A case of alcohol-related emphysematous cystitis

Emphysematous cystitis (EC) is a very rare urinary tract infectious disease that can be fatal if not treated. In general, it frequently occurs in diabetic women and is thought to be associated with gas-producing bacteria. Type 2 diabetes mellitus, immunosuppression, drugs (mostly steroids), neurogenic bladder and instrumentation are the major risk factors of this type of infection. We present a case of emphysematous cystitis in a 53-year-old male, in which the patient does not have any classical risk factors associated with EC other than alcohol consumption. To the best of our knowledge, the only case in the literature where this type of infection develops without a classical risk factor and negative urine culture. It is also one of the rare EC cases that may be associated with alcohol use

Intracardiac and intracerebral thrombosis associated with methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase A1298C homozygote mutation in paediatric steroidresistant nephrotic syndrome

Thromboembolic complications are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in cases of nephrotic syndrome. Hereditary thrombophilias are also known to increase vascular thrombosis. We present a case that has been followed up for steroid-resistant nephrotic syndrome (NS) in which intracardiac and intracranial thrombosis subsequently developed. The patient was found to have a homozygote mutation in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene as an additional risk factor for recurrent thrombosis. MTHFR mutation with NS was considered to have an important effect on the development of life-threatening thrombosis

Postural balance in women with osteoporosis and effective factors

Introduction: The most common cause of mortality and morbidity among osteoporotic individuals is bone fracture which in many cases is a direct result of falls. Individual factors contributing to the risk of fall are poor postural balance and lack of muscle strength. Our aims were to assess postural dynamic balance in osteoporotic women and to describe the effective factors on the balance performance. Methods: Twenty osteoporotic women with kyphosis, 50 osteoporotic women without kyphosis, and 30 healthy women were included in the study. Anterior/Posterior (AP), Medial/Lateral (ML) and Overall (OA) stability indices were obtained using Biodex Stability System (Biodex Medical System, Shirley, NY). Subjects were tested both with eyes open and eyes closed. Quadriceps-hamstring muscles' strength were measured with isokinetic system at angular speeds of 60-180-300°/sec. Results: OA, AP, ML stability indices in the group with osteoporosis were found to be statistically significantly higher in the open-eyed balance test. When a correlation analysis was performed on all osteoporotic patients, a negative correlation was detected between balance stability indices and knee flexion-extension strength at 60°/sec and knee flexion strength at 300°/sec. Multivariable regression analysis revealed knee extension strength at 60°/sec to be the most effective factor contributing to balance in osteoporotic patients. Conclusion: Postural balance in osteoporotic women presenting is significantly worse than in the healthy women and the factor exerting the greatest influence on balance is quadriceps muscle strength. Therefore, particular importance must be given to balance and quadriceps strengthening exercises in order to prevent falls in osteoporotic patients

Acute effect of whole body vibration on balance in blind vs. no-blind athletes: a preliminary study

Purpose: Aim of this preliminary study was to explore the acute effects of whole body vibration (WBV) on balance and stabilometric parameters, in blind and sighted athletes, during the 20-min post-intervention. Methods: Eleven congenitally adult blind athletes (Experimental Group; EG), and ten coetaneous normally sighted soccer athletes (Control Groups; CG) volunteered for this study. Postural sways of all the participants were assessed with a stabilometric platform before and after WBV exposure. The CG was assessed both with closed and open eyes (CGc and CGo, respectively). Four stabilometric parameters relative to the center of pressure displacement were considered for the analysis: AREA, LENGTH, AV-DIST, SPEED-VAR. Results: The multivariate analysis showed that all the four stabilometric parameters significantly differed between EG, and CG (p = 0.0005), but not significant differences were found between the pre- vs. post-WBV exposure assessments (p = 0.377). Conclusions: The results suggested that WBV does not produce significant acute perturbation or alteration of posture, both in sighted and blind athlete. Consequently, WBV can be safely used by blind athletes as well as in sighted due the absence of acute side effects

Differences and similarities of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, Kawasaki disease and macrophage activating syndrome due to systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a comparative study

To compare the clinical and laboratory findings of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), patients with Kawasaki disease (KD) and with macrophage activating syndrome due to systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis (sJIA-MAS) on real-life data. Patients diagnosed with MIS-C, KD, and sJIA-MAS from 12 different centers in Turkey who were followed for at least 6 months were included in the study. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory findings of all patients were analyzed. A total of 154 MIS-C, 59 KD, and 31 sJIA-MAS patients were included. The median age of patients with MIS-C were higher than those with KD while lower than those with sJIA-MAS (8.2, 3, 12 years, respectively). Myalgia (39.6%), cardiac (50.6%), gastrointestinal (72.7%), and neurological (22.1%) involvements were more common in patients with MIS-C compared to others. MIS-C patients had lower levels of lymphocyte (950 vs 1700 cells/µl) and thrombocyte (173,000 vs 355,000 cells/µl) counts and higher pro-BNP (1108 vs 55 pg/ml) levels than KD. Ferritin levels were higher in patients with MIS-C compared to patients with KD while they were lower than patients with sJIA-MAS (440, 170, 10,442 ng/ml, respectively). Patients with MIS-C had a shorter duration of hospitalization than sJIA-MAS (p = 0.02) while they required intensive care unit admission more frequently (55 vs 8 patients, p 0.001). The median MAS/sJIA score of MIS-C patients was ? 1.64 (? 5.23 to 9.68) and the median MAS/sJIA score of sJIA-MAS patients was ?2.81 ([? 3.79] to [? 1.27]). MIS-C patients displayed certain differences in clinical and laboratory features when compared to KD and sJIA-MAS. Definition of the differences and similarities between MIS-C and the other intense inflammatory syndromes of childhood such as KD and MAS will help the clinicians while making timely diagnosis. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature