Serum Ischaemia-modified albumin concentration in hyperemesis gravidarum

Introduction: The role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of hyperemesis gravidarum (HEG) has been demonstrated in a lot of studies. The present study aimed to compare the ischaemia-modified albumin (IMA) serum levels of patients diagnosed with HEG with healthy pregnant women, and to investigate whether oxidative stress caused increased serum IMA in HEG. Methods: Pregnant women were classified into a group diagnosed with HEG (n=45) and an age- and body mass index-matched control group without HEG (n=45). Serum IMA levels were assessed by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Results: Serum IMA levels were higher in the HEG group than the control group (HEG: 8.2 +/- 0.2 ng/mL, control: 6.9 +/- 03 ng/mL, p<0.001). Conclusion: We found that HEG was related to increased maternal serum IMA levels. The high levels of IMA in HEG can he considered as a reflection of increased oxidative stress

Hastaların Ameliyat Öncesi Dönemde Korku Düzeyleri İle Öğrenim Gereksinimleri Arasındaki İlişki

Giriş: Cerrahi müdahale geçirecek hastaların %60-80’inin ameliyat öncesinde sürece yönelik korku hissettikleri ve korkunun cerrahi süreci olumsuz etkilediği bilinmektedir. Yaşanılan bu korku hastaların öğrenme gereksininmlerini de etkilemektedir. Amaç: Bu araştırma cerrahi müdahale geçirecek hastaların yaşadığı korku ile öğrenim gereksinimleri durumları arasındaki ilişkiyi belirlemek amacıyla yapıldı. Yöntem: Araştırma, Eylül 2018- Ocak 2019 arasında Batı Karadeniz bölgesinde yer alan bir üniversite hastanesinin genel cerrahi kliniğinde ameliyat olmak için kabul edilen hastalar üzerinde yapıldı. Verilerin toplanmasında “Hasta Tanılama Formu”, “Hasta Öğrenim Gereksinimleri Ölçeği” ve “Cerrahi Korku Ölçeği” kullanıldı. Bulgular: Araştırmaya katılanların %85.6’sının 18-65 yaş aralığında olduğu, %43.2 'sinin lise eğitim düzeyinde, %57.6 ‘sının kronik hastalığının bulunmadığı saptandı.Ameliyat öncesinde hastaların hasta öğrenim gereksinimleri puanı ile sosyodemografik özellikleri arasındaki ilişkinin incelendiği analiz sonuçlarına göre yaş, eğitim düzeyi, kronik hastalık durumu değişkenleri ile hasta öğrenim gereksinimleri ölçeği puanı arasında anlamlı ilişki saptandı (p&lt;0.05). Sonuç ve Öneriler: Araştırma sonucunda hastaların yaşadıkları korku ile öğrenme gereksinimleri arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı olmamakla birlikte, negatif yönde zayıf bir ilişki bulundu. Ayrıca ameliyat olacak genel cerrahi hastalarının öğrenim gereksinimlerinin yüksek olduğu bulundu. Çalışma farklı hasta gruplarında ve daha kapsamlı örneklemler üzerinde denenerek kesin yargılara ulaşılabilir

Identifying Clinical Characteristics of Hypoparathyroidism in Turkey: HIPOPARATURK-NET Study

Hypoparathyroidism is an orphan disease with ill-defined epidemiology that is subject to geographic variability. We conducted this study to assess the demographics, etiologic distribution, treatment patterns and complication frequency of patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism in Turkey. This is a retrospective, cross-sectional database study, with collaboration of 30 endocrinology centers located in 20 cities across seven geographical regions of Turkey. A total of 830 adults (mean age 49.6 ± 13.5 years; female 81.2%) with hypoparathyroidism (mean duration 9.7 ± 9.0 years) were included in the final analysis. Hypoparathyroidism was predominantly surgery-induced (n = 686, 82.6%). The insulting surgeries was carried out mostly due to benign causes in postsurgical group (SG) (n = 504, 73.5%) while patients in nonsurgical group (NSG) was most frequently classified as idiopathic (n = 103, 71.5%). The treatment was highly dependent on calcium salts (n = 771, 92.9%), calcitriol (n = 786, 94.7%) and to a lower extent cholecalciferol use (n = 635, 76.5%) while the rate of parathyroid hormone (n = 2, 0.2%) use was low. Serum calcium levels were most frequently kept in the normal range (sCa 8.5–10.5 mg/dL, n = 383, 46.1%) which might be higher than desired for this patient group. NSG had a lower mean plasma PTH concentration (6.42 ± 5.53 vs. 9.09 ± 7.08 ng/l, p < 0.0001), higher daily intake of elementary calcium (2038 ± 1214 vs. 1846 ± 1355 mg/day, p = 0.0193) and calcitriol (0.78 ± 0.39 vs. 0.69 ± 0.38 mcg/day, p = 0.0057), a higher rate of chronic renal disease (9.7% vs. 3.6%, p = 0.0017), epilepsy (6.3% vs. 1.6%, p = 0.0009), intracranial calcifications (11.8% vs. 7.3%, p < 0.0001) and cataracts (22.2% vs. 13.7%, p = 0.0096) compared to SG. In conclusion, postsurgical hypoparathyroidism is the dominant etiology of hypoparathyroidism in Turkey while the nonsurgical patients have a higher disease burden with greater need for medications and increased risk of complications than the postsurgical patients. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature

Children with Behçet Disease-associated Thrombosis: A Single-Center Experience

Behçet disease (BD) is a systemic vasculitis that can be complicated with thrombosis, which is an important cause of mortality and morbidity. The course of BD is more severe, and the diagnosis is usually delayed. In children, thrombosis associated with BD is very rare. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the characteristics of children with BD complicated with thrombosis. Forty-six patients with BD who were followed-up at a pediatric rheumatology department between January 2012 and September 2019 were evaluated retrospectively. Thrombosis was detected in 10 patients (21.7%), and it was the first sign of BD in 7 patients. Four patients had cerebral sinus venous thrombosis, 4 patients had deep-vein thrombosis, 1 patient had renal vein thrombosis, 1 had pulmonary artery thrombosis, and 1 had intracardiac thrombosis. None of the patients had arterial thrombosis. All patients had received anticoagulant therapy with immunosuppressive treatment. Any complication due to anticoagulant therapy was not detected. One patient had recurrent thrombosis, and none of the patients died during follow-up. Vasculitic diseases such as BD may cause a predisposition to thrombosis, and thrombosis might be the first sign of BD. Therefore, in children presenting with unprovoked thrombosis, BD should also be investigated. © 2021 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved

Behcet's disease and renal failure

Background. The aims of this study were (i) to investigate the prevalence of Behcet's disease (BD) among dialysis patients in Turkey, (ii) to report the clinical characteristics of patients with BD and endstage renal disease (ESRD), (iii) to evaluate the effect of ESRD on course and activity of BD and (iv) to analyse the published data about BD and renal failure. Methods. A questionnaire investigating BD among dialysis patients was submitted to 350 dialysis centres and we obtained the data for 20 596 patients from 331 dialysis centres. We submitted a second questionnaire regarding clinical characteristics of the patients with BD and ESRD. The PubMed and Web of Science databases were used for the analysis of BD and renal failure. Results. Fourteen patients with BD were determined and the prevalence of BD was 0.07% among 20 596 dialysis patients in Turkey. None of the patients has had a new manifestation of BD after initiation of haemodialysis treatment. The analysis of previous data about renal BD demonstrated 67 patients with renal failure. Conclusions. The most common cause of renal failure in BD is amyloidosis. Routine urine analysis and measurement of serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels are needed for early diagnosis. Vascular access-related problems are common and the activity of BD appears to decrease in patients with ESRD after initiation of haemodialysis

Identifying clinical characteristics of hypoparathyroidism in Turkey: HIPOPARATURK‑NET study

Hypoparathyroidism is an orphan disease with ill-defined epidemiology that is subject to geographic variability. We conducted this study to assess the demographics, etiologic distribution, treatment patterns and complication frequency of patients with chronic hypoparathyroidism in Turkey. This is a retrospective, cross-sectional database study, with collaboration of 30 endocrinology centers located in 20 cities across seven geographical regions of Turkey. A total of 830 adults (mean age 49.6 ± 13.5 years; female 81.2%) with hypoparathyroidism (mean duration 9.7 ± 9.0 years) were included in the final analysis. Hypoparathyroidism was predominantly surgery-induced (n = 686, 82.6%). The insulting surgeries was carried out mostly due to benign causes in postsurgical group (SG) (n = 504, 73.5%) while patients in nonsurgical group (NSG) was most frequently classified as idiopathic (n = 103, 71.5%). The treatment was highly dependent on calcium salts (n = 771, 92.9%), calcitriol (n = 786, 94.7%) and to a lower extent cholecalciferol use (n = 635, 76.5%) while the rate of parathyroid hormone (n = 2, 0.2%) use was low. Serum calcium levels were most frequently kept in the normal range (sCa 8.5–10.5 mg/dL, n = 383, 46.1%) which might be higher than desired for this patient group. NSG had a lower mean plasma PTH concentration (6.42 ± 5.53 vs. 9.09 ± 7.08 ng/l, p < 0.0001), higher daily intake of elementary calcium (2038 ± 1214 vs. 1846 ± 1355 mg/day, p = 0.0193) and calcitriol (0.78 ± 0.39 vs. 0.69 ± 0.38 mcg/day, p = 0.0057), a higher rate of chronic renal disease (9.7% vs. 3.6%, p = 0.0017), epilepsy (6.3% vs. 1.6%, p = 0.0009), intracranial calcifications (11.8% vs. 7.3%, p < 0.0001) and cataracts (22.2% vs. 13.7%, p = 0.0096) compared to SG. In conclusion, postsurgical hypoparathyroidism is the dominant etiology of hypoparathyroidism in Turkey while the nonsurgical patients have a higher disease burden with greater need for medications and increased risk of complications than the postsurgical patients

Acinetobacterspp in Intensive Care Unit: Risk Factors Associated with Infection and Mortality

Purpose: Acinetobacter was known as a saprophytic colonizer, yet it is considered an important etiologic agent which is isolated from hospital-acquired infections. In this study, we aimed to investigate fatality rates, factors for fatality of Acinetobacter infections and relationship between combination therapies and survival.Patients and Methods: We evaluated patients with Acinetobacter infection in ICU for demographic and clinical characteristics, combination therapies and adverse effects of these therapeutic options, retrospectively.Results: Ninety-one patients with proved Acinetobacter infection were included in this study. We found that the fatality rate of Acinetobacter infection in ICU was 56%. Advanced age, carbapenem resistance and Acinetobacter isolation from respiratory secretions were significantly related with fatality.  We found that carbapenem resistance increased steadily during a 5 year period, fatality rates significantly decreased with combination therapies including aminoglycosides. There wasn’t significant relation between colistin therapy and survival in patients with Acinetobacter infections.Conclusion: The patients should be well-assessed in terms of fatality risk factors in case of Acinetobacter infections that occur in the intensive care units. The empirical antibiotic treatment started earlier based on such risk factors may decrease fatality. The antimicrobial combinations including aminoglycoside may be considered more in order to the local resistance data

Evaluation of the use of Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) data for developing evidence-based tobacco control policies in Turkey

Introduction The tobacco control effort in Turkey has made significant progress in recent years. Turkey initiated its tobacco control effort with the passing of Law 4207 (The Prevention of Harmful Effects of Tobacco Products) in 1996 and ratified the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2004. It is important to base policy decisions on valid and reliable evidence from population-based, representative studies that are periodically repeated to enable policy makers to monitor the results of their interventions and to appropriately tailor anti-tobacco activities towards future needs. Methods The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) was developed to track tobacco use among young people and enhance the capacity of countries to design, implement, and evaluate tobacco control and prevention programs. Turkey conducted the GYTS in 2003 and data from this survey can be used as baseline measures for evaluation of the tobacco control programs implemented by the Ministry of Health (MOH) of the Turkish government. Results The GYTS was conducted in 2003 on a representative sample of students aged 13 to 15 years. It indicated that almost 3 in 10 students in Turkey had ever smoked cigarettes, with significantly higher rates among boys. Current cigarette smoking rates were lower, at 9% for boys and 4% for girls. The prevalence of current use of other tobacco products was about half these figures for each gender. About 80% were exposed to secondhand smoke. Exposure to pro-smoking media messages was not rare. Almost half of the smokers 'usually' bought their tobacco from a store, despite the law prohibiting this. Exposure to teaching against smoking in schools was not universal. Conclusion Findings from the GYTS, with periodic repeats of the survey, can be used to monitor the impact of enforcing various provisions of the present law (No: 4207), the progress made in achieving the goals of the WHO FCTC, and the effectiveness of various preventive interventions against smoking. Such data would inform and help in the development of public health strategy.PubMedWoSScopu