The Relationship of the BRAF(V600E) Mutation and the Established Prognostic Factors in Papillary Thyroid Carcinomas

WOS: 000307518400001PubMed ID: 22767446It has been shown that BRAF(V600E) mutation in papillary thyroid carcinomas (PTC) is associated both with pathogenesis and poor prognosis. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship of the BRAF(V600E) mutation and the established prognostic factors in a cohort of Turkish patients with PTC. Forty-six cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma have been evaluated for the presence of BRAF(V600E) mutation. BRAF(V600E) has been examined by restriction fragment length polymorphism. BRAF(V600E) mutation status has been compared with well-known histopathological and clinical prognostic parameters such as invasion of thyroid capsule, extrathyroidal extension, and the presence of lymph node and/or distant metastasis. We have found that BRAF(V600E) mutation was present in the majority of our cases (40/46). Considering the stage of the disease, five of the negative cases were in stage 1 while the remaining one was in stage 2. Only one BRAF(V600E) negative case has shown extrathyroidal extension and lymph node metastasis. All four patients with distant metastasis had BRAF(V600E) mutation. Statistical analyses revealed that there are no significant relationship between the BRAF(V600E) mutation and the established prognostic factors. We found a relatively higher BRAF(V600E) mutation rate in classical type PTC than in other similar studies. We think that the limited number of our cases may either weaken or mask some potentially important relationship between BRAF(V600E) mutation and the established prognostic factors.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [19816]The authors would like to thank to Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) for their support (Grant No: 19816). We also would like to express our sincere appreciation to FAVOR (FMF Arthritis Vasculitis and Orphan Diseases Research) laboratories at Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Institute of Health Sciences for their supports in conducting the experiments and invaluable guidance for the preparation of the manuscript

Influence of prenatal risks of pregnant women on mental symptoms

WOS: 000334279100009Objective: In this study, it was aimed to investigate the influence of prenatal risk indicator scores of pregnant women on mental symptoms. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out with 142 pregnant women who were admitted to obstetrics clinic of a state hospital in Izmir province and who stated that they were not diagnosed with any psychiatric diseases. A form questioning socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics of pregnant women, Prenatal Risk Indicator aiming at determining risk of pregnant women and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) aiming at screening mental symptoms were used for data collection. Results: The most common risk factors according to risk indicator were detected as experiencing urinary tract infection during the current pregnancy, being nulliparous, receiving late or insufficient prenatal care and inadequate weight gain and almost half of the pregnant women were found to be high risk. In addition, it was found that BSI scores were low, paranoid thought scores were high in high risk women and there was a positive correlation and phobic anxiety scores of all pregnant women were equal. Conclusion: High risk pregnant women were detected to have paranoid thoughts and all pregnant women found to experience phobic anxiety equally

Does Combined Antipsychotic Treatment Provide Better Control on Symptoms in Patients with Schizophrenia than the Monotherapy?

Objective: Combined antipsychotic treatment is frequently used in clinical practice either to improve the symptom control or to reduce the severity of side effects. The expected benefits by combining different antipsychotics include active cross-titration and co-utilization of different administration routes of the therapeutic agents. However, except the add-on therapies to clozapine, there is no objective evidence implying the superiority of combined therapy over monotherapy. Furthermore, there are a number of published case reports of significant side effects accompanying combined antipsychotic usage such as extrapyramidal and metabolic symptoms, seizures, and electrocardiographic abnormalities. It is also argued that switching into a new therapeutic agent might be more beneficial than augmenting the ongoing medication by polypharmacy. Here, we studied on a group of hospitalized schizophrenia patients in a training and research hospital in Turkey whether the Positive and Negative Symptom Scale (PANSS) scores differ between the patients under monotherapy and combined therapy