Factors affecting successful treatment outcomes in pulmonary tuberculosis: a single-center experience in Turkey, 2005-2011

WOS: 000361523100004PubMed: 26322873Introduction: We aimed to describe the treatment outcomes in patients with bacteriologically confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and identify factors associated with successful treatment outcome. Methodology: The medical charts of patients with smear and/or culture-positive PTB who were treated between 2005 and 2011 at the Kocaeli Tuberculosis Dispensary, Turkey, were reviewed. Patients were categorized as having a successful (cured or with a completed treatment) or poor (treatment default, treatment failure, death) treatment outcome. The association of demographic and clinical factors, including gender, age, education, occupation, insurance, family size, living area, smear and culture positivity, retreatment, comorbidity, drug resistance, and cavity on radiography, with the success of treatment, was evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: Of 738 patients (258 females, 480 males) with bacteriologically confirmed PTB, 683 (92.6%) had successful treatment outcomes. Of those with a poor outcome, 29 (3.9%) had treatment default, 18 (2.4%) died, and 8 (1.1%) had treatment failure. Young age, no previous treatment, no comorbidity, no drug resistance, and high education level were factors significantly associated with successful PTB treatment outcome (p < 0.05 for all). Conclusions: Treatment outcome was successful in young and educated PTB patients who had drug resistance, previous treatment history, and no comorbidities. Knowledge of the factors affecting treatment success will lead to the undertaking of specific measures in the management of PTB, which may help to decrease treatment failure

A Novel Mutation in the SLC19A2 Gene in a Turkish Female with Thiamine-responsive Megaloblastic Anemia Syndrome

Reported here is a 2-year-old girl who was diagnosed to have thiamine-responsive megaloblastic anemia during evaluations for her bilateral neurosensorial deafness. Besides reporting a new mutation on the gene SLC19A2 for the first time in the literature, we highlight the recognition of this syndrome-when megaloblastic anemia and diabetes mellitus coexists-and the role of thiamine replacement for the treatment of both disorders

Relationship between obesity and iron deficiency anemia: is there a role of hepcidin?

Objectives: Iron deficiency is common in obese children although the underlying mechanism is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the associations between iron parameters, leptin, hepcidin and adiponectin levels in obese children. Methods: A total of 237 children, ranging in age from 5 to 18 years, 180 with primary obesity and 57 healthy children and adolescents, were enrolled. Complete blood count, serum iron levels, iron-binding capacity, ferritin levels, leptin, hepcidin and adiponectin levels were studied. Results: White blood cell and platelet count, iron-binding capacity, high-sensitive C-reactive protein, leptin and hepcidin values in the obese group were higher than those of the control group (p <0.001, p = 0.002, p < 0.001, p <0.001, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). However, mean corpuscular volume, adiponectin and transferrin saturation values in the obese group were lower than in the control group (p = 0.026, p = 0.003, and p < 0.001, respectively). No significant differences were found in terms of hemoglobin, serum ferritin, iron and IL-6 levels. Conclusions: Our study suggests that hepcidin levels do not contribute to the development of iron deficiency anemia in pediatric obese individuals