Cutaneous manifestations of anthrax in Eastern Anatolia: a review of 39 cases.

Anthrax is essentially a disease of grazing herbivorous animals. The most common form of the disease is cutaneous anthrax, which accounts for 95% of all cases. We report here 39 cutaneous anthrax cases in humans that were seen in Eastern Anatolia over a six-year period. The clinical presentation was malignant edema in 16 of the cases (41%) and malignant pustule in 23 (59%). A secondary bacterial infection was present in 13 patients (33.3%) in the vicinity of the lesions. The agent was observed using Gram-stained smears in 25 patients (64%), and Bacillus anthracis was isolated from 15 patients (38.5%). All of the patients were treated with penicillin G or penicillin procaine, except one patient who had a penicillin allergy. One patient with cervical edema (2.5%) died as a result of laryngeal edema and sepsis syndrome. In conclusion, we found that the appearance of the skin lesion of cutaneous anthrax may vary, and this fact, combined with the rarity of this disease, which contributes to a general lack of experience among medical personnel, may make diagnosis difficult in nonagricultural settings</p

Post abortion family planning counseling as a tool to increase contraception use

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To describe the impact of the post-abortion family planning counseling in bringing about the contraceptive usage in women who had induced abortion in a family planning clinic.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The Diyarbakir Office of Turkish Family Planning Association (DTFPA) is a nonprofit and nongovernmental organization which runs a family planning clinic to serve the lower socio-economic populations, in Diyarbakir-Turkey. Post abortion counseling is introduced by using proper communication skills and with using appropriate methods to women. In this study we introduced contraceptive usage of women who had induced abortion one year ago and followed by DTFPA's clinic.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>55.3% of our clients were not using contraceptive methods before abortion. At the end of the one year, 75.9% of our followed-up clients revealed that they were using one of the modern contraceptive methods. There was no woman with IUD before induced abortion. At the end of one year 124 (52.3%) women had IUD. "A modern method was introduced immediately after abortion" was the most important factor increasing modern method usage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results advocate that post-abortion counseling may be an effective tool to increase the usage of contraceptives. Improved and more qualified post-abortion family planning counseling should be an integral part of abortion services.</p

Prenatal Diagnoses with Cordocentesis: Evaluation of 172 Cases

The aim of this study was to evaluate the results of 172 cordosentesis cases for chromosomal analysis in high risk pregnant patients which were performed in our clinic during 2001 and 2004. Cordosentesis procedure were performed mainly for, fetal anomaly, positive triplescreening test. Fetal chromosomal anomaly ratio was 7.5%. Trisomi 21,18,13 were found in fetal anomaly group. The invasive procedure success rate was %98.8. Cordosentes is a safe and easily performed prenatal diagnosis and treatment method in modern perinatology

Delayed Diagnosis of Uterus Didelphys Unicolis with Cervical Atresia in a Forty-Three-Year Old Unmarried Woman with Primary Amenorrhea

Müllerian duct fusion deficiency leads to uterus didelphys. We report the first case of a didelphysunicolis uterus with atretic cervix in a 43-y ear-old unmarried woman with a thirty years history of cyclic lower abdominal pain and primary amenhorrea. On abdomino-pelvic ultrasound examination, a diagnosis of pelvic mass was suspected. On exploratory laparotomy, a didelphys-unicolis uterus with atretic cervix was found. Total abdominal hysterectomy and right salpingectomy were performed. To our knowledge, such a late diagnosed uterine didelphys unicolis with cervical atresia case in a 44 years old unmarried woman with primary amenorrhea has not been previously reporte

Evaluation of Oxidative Stress and Using a Novel Automated Method For Measurement of Total Antioxidant Status in Preeclampsia

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to ev aluate total antioxidant status of preeclampsia with using a more recently developed automated measurement method and measurement of malondialdehy de (MDA) lev els as an oxidativ e stress marker in women with preeclampsia STUDY DESIGN: We perf ormed a case-control study consisting of randomly selected 50 healthy pregnant women and 50 patients diagnosed as preeclampsia. We measured the total plasma antioxidant capacity for all patients and oxidativ e stress was ev aluated with measurement of red blood cell malondialdehyde (MDA) lev els. RESULTS: The serum total antioxidant response (TAR) lev els were lower (1.29±0.33 TAR mmol Trolox eq/L) and the red blood cell malondialdehy de lev els of (MDA) were higher (7.1±0.4 nmol MDA/l) bef ore delivery (P<0.001) and these levels were not diff erent af ter delivery (six weeks later) in preeclampsia than control group (P>0.05). The serum total antioxidant response (TAR) levels significantly increased (1.55±0.49 mmol Trolox eq/L) and the malondialdehyde lev els signif icantly decreased (2.9±0,6 nmol MDA/l) in preeclamptic women af ter deliv ery when compared with the pre deliv ery levels CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that preeclampsia is related with enhanced lipid peroxidation and decreased total antioxidant response before delivery and these parameters may be related at least partly to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Decreased lipid peroxidation and increased total antioxidant response after delivery may suggest recov ery of preeclampsia and using a simple, rapid and reliable automated method f acilitates to ev aluate and follow up of the lev els of oxidativ e stress in preeclampsia and this novel method may be used as a routine test in clinical practice while managing preeclampsi

Lupus Nephritis and Pregnancy: Case Report

Our aim is to report of a pregnant woman with lupus nephritis; A 33-year-old multigravida (gravida:5,parity: 4) with an intrauterine pregnancy at 34 weeks of pregnant woman with 5 years of uncontrolled SLE. Pregnancy can be successful in most women with lupus nephritis. Pregnancy in SLE should be planned and a management strategy should be agreed in full consultation with the patient, prior to conception. Women with SLE frequently need treatment throughout pregnancy. It is essential that the maternal disease is well controlled prior to, during and after pregnancy to ensure the best possible outcome for the mother and child

Variation Analysis in Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Cases

Menopausal status affects the prognoses and consequences of breast cancer. Therefore, this retrospective study aimed to reveal the molecular variation profile differences in breast cancer patients according to their menopausal status, with the hypothesis that the molecular variation profiles will be different at premenopausal and postmenopausal ages. Breast cancer patients (n = 254) who underwent molecular subtyping and QIAseq Human Breast Cancer NGS Panel screening between 2018 and 2022 were evaluated retrospectively. Their menopausal status was defined by age, and those aged 50 years and above were considered postmenopausal. Of the subjects, 58.66% (n = 149) were premenopausal and 41.34% (n = 105) were postmenopausal. The mean age at the time of diagnosis for all patients was 49.31 ± 11.19 years, with respective values of 42.11 ± 5.51 and 59.54 ± 9.01 years for the premenopausal and postmenopausal groups, respectively (p = 0.000). Among premenopausal patients, the percentages of patients in BCa subtypes (luminal A, luminal B-HER2(−), luminal B-HER2(+), HER2 positive, and triple-negative) were determined to be 34.90%, 8.05%, 26.17%, 10.74%, and 20.13%, respectively, while in the postmenopausal group, these values were 39.05%, 16.19%, 24.76%, 6.67%, and 13.33%, respectively (p > 0.05). Considering menopausal status, the distribution of hormone receptors in premenopausal patients was ER(+)/PgR(+) 63.76%, ER(−)/PgR(−) 23.49%, ER(+)/PgR(−) 10.74%, and ER(−)/PgR(+) 2.01%, respectively, while in postmenopausal women, this distribution was observed to be 74.29%, 23.81%, 1.90% and 0.00% in the same order (p = 0.008). The most frequently mutated gene was TP53 in 130 patients (51.18%), followed by PIK3CA in 85 patients (33.46%), BRCA2 and NF1 in 56 patients (22.05%), PTEN in 54 patients (21.26%), and ATR and CHEK2 in 53 patients (20.87%). TP53, PIK3CA, NF1, BRCA2, PTEN, and CHEK2 mutations were more frequently observed in premenopausal patients, while TP53, PIK3CA, BRCA2, BRCA1, and ATR mutations in postmenopausal patients. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the underlying causes of breast cancer with respect to menopausal status. This study is the first from Turkey that reflects the molecular subtyping and somatic mutation profiles of breast cancer patients according to menopausal status