QT dispersion and cardiac involvement in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the commonest cause of chronic inflammatory arthritis in childhood. Cardiac involvement as pericarditis, myocarditis and valvular disease is known to occur in patients with JIA (JIA), as it does in adults with rheumatoid arthritis. There are, however, few descriptions concerning systolic and diastolic functions of the left ventricle (LV) in children with JIA. QT dispersion (QTd) is simple noninvasive arrhythmogenic marker that can be used to assess homogeneity of cardiac repolarization and which has not been studied in JIA patients before. A recent study found that rheumatoid arthritis patients had an abnormally longer QTd and corrected QT (cQTd) dispersion, markers for ventricular arrhythmogenicity. This study assessed QTd and cQTd and their relation with systolic and diastolic function of the LV in a group of children with JIA. We performed electrocardiography and Doppler echocardiography on patients and controls. Maximum QT (QTmax), minimum QT (QTmin), QTd, corrected QT, maximum corrected QT (cQTmax), minimum corrected QT (cQTmin) and cQTd intervals were measured from standard 12-lead electrocardiography. No statistically significant differences were found between the groups in QTd and cQTd. Among the diastolic parameters, increased late flow velocity, decreased early flow velocity and prolonged isovolumic relaxation time reflected an abnormal relaxation form of diastolic dysfunction. During 12 months of follow-up, no ventricular arrhythmias were documented in either group

Can Tc-99m labeled erythrocyte scintigraphy be an alternative non-invasive method to endometriosis diagnosis?

Background: Endometriosis is defined as the implantation of endometrial gland and stroma ectopically outside the uterus. Clinically, it is a hormone dependent benign disease accompanied by pelvic pain and infertility. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the activated implants with 99m-Tc labeled erythrocyte scintigraphy (99mTc-RBCs) in patients with recurrent endometriosis and compare the results with pelvic MRI results.Methods: Patients who were diagnosed histopathologically as endometriosis either with operation and / or therapeutic laparascopy or laparotomy and, were included to present study. Thirty patients, who were diagnosed as recurrence by clinical, and laboratory terms and 10 healthy volunteer (control group) patients were included in the study. Between the second and fifth days of menstruation when the endometriotic lesions were highly activated, radionuclide imaging was performed by 99mTc-RBCs and compared with pelvic MRI findings.Results: In 27 patients out of 30 patients (90%) pathological accumulation of radioactivity foci with 99mTc-RBCs were present. The focal pathological accumulation was significant in 26 patients and moderate in 1 patient. In 22 patients (81.5%) the increased radioactivity accumulation in radionuclide images was concordant with MRI images. Regarding the MRI as reference, the sensitivity of 99mTc-RBCs was determined as 96%, specificity 29%, positive predicitive value 81% and negative predictive value was 66%.Conclusions: Imaging of endometriosis regions with 99m-Tc-RBCs can be an alternative diagnostic procedure for the patients with recurrent endometriosis

Thyroid fine needle aspiration reporting rates and outcomes before and after Bethesda implementation: A single-center experience over 8 years

Aimː To evaluate data from our hospital system before and after the implementation of the Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytology (TBSRTC) and comparison of our data with the previously published studies. Methods: Seven hundred seventy-one patients with thyroid nodules who underwent fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) and surgery at our institution were analyzed retrospectively. FNAB results were divided into two parts in terms of the period they related to: pre-TBSRTC (between 2005 and 2010) and TBSRTC (between 2011 and 2013). Results: 341 FNAB were applied in the period of TBSRTC. Of the 341 FNAB, 53(16%) were non diagnostic, 82(24%) were benign, 62(18%) were atypia of undetermined significance or follicular lesion of undetermined significance (AUS/FLUS), 28(8%) were follicular neoplasms and/or suspicion of follicular neoplasms (FN/SFN), 95(28%) were suspicion for malignancy (SuspM), and 21(6%) were malignant. Rates of malignancy reported on follow-up histopathological examination were non diagnostic in 11%, benign in 4.9%, AUS/FLUS in 23%, FN/SFN in 32%, SuspM in 44%, and malignant in 95.3%. Conclusions: In this study, the distribution of cases in TBSRTC categories and malignancy rates, differed from, recommended by TBSRTC and some studies. Implementation of TBSRTC did significantly affect our institution’s reporting rates

Coming from behind to win - A Qualitative research about psychological conditions of adolescents who have undergone open-heart surgery for single ventricle between the ages 0-5

Early recognition of congenital cardiac pathologies and their treatment by means of palliative or corrective surgery at birth or infancy has vital importance. Successful repair of congenital cardiac defects by surgical methods has gained importance especially during the last twenty years. As the scope of the surveillance increased so did the interest in the outcomes of these treatments when the patients had reached puberty and adulthood. The purpose of our research was to study the psychological framework of the adolescents who had experienced these surgeries by listening both the children and the parents talk about their feelings and experiences. Our data was accumulated through interviews with 17 adolescents and their families, using qualitative methods. The main theme at the end of the analysis was "to be strong and resistive". We reached the conclusion that this condition was not a pathological build up but an attitude of coping, as it did not cause loss of functionality. The defensive psychological mechanisms used by these adolescents consisted of repression, compensation and reaction formation. We believe that this information is important to understand the real meaning of the manners displayed when these adolescents and their families pursue their daily lives, communicate and make relationships with their environment and especially professionals in the health services

Generalised lymphangiomatosis in an 8-year-old girl who presented with cardiomegaly

Generalised lymphangiomatosis is a rare disease that is characterized by widespread bony and soft tissue involvement of lymphangioma. Radiological evaluation is crucial because the site and extent of the lymphangioma are important prognostic factors. The computed tomography, ultrasonography and magnetic resonance images showed sharply defined, non-enhanced cystic lesions involving the mediastinum, bones, spleen, lung, and lower neck. We report here a case that was referred to us for investigation of marked cardiomegaly

Use of tissue Doppler and its comparison with other pulse Doppler echocardiography in the evaluation of diastolic functions in patients with active juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a systemic chronic inflammatory disease. Cardiac involvement as pericarditis, myocarditis and valvular disease is common in JIA. This study aims to assess left ventricular (LV) diastolic functions with tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) and to compare it with conventional Doppler echocardiography (pulse wave Doppler (PWD)) techniques in patients with active JIA. Forty-five patients with active JIA and 47 healthy age- and sex-matched controls were included in this study. Duration of disease ranged from 6 to 138 months (mean 49.59 +/- 31.25 months). In addition to PWD echocardiographic methods, TDI was performed to assess LV functions in all participants. On PWD echocardiography analysis, the JIA group had lower peak E velocity (p < 0.001), higher peak A velocity (p < 0.001) and more prolonged isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT) (p = 0.02). E/A ratio was found to be lower in patients with JIA than that in the control group (p < 0.001). Patients with JIA had a much higher E velocity trace integral (VTI) and A VTI when compared to controls (respectively p = 0.03, p = 0.04). Mitral annular early diastolic velocity (Em), among TDI parameters, was found to be lower in patients with JIA than that in the control group (p < 0.001). Em/Am (mitral annular late diastolic velocity) ratio was found to be lower in JIA patients compared with that in the control group (p < 0.001). There was an increase in IVRT in JIA patients compared to control group (p = 0.04). Though Em VTI was similar in the two groups, patients with JIA had a much higher Am VTI when compared to controls (respectively p = 0.48, p < 0.001). E/Em ratio was higher in patients with JIA than in the control group (p < 0.05). LV diastolic functions were impaired in patients with active JIA, in the absence of clinical evidence of cardiac disease. We have concluded that TDI solo, or jointly with PWD echocardiography, is valuable for the evaluation of diastolic functions in active JIA patients

Anomalous left coronary artery from pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) in asymptomatic 11-year-old case

Origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary trunk [Anomalous origin of the Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery (ALCAPA)] is a rare congenital heart defect. ALCAPA is one of the common causes of myocardial ischemia or infarction in infants and children. In this report, we present an eleven-years-old patient presenting with murmur and accompanied by echocardiographic findings of dilated cardiomyopathy and angiocardiographic investigation that revealed left coronary artery originating from the pulmonary artery. (Turk Arch Ped 2012; 47: 298-301

Heart rate variability in patients with atrial septal defect and healthy children

Objective: Heart rate variability (HRV) measures are altered in various cardiac and non-cardiac situations in children. The autonomic nervous system is assumed to have a role in the pathophysiology of atrial septal defect (ASD). In this study, we evaluated the autonomic system by measuring HRV in children with ASD

Evaluation of fatal diving accidents in Turkey

In any kind of diving there is a risk of accidents, as the move from the topside environment to underwater can affect a diver's physiological and psychological condition. It is important to investigate dive accidents to clarify the causative factors and determine preventive measures