Inhalation of mercury vapor can cause the toxic effects on rat kidney

Dental amalgam has been used in dentistry as a filling material. The filler comprises mercury (Hg). It is considered one of the most important and widespread environmental pollutants, which poses a serious potential threat for the humans and animals. However, mercury deposition affects the nervous, cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, and especially renal systems. In most animals' species and humans, the kidney is one of the main sites of deposition of mercury and target organ for its toxicity. In this study, the effects of mercury intake on kidney in rats were searched. For the this purpose; we used 24 adult female Wistar albino rats (200g in weight) obtained from Experimental Research and Application Center of Ataturk University with ethical approval. Besides, they were placed into a specially designed glass cage. Along this experiment for 45 days, subjects were exposed to (1mg/m(3)/day) mercury vapor. However, no application was used for the control subjects. At the end of the experiment, kidney samples were obtained from all subjects and processed for routine light microscopic level and stereological aspect were assessed. Finally, according to our results, mercury affects the histological features of the kidney. That means, the severe effects of mercury has been shown using stereological approach, which is one of the ideal quantitative methods in the current literature. In this study, it was detected that chronic exposure to mercury vapor may lead to renal damage and diseases in an experimental rat model

Multiple papular lesions in a patient with HIV and/or AIDS and coinfected with hepatitis B virus: Amyloidosis

Introduction: The most common form of systemic amyloidosis is amyloid A induced by a chronic inflammation. In HIV-infected patients, elevated serum amyloid A levels might be associated with chronic inflammation.Patient presentation: A 43-year-old male patient was admitted to hospital with a complaint of papular lesions around his eyes, existing for four months. The patient is receiving antiretroviral therapy. HIV RNA was undetectable, and the CD4 count was 770 cells/mm3. He suffered from a bladder carcinoma for four years. On examination, periocular, perioral and anogenital papules, papular lesions in the meatus of external auditory canal, and intranasal polyps were observed.Management: Microscopic examination of the biopsy material taken from the periocular lesion and then from perianal polyps revealed eosinophilic deposition, and stained positively by Congo red. Serum amyloid A level was negative. Antiretroviral therapy was continued.Conclusion: A rare form of amyloidosis in a patient with HIV and/or AIDS and coinfected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) was presented here with cutaneous and mucosal lesions

Association between blood group antigens and rheumatic valve involvement and severity ın endemic areas

AbstractBackgroundRheumatic valve disease is an important public health problem in developing countries. We sought to evaluate the possible role of blood antigens as a risk factor for severe rheumatic valve disease.MethodsTwo hundred and fifty-four patients with severe rheumatic mitral and/or aortic valve disease with the surgical indication were enrolled to the study. Control group was composed of age and gender matched 2668 healthy volunteers.ResultsThere were 216 patients with aortic valve involvement and 249 patients with mitral valve involvement. One hundred and seventy-five patients had mitral stenosis, 96 patients had severe mitral regurgitation and 61 patients had severe aortic regurgitation. The distribution of blood groups among patients was as follows: Group A=42.9%, Group B=19.2%, Group AB=8.6%, and Group O=29.1%. The distribution of blood groups in the control group was Group A=40.8%, Group B=16.4%, Group AB=7.6%, and Group O=35.1%. There was no significant difference between blood groups of patients and controls (p=0.141).ConclusionBlood group does not seem to be a risk factor for rheumatic valve involvement or severity of the disease

The role of oxidative stress and effect of alpha-lipoic acid in reexpansion pulmonary edema – an experimental study

Introduction: We investigated the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of reexpansion pulmonary edema (RPE) and effect of alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) in the prevention of RPE

Pulmonary Rehabilitation Using Modified Threshold Inspiratory Muscle Trainer (IMT) in Patients with Tetraplegia

It is aimed to present the usefulness of inspiratory muscle trainer (IMT) in treatment of a 20-year-old male patient with diaphragmatic paralysis and tetraplegia due to spinal cord injury (SCI), and supporting effect of IMT in recovering from respiratory failure by rendering his diaphragm functions. The treatment was applied through the tracheostomy cannula by a modified IMT device. After applying IMT for three weeks, it was observed that the diaphragm recovered its functions in electromyography (EMG) test. As a result, in this study, we present a case where a patient could live without any respiratory device for the rest of his life with the help of modified IMT

The Relationship Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio and Heart Rate Recovery

AimIt has been shown that heart rate recovery index is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular mortality. It has been reported in most epidomiologic studies that an elevated neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio is strongly associated with cardiovascular diseases. The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between heart rate recovery index and neutrophillymphocyte ratio.Materials and MethodsA total of 238 patients who underwent coronary angiography due to abnormal treadmill exercise test results and who admitted to Cardiology Department of Faculty of Medicine at Namık Kemal University were evaluated retrospectively. heart rate recovery index was accepted as abnormal when the difference between peak heart rate at maximal exercise and the heart rate at the first minute of recovery phase is 18 beat or less.ResultsIn the comparison between those with abnormal heart rate recovery index and those with normal heart rate recovery index in terms of neutrophil count and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio was found a significant relationship. (respectively, p=0,027 ve p=0.000).ConclusionConsequently, our findings may potentially suggest that an elevated neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in patients with abnormal heart rate recovery index might be related to cardiovascular mortality and morbidity. The investigation of the prognostic significance of elevated neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio in patients with abnormal heart rate recovery index in future prospective studies will be provide more conclusive evidence

Demographic features of chest trauma patients

G i r i ş : Bu çalışmanın amacı göğüs travması ile başvuran hastaların demografik özelliklerini tanımlamaktır. Gereç ve Yöntem: 01.01.2007-01.01.2008 tarihleri arasında Kırıkkale Yüksek ‹htisas Hastanesi Acil Servisine intihar girişimi nedeniyle başvuran olgular geriye dönük olarak incelendi. Sosyodemografik özellikleri, intihar girişim nedenleri ve şekli, daha öncesinde intihar girişimlerinin olup olmadığına dair bilgiler doldurulan acil servis formlardan ve psikiyatrik kayıtlardan elde edildi. Bulgular: Çalışmaya dahil edilen hastaların 248’i (%65) erkek, 134’ü (%35) kadın olup yaş aralığı 1-85 arasında, yaş ortalaması 39,2014 idi. Yaralanma mekanizması yönünden 215 olguda (%56) penetran toraks travması, 167 olgu- da (%44) künt toraks travması saptandı. Olguların %43’ünde konservatif tedavi ve %37’sinde tüp torakostomi yeter- li olurken, %20 olguda torakotomi uygulanmıştır. Mortalite 24 olgu ile %6,2 olarak saptanmıştır. S o n u ç: Toraks travmaları genellikle birden fazla sistemi ilgilendiren yaralanmalarla oluşabileceğinden, travma konusunda deneyimli ve multidisipliner bir ekip tarafından hastaların değerlendirilmesi ve tedaviye en kısa sürede başlanması uygun olan yaklaşım şeklidir.Objectives: The aim of this study was to define the demographic features of patients presented with chest trau- ma. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in the emergency department of K›r›kkale Yüksek ‹htisas Hospital between 01.01.2003 and 31.12.2007. In the present study, patients were evaluated according to their age, gender, cause of trauma, thoracic injuries and accompanied system pathologies, time of accomplishing a therapy, the therapy modality and mortality. Results: A total of 382 patients were included into the study, 248 (65%) were male and 134 (35%) patients were female. The mean age of the study patients was 39.20±14 years (min-max: 1-85). Two hundred fifteen patients (56%) were presented with penetrating thoracic trauma and 167 patients (44%) with blunt thoracic trauma. Whereas implementation of conservative treatment ratio was 43%, and tube thoracostomy 37% and thoracotomy were implemented in 20% of the patients. Mortality rate was 6.2% (n24). Conclusion: The thoracic trauma patients have usually multisystem injuries requires an experienced and multi- disciplinary team with immediate therapeutic interventions

Evaluation of Early and Midterm Mitral Valve Repair Results in Consecutive Severe Mitral Regurgitation Patients

Study Objectives: Surgical valve repair for mitral regurgitation has significant advantages over valve replacement. In this study, we aimed to investigate the early and mid-term results of mitral valve repair using current techniques in order to find out independent risk factors affecting the early and mid-term outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively studied firstly 192 consecutive adult patients (mean age: 43.2±12.3; 120 females and 72 males) who underwent primary mitral valve repair between January 2012 and July 2018. Risk factors affecting the need for re-operations and late survival were determined via univariate and multivariate analyses. Actuarial survival and event-free curves were compared by linear regression analysis. Results: Operative mortality was 2.6% (5 deaths 0–30th. postoperative day (POD). Late mortality was 3.7% (7/187). Reoperation was required in 16 (8.3%) patients. Kaplan–Meier actuarial survival was 95.8%±2.3% at a mean of 43 months. Survival free from reoperation was 92.8%± 4.2% at 60 months. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that residual NYHA class III and IV, low preoperative ejection fraction, and ischemic MR were independent predictors of mortality. Conclusion: We concluded that mitral valve repair showed excellent survival (except ischemic MR), acceptable re-operation rate with satisfactory valve function in a mid-term follow-up period