Increased vitamin B-12 levels in children with zinc deficiency

Additional nutritional deficiencies may accompany zinc deficiency. We determined the vitamin B-12 levels in patients with zinc (Zn) deficiency. This retrospective study enrolled 256 patients age 6 months to 16 years (176 females and 80 males) in whom Zn levels in hair samples were measured concurrently with serum vitamin B-12 and ferritin levels. For all patients, we retrospectively assessed the hair Zn levels, serum ferritin and vitamin B-12 levels, red blood cell count, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, and red cell distribution levels. Data were analyzed to determine whether there was a significant difference between any of these parameters and the presence of vitamin B-12 deficiency between patients with and without Zn deficiency. In all 118 patients had Zn levels 100 mu g/g. No significant differences were observed in ferritin levels, red blood cell parameters, or presence of iron deficiency or anemia between the two groups (p > 0.05). The median vitamin B-12 level was 323 (range 238-440) pg/mL in the Zn-deficient group and 276 (range 208-382) pg/mL in those with normal Zn levels. Vitamin B-12 levels were significantly higher in the Zn-deficient group (p = 0.02). A significant negative correlation was detected between vitamin B-12 levels and Zn levels (r = -0.17, p = 0.004). Vitamin B-12 levels are higher in patients with Zn deficiency; thus, Zn may have a negative effect on vitamin B-12 levels

Malignancy-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in pediatric cases: a multicenter study from Turkey

This study evaluates the clinical and laboratory data of children with secondary hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (sHLH) related to malignancy

Comparison of Propofol, Propofol-Remifentanil, and Propofol-Fentanyl Administrations with Each Other Used for the Sedation of Patients to Undergo ERCP

WOS: 000364066300001PubMed: 26576424Introduction. Using single anesthetic agent in endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) may lead to inadequate analgesia and sedation. To achieve the adequate analgesia and sedation the single anesthetic agent doses must be increased which causes undesirable side effects. For avoiding high doses of single anesthetic agent nowadays combination with sedative agents is mostly a choice for analgesia and sedation for ERCP. Aim. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of propofol alone, propofol + remifentanil, and propofol + fentanyl combinations on the total dose of propofol to be administered during ERCP and on the pain scores after the process. Materials and Method. This randomized study was performed with 90 patients (ASA I-II-III) ranging between 18 and 70 years of age who underwent sedation/analgesia for elective ERCP. The patients were administered only propofol (1.5mg/kg) in Group., remifentanil (0.05 mu g/kg) + propofol (1.5mg/kg) combination in Group II, and fentanyl (1 mu g/kg) + propofol (1.5mg/kg) combination in Group III. All the patients' sedation levels were assessed with the Ramsey Sedation Scale (RSS). Their recovery was assessed with the Aldrete and Numerical Rating Scale Score (NRS) at 10 min intervals. Results. The total doses of propofol administered to the patients in the three groups in this study were as follows: 375mg in Group I, 150mg in Group II, and 245mg in Group III. Conclusion. It was observed that, in the patients undergoing ERCP, administration of propofol in combination with an opioid provided effective and reliable sedation, reduced the total dose of propofol, increased the practitioner satisfaction, decreased the pain level, and provided hemodynamic stability compared to the administration of propofol alone

Coronaphobia: A barrier to ongoing cancer treatment?

Introduction Increased stress levels caused by the pandemic might cause delays in cancer treatment. We conducted a survey among cancer patients undergoing treatment to evaluate their psychological wellbeing and treatment adherence during Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Material and Methods Patients receiving active chemotherapy at a private oncology center between January and May 2021 were included. Healthy volunteers were employees of a district health directorate with no history of cancer or chronic disease. Treatment adherence was described as compliant if the prescribed treatment was received within a week and the information was gained from patient charts. Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) and COVID-19 phobia scale (CP19-S) were administered to participants. Results 402 participants were included; 193 (48%) were cancer patients. The mean age of the participants was 44 years old and 68% of the participants were female. All participants' CP19-S mean score was 47.9. Patient group had significantly lower CP19-S (p = 0.006). Chronic disease and history of a shocking event were the factors associated with CP19-S. All participants reporting hospital anxiety were found to have significantly higher COVID-19 phobia levels (p < 0.05). Patients' mean HADS-anxiety score was significantly higher (7.3 vs. 6.5, p = 0.027). COVID-19 phobia was an independent factor increasing the level of anxiety and depression in both groups. Adherence to treatment was 100%. Conclusion The pandemic increased levels of anxiety, however, cancer treatment continued to be a priority in patients' lives. Strategies should be developed to support oncology patients cope with the pandemic and increase their courage to avoid treatment delays

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) APPLICATIONS IN HEALTH: HOW MUCH ARE WE INTERESTED IN?

Purpose: New viruses have emerged, causing global damage and mass deaths that can spread to international borders, the latest of which is the new coronavirus (COVID-19). After the Second International Congress on Artificial Intelligence in Health, themed "Artificial Intelligence in Health During COVID-19 Pandemic Process" organized online by Izmir Bakircay University and Izmir Provincial Health Directorate with the contributions of the International Association of Artificial Intelligence in Health, a questionnaire was conducted to evaluate the knowledge of the participants about artificial intelligence applications.Material and Methods: This study aimed to evaluate the interest of the congress participants in this field with the questions which form the questionnaire such as the duration of the interest of the participants in the field of artificial intelligence in health, their publication status, the development of studies on artificial intelligence with the COVID-19 pandemic, demographic structures such as age and gender, and educational level. 130 participants answered the questionnaire consisting of 23 questions. Questionnaire responses were analyzed in a statistical setting.Results: We found that 130 people filled out the questionnaire and the majority of the participants were female, with participation from many organizations, but university staff showed more interest. We have seen that the 30-39 age group is more interested in artificial intelligence than the other age groups, but the majority of the participants do not have academic studies in this field. We found that the technical terms related to artificial intelligence were not well known by the participants, and that the number of participants who tended to this field, especially in the recent year, was high. Another important point was that people working in this field stated that they would definitely follow up if scientific activities continued.Conclusion: We know how important congresses, symposiums, courses and other meetings are, especially for scientist candidates, which will be held to raise awareness about the usage areas of artificial intelligence-based health technologies, to develop new communication and work networks by bringing together different disciplines, to create an agenda and to lay the groundwork for new studies, and we think that there is a need for many repetitive activities in this field and that these activities should be continued

A National Registry of Thalassemia in Turkey: Demographic and Disease Characteristics of Patients, Achievements, and Challenges in Prevention

WOS: 000426572200002PubMed ID: 28404539Objective: The Turkish Society of Pediatric Hematology set up a National Hemoglobinopathy Registry to demonstrate the demographic and disease characteristics of patients and assess the efficacy of a hemoglobinopathy control program (HCP) over 10 years in Turkey. Materials and Methods: A total of 2046 patients from 27 thalassemia centers were registered, of which 1988 were eligible for analysis. This cohort mainly comprised patients with beta-thalassemia major (n = 1658, 83.4%) and intermedia (n = 215, 10.8%). Results: The majority of patients were from the coastal areas of Turkey. The high number of patients in Southeastern Anatolia was due to that area having the highest rates of consanguineous marriage and fertility. The most common 11 mutations represented 90% of all beta-thalassemia alleles and 47% of those were IVS1-110(G->A) mutations. The probability of undergoing splenectomy within the first 10 years of life was 20%, a rate unchanged since the 1980s. Iron chelators were administered as monotherapy regimens in 95% of patients and deferasirox was prescribed in 81.3% of those cases. Deferasirox administration was the highest (93.6%) in patients aged <10 years. Of the thalassemia major patients, 5.8% had match-related hemopoietic stem cell transplantation with a success rate of 77%. Cardiac disease was detected as a major cause of death and did not show a decreasing trend in 5-year cohorts since 1999. Conclusion: While the HCP has been implemented since 2003, the affected births have shown a consistent decrease only after 2009, being at lowest 34 cases per year. This program failure resulted from a lack of premarital screening in the majority of cases. Additional problems were unawareness of the risk and misinformation of the at-risk couples. In addition, prenatal diagnosis was either not offered to or was not accepted by the at-risk families. This study indicated that a continuous effort is needed for optimizing the management of thalassemia and the development of strategies is essential for further achievements in the HCP in Turkey.Ege Children's Foundation; Novartis Pharmaceuticals CorporationNovartisThe authors thank Caglar Serdar, Aylin Gokduman, and Tolga Turgay of Plexus Information Technologies for their website support. The current study and the work presented here are from an Investigator Initiated Trial, which was sponsored by the Ege Children's Foundation and funded by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation

COVID-19 infection in children with cancer and stem cell transplant recipients in Turkey: A nationwide study

To the Editor: Adults with cancer are reported to have a higher risk for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection and more severe disease and mortality than the general population.1, 2 Although children seem to be at a lower risk for COVID-19 than adults,3-5 data specifically addressing children with cancer are limited