Lipid Profile and Inflammation in Degenerative Valvular Disease

Aim: Degenerative valvular heart disease (DVHD) may cause serious cardiac problems and mortality. Determination of the factors related to DVHD may render possible the prevention and/or slowing down the progression of DVHD. In this study, we evaluated the relationship of DVHD with lipid profile, microalbuminuria and high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels. Methods: 50 patients (age=65.6±12.4 years) with DVHD were compared with the control group including 20 patients (age=57.3±13.9 years) with left ventricle hypertrophy, but no DVHD. Microalbuminuria, blood lipid parameters and hsCRP levels were measured besides routine biochemical tests. Clinical, laboratory and echocardiographic findings were compared between the groups. Results: Total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol levels were significantly higher in DVHD group (215.26±48.59 mg/dL vs. 177.45±22.47 mg/dL, p=0.001; 45.04±11.03 mg/dL vs. 38.90±11.82 mg/dL, p=0.043 and 138.49±40.69 mg/dL vs. 114.26±16.07 mg/dL, p=0.001) compared with control group. hsCRP and microalbuminuria levels were relatively higher in DVHD group. Conclusion: Hyperlipidaemia is related to DHVD development, and the progress of DHVD may be related to the inflammatory process. Elevated hsCRP levels may be an indicator of pathologies active in DVHD development. Routine echocardiographic analysis in hypertensive patients with high hsCRP and LDL-cholesterol levels might be useful for screening of DVHD. (The Medical Bulletin of Haseki 2015; 53: 62-6

Lingual Thyroid Excision with Transoral Robotic Surgery

Ectopic thyroid gland may be detected at any place between foramen caecaum and normal thyroid localization due to inadequacy of the embryological migration of the thyroid gland. It has a prevalence varying between 1/10.000 and 1/100000 in the community. Usually follow-up without treatment is preferred except for obstructive symptoms, bleeding, and suspicion of malignity. Main symptoms are dysphagia, dysphonia, bleeding, dyspnea, and obstructive sleep apnea. In symptomatic cases, the first described method in surgical treatment is open approach since it is a region difficult to have access to. However, this approach has an increased risk of morbidity and postoperative complications. Transoral robotic surgery, which is a minimally invasive surgical procedure, has advantages such as larger three-dimensional point of view and ease of manipulation due to robotic instruments. In this report, a case at the age of 49 who presented to our clinic with obstructive symptoms increasing within the last year and was found to have lingual thyroid and underwent excision of ectopic thyroid tissue by da Vinci surgical system is presented

Thiol-disulphide homeostasis in noncomplicated chronic otitis media

Introduction: We hypothesized that oxidative stress plays a role in the pathogenesis of chronic otitis media, chronic mucosal inflammatory disease. We aimed to investigate a novel oxidative stress marker in this study. Materıals and methods: Thirty patient with chronic otitis media as the patient group and 30 healthy volunteer subjects as the control group were admitted to the study. Blood samples were taken when they admitted to our clinic before surgical intervention. In healthy volunteers, blood samples were taken when they were admitted to our policlinic.    Thiol/disulphide levels were analyzed with a newly developed method by Erel and Neselioglu.Results: 30 subjects were included in chronic otitis media group (20 females, 10 males).  30 subjects were included in the control group (8 females and 22 males). Sex distribution within the groups was significantly different (p=0.004). There was no significant difference between groups with respect to the age distribution (p=0.072). Measured native thiol, disulphide and total thiol values of the groups were not significantly different from each other. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that although dynamic thiol/disulphide homeostasis was shifted towards disulphide formation as a result of thiol oxidation in patients with chronic otitis media. But we could not find any significant difference between groups

Patent Ductus Arteriosus closure in preterms less than 2 kg: Surgery versus transcatheter

Background: As new devices come into the market, percutaneous techniques improve and interventionalists become more experienced; percutaneous closure gets more common in preterms. In this study we aimed to compare efficacy and safety of Patent Ductus Arteriosus closure surgically versus transcatheter method in preterms <2 kg. Best of our knowledge this study is the first one that compares outcomes of surgery and percutaneous Patent Ductus Arteriosus closure in preterms