7-90.3% of the participant laboratories were in 1 SD in 2015-2016, respectively. A national external quality control program for HBV DNA and HCV RNA in Turkey has been prepared for the first time with this project and implemented successfully. All the data provided in the MOTAKK external quality control program final report, compensate all the data provided by the quality control program final reports from abroad; additionally, the report allows comparison of used technologies and commercial products