Introducing a new risk factor for Lumbar Disc Herniation in females : vertical angle of the sacral curvature

Kanat, Ayhan/0000-0002-8189-2877WOS: 000313134700003PubMed: 23323164Objective : To characterize the importance of the vertical angle of the sacral curvature (VASC) in lumbar disc herniations. Methods : Morphological data derived from lumbar sagittal MRI imaging. the statistical significance of the findings are discussed. the angles of 60 female patients with lumbar disc herniations (LDH) were compared with the 34 female patients without LDH. Results : 128 of the 185 patients met our inclusion criteria. the vertical angle of sacral curvature is statistically significantly bigger in females with lumbar disc herniations when compared to subjects in control group, 28.32 and 25.4, respectively. (p=0.034<0.05). Same difference was not seen in males. Conclusion : the vertical angle of sagittal sacral curvature may be another risk factor in females with lumbar disc herniations

Pleural complications of hydatid disease

AbstractObjective: The aim of this retrospective study was to review pleural and pericardial complications of patients with hydatid cysts and to analyze the management of therapy for these patients. Methods: Between 1991 and 2001, 43 (29.7%) of 145 patients presented with pleural and pericardial complications. These patients had spontaneous pneumothorax (6.2%), empyema (7.6%), pleural thickening (10.3%), hepatopleural fistula (2.8%), pericarditis (2.1%), and hepatobronchial fistula (0.7%). There were 22 male and 21 female patients, with a mean age of 30 years. Results: The most common symptom was chest pain (79.1%). In 37 (86.1%) of 43 patients, the cysts were unilateral. The ratio of ruptured cysts was 88.4%. In most of the patients, hydatid cysts developed in the right lung (62.9%) and the lower lobes of the lung (70.4%). Multiple cysts were found in 8 (18.6%) patients. The most common surgical techniques were cystotomy with capitonnage (55.7%) and decortication (69.8%). Radical lung resection was used in 14% of the patients. The morbidity rate was 16.3%, and the mortality rate was 2.3%. The mean follow-up was 19 months with no recurrence. Conclusions: Although lung-preserving surgical interventions should be preferred, radical surgical procedures have been used more commonly in patients with pleural complications of hydatid cysts, and the postoperative morbidity rate was higher in these patients. Because of this, the surgical treatment should be carried out before the development of pleural complications. In addition, echinococcosis should be considered and included in the differential diagnosis of spontaneous pneumothorax and empyema.J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2002;123:492-

Dirençli granülomatöz polianjiitis olgusu

Vaskülitler, kan damarlarının inflamatuvardestrüksiyonu ile karakterize heterojen bir grup hastalıktır. Vaskülitler tutulan damar özelliğine göre klinik bulgu verebilir. Primer vaskülitler damar tutulum özelliklerine göre büyük, orta ve küçük damar vasküliti olarak ayrılır. Granülomatöz polianjiitis GPA ANCA ilişkili küçük damar vaskülitidir. GPA sınırlı ve sistemik tutulumla seyredebilir. Bu olgu, akciğer tutulumu olan sistemik ve sınırlı GPA olgularında tedavive yan etkileri paylaşmak için sunulmuştu

Vaccine breakthrough hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia in patients with auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs

Life-threatening `breakthrough' cases of critical COVID-19 are attributed to poor or waning antibody response to the SARS- CoV-2 vaccine in individuals already at risk. Pre-existing autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing type I IFNs underlie at least 15% of critical COVID-19 pneumonia cases in unvaccinated individuals; however, their contribution to hypoxemic breakthrough cases in vaccinated people remains unknown. Here, we studied a cohort of 48 individuals ( age 20-86 years) who received 2 doses of an mRNA vaccine and developed a breakthrough infection with hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia 2 weeks to 4 months later. Antibody levels to the vaccine, neutralization of the virus, and auto- Abs to type I IFNs were measured in the plasma. Forty-two individuals had no known deficiency of B cell immunity and a normal antibody response to the vaccine. Among them, ten (24%) had auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs (aged 43-86 years). Eight of these ten patients had auto-Abs neutralizing both IFN-a2 and IFN-., while two neutralized IFN-omega only. No patient neutralized IFN-ss. Seven neutralized 10 ng/mL of type I IFNs, and three 100 pg/mL only. Seven patients neutralized SARS-CoV-2 D614G and the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) efficiently, while one patient neutralized Delta slightly less efficiently. Two of the three patients neutralizing only 100 pg/mL of type I IFNs neutralized both D61G and Delta less efficiently. Despite two mRNA vaccine inoculations and the presence of circulating antibodies capable of neutralizing SARS-CoV-2, auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs may underlie a significant proportion of hypoxemic COVID-19 pneumonia cases, highlighting the importance of this particularly vulnerable population

Case Series: Pericardial gossypibomas detected after cardiovascular surgery: Imaging findings

We present the chest radiograph, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of three pericardial gossypibomas, which are rarely reported and an exceptional complication of cardiovascular surgery. The diagnosis is usually possible with surgical history, high clinical suspicion, and awareness of variable imaging findings. Usage of sponges with radiopaque markers facilitates early detection by chest radiographs and CT. In case of radiolucent gossypibomas, specific MRI features help to differentiate this pathology from other masses and diffusion-weighted images can be used to distinguish it from an abscess

Development of Giant Substernal Thyroid After Thyroidectomy: A Case Report

The origins of mediastinal masses could be traumatic, infectious, degenerative, or neoplastic origin. Occasionaly substernal goiters could grow into the mediastinum leading to giant mediastinal masses. We report a case of a 55-year-old female patient admitted to our clinic with major complaints of chronic cough and dyspnea. Mass that extended from the posterior mediastinum and multiple nodules in the left thyroid lobe were detected in thorax computed tomography which lead to operation . As in our case The development of a giant mediastinal mass in recurrent thyroid patients after thyroidectomy could occur rarely. [Cukurova Med J 2012; 37(4.000): 234-237

Synchronous, Multiple Primary Lung Cancers: A Report of Three Cases

Multiple primary lung cancers (MPLC) are named synchronous if determined simultaneously with the index tumor, and metachronous if the second tumor is diagnosed with an accepted time after the first tumor. It is important for both the rate of survival and treatment alternatives to differentiate synchronous MPLCs from the metastases of the primary lung tumors, and also from the multiple pulmonary metastases of the extra pulmonary tumors. In this study, clinical characteristics, diagnosis and treatment processes of three synchronous MPLC cases diagnosed in our department were assessed

Phenotyping of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Using the Modified Bhalla Scoring System for High-Resolution Computed Tomography

BACKGROUND: Identifying different phenotypes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is important for both therapeutic options and clinical outcome of the disease

Impact of cognitive functions on the quality of spirometry performance in patients with COPD

OBJECTIVE: We researched the relationship between the cognitive scores and the error codes which determine pulmonary function test (PFT) compliance accompanied by the phenotypic findings of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients in a stable condition with COPD, who were diagnosed with the criteria recommended in the international guidelines, were included in the study. PFTs were requested from all the patients during the regular outpatient admission. The following tests were applied to all the patients in a 30-min test session; COPD assessment test, modified British Medical Research Council and neurophysiological tests (Mini-Mental Test, Trail Making Test Part A and B, Clock Drawing Test, Straight and Backward Digit Span, Brown Peterson Task and Verbal Fluency Test). We analyzed the statistical relationship between data collected after cognitive tests and PFT quality data. RESULTS: The study was concluded with a total of 70 patients. When the PFT evaluations of the patients were examined, the percentage of patients who correctly fulfilled the repeatability criteria was found as 28%, who met the acceptability criteria as 57%, and who correctly fulfilled both criteria as 14%. The relationship between the results of patients, who fulfilled both repeatability and acceptability criteria correctly and incorrectly at the same time, with the backward digit span test results was found to be significant (P < 0.05). It was found that the Mini-Mental Test was significantly better in those who performed all of the repeatability and acceptability criteria without errors than the other groups. When the PFT criteria of the patients were evaluated according to the cognitive test results, it was determined that the relationship between the Mini-Mental Test and the results of performing the repeatability and acceptability criteria together was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Error codes that identify the compliance in PFTs could be used as predictors of cognitive impairment in COPD

The relationship between patient age and sensitivity to known risk factors for asthma attacks

AMAÇ: Astım atağı nedeniyle yatırılarak tedavi edilen hastaların çeşitli risk faktörlerinin yaş gruplarına göre atak ağırlığındaki belir- leyiciliği ve ilişkisi araştırıldı.GEREÇ VE YÖNTEMLER: Astım atağı tanısıyla hastaneye yatırılan 80 hasta çalışmaya dâhil edildi. Olgular 65 yaş altı (n=36; 52,5±7,6) ve üstü (n=44; 72,5±5,2) olmak üzere 2 gruba ayrılarak değerlendirildi. Hastaların demografik özellikleri, astım başlangıç yaşı ve astım süresi, astım ağırlık derecesi, atak şiddeti, atopi, atopik hastalıklar, ilaç ve besin alerjisi, ek hastalıklar, son 1 ay ve 3 ay içindeki tedavi durumu, atak nedeni, yatış süresi, astım nedeniyle son 1 yıl içinde acil servis ve hastaneye yatış sayısı, astım nede- niyle yaşamı boyunca toplam hastaneye yatış sayısı kaydedildi. Hastaların yatış ve çıkışta solunum fonksiyon testleri ve arter kan gazları alındı. BULGULAR: Altmış beş yaş üstü hastalarda osteoporoz varlığı, küf mantarı için cilt testi pozitifliği, son 1 aydaki teofilin kullanımının atak ağırlığını artırdığı tespit edildi. 65 yaş üstünde astım ağırlığın- dan bağımsız olarak atak şiddetinin daha ağır olduğu tespit edildi. Son 1 ay ve son 3 ayda her iki yaş grubundaki hastaların düzensiz tedavi aldığı belirlendi. SONUÇ: Yaşlı astım hastalarında teofilin kullanımı, küf mantarı duyarlılığı, biomas maruziyeti gelecekteki astım ataklarını önle- mek için daha dikkatli sorgulanmalı ve rehberler doğrultusunda gerekli koruyucu önlemler önerilmelidir.OBJECTIVE: The characteristics of patients hospitalised for an asth- ma attack were evaluated to delineate the impact of age on sensitiv- ity to risk factors for this condition. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Eighty patients hospitalised for an asthma attack were included in this cross-sectional study. Patients were divided into two age groups; younger than 65-years-old (52.5&plusmn;7.6 years, n=36) and older than 65-years-old (72.5&plusmn;5.2 years, n=44). A questionnaire was used to collect data on demographics, initial age and duration of asthma, atopy, atopic diseases, drug and food allergies, additional diseases, treatments during the previous 1 and 3 months, cause of attacks, duration of hospital stay, number of emergency visits and hospitalisation due to asthma over the last year, and all past hospital stays. Pulmonary function tests were per- formed upon admittance and discharge, and parameters of arterial blood gases were recorded.RESULTS: The severity of asthma attacks was greater in the older cohort of patients with risk factors including osteoporosis, positive skin test for mould, or theophylline use in the previous month. In- dependent of these variables, the severity of attacks was greater in patients over the age of 65. Irregular treatments in both age groups were noted over the previous one and three months. CONCLUSION: Theophylline use, mould sensitivity and biomass exposure in elderly patients with asthma should be questioned more carefully and protective measures taken to avoid these risks in keep- ing with the recommended guidelines