Effects of Minerals on Human Health and Their Analysis Methods

Health effects of minerals depend on mineralogical structure and dimension ofinhaled dust. Diseases caused by minerals were known as only occupational diseases upto recently. However, many researchers pointed out that many diseases at various partsof body resulted from minerals. Minerals are naturally occurred solid particles whichhave a determined chemical and physical structure properties and interior crystalstructure. In mineral analyses basic disciplines such as chemistry, physics andmathematics are used. In this study, especially minerals that effect human health andtheir mineralogical analyses will be considered

Clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes in 132 patients with malignant mesothelioma

Purpose: Our objective is to scrutinize clinical, laboratory, radiological characteristics, treatment regimens, and treatment outcomes of malignant mesothelioma (MM) cases in our hospital. Materials and Methods: We investigated, retrospectively, the clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of all 132 MM patients at Dicle University Hospital between January 2006 and April 2010. Results: A total of 82 (62.1%) patients were male, and 50 (37.9%) female. Median age was 56.0 years. Mean survival time was 9.6±6.9 months. Mean survival time of patients who had received best supportive care was 7.5 months, chemotherapy 10.4 months, and multimodality treatment regimen 12.6 months. Patients in the multimodality treatment group survived longer than did those in the other two groups (P=0.042). A total of 76 patients received chemotherapy, of whom 17 (22.3%) were administered Cisplatin/Carboplatin and Gemcitabine, 58 (76.4%) Cisplatin/Carboplatin and Pemetrexed, and one (1.3%) Cisplatin + Docetaxel. Complete and partial response to treatment in patients receiving Cisplatin/Carboplatin and Gemcitabine was found 47.1% and Cisplatin/Carboplatin and Pemetrexed was found 50.0% (P>0.05). Conclusions: MM related to asbestos exposure is seen frequently in Turkey. Patients present with the typical clinical features of dyspnea, weight loss, and chest pain. Survival analysis shows that patients receiving multimodality treatment may be better

The incidence of mesothelioma has not decreased for the last twenty years in Southeast region of Anatolia

Background: Malignant pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) is a very rarely encountered tumor in the normal population. Objectives: To investigate the variations in incidence of MPM in Southeast region of Turkey. Methods: We retrospectively investigated the data of 161 MPM patients who were diagnosed from January 2000 to December 2009. The residential areas were determined according to asbestos exposure which plays a role in MPM etiology; previously reported as having asbestos (Region 1) and asbestos has not been determined previously (Region 2). Results: One hundred nine (109) of the patients (67.7%) included from the Region 1 and 52 of them (32.3%) included from the Region 2. MPM incidence of the last decade was 3.9/100,000 person/year for the whole region. In Region 1, 20002004 incidences was 12.6/100,000 person/year and 2005-2009 incidences was 14.9/100,000 person/year. In Region 2, 2000- 2004 incidences was 0.4/100,000 person/year and 2005-2009 incidences was 1.0/100,000 person/year. According to the recently conducted incidence studies in our region, MPM incidence increased in region 1 and decreased in region 2. The number of patients applying to our hospital has increased in the last three years. Conclusion: This increase, in Region 1 may be associated with continuous use of asbestos

Clinical and demographic characteristics of tracheobronchial variations

Background: There are various anatomic variations in tracheobronchial system (tracheal bronchus, ectopic bronchus, and accessory bronchus). We aimed to investigate the bronchoscopic findings of the patients with tracheobronchial variations (TBVs) during bronchoscopy and to describe their clinical characteristics. Materials and Methods: A total of 3322 records of bronchoscopic examinations in university hospital and 1560 in chest disease hospital total 4882 were retrospectively analyzed and 198 (134 male, 64 female) patients were diagnosed as TBV. Results: Mean age of patients was 48.5 ΁ 17.8 (range, 15-78) years. Most of the tracheobronchial variations (n = 68, 33.1%) were localized at the right upper lobe bronchus. The most common type of TBVs at this region was right upper lobe with two segments. Symptoms were found in 21 (10.2%) patients with TBVs (7 accessory cardiac bronchus, 5 tracheal bronchus, 5 accessory segmental bronchus in left main bronchus and 4 accessory segmental bronchus in right main bronchus). Their symptoms cough, hemoptysis and recurrent pneumonia with unknown etiologies were thought as related to TBVs. No other potential causes leading these symptoms were found in these patients. Conclusion: According to our best of knowledge our study population is one of the largest series of bronchoscopy for investigate of TBVs. Although TBVs were usually reported as asymptomatic, nearly 10% of our patients with TBVs had symptoms such as recurrent pneumonia, cough and hemoptysis. TBVs should be taken into consideration in symptomatic patients before fiber-optic bronchoscopic examination

Unusual Combination of Tracheobronchopathia Osteochondroplastica and AA Amyloidosis

Tracheobronchopathia osteochondroplastica (TO) is a rare disorder of unknown cause characterized by the presence of multiple submucosal osseous and/or cartilaginous nodules that protrude into the lumen of the trachea and large bronchi. A simultaneous diagnosis of TO and amyloidosis is rarely reported. In this report, a case initially suspected to be asthma bronchiole that could not be treated, was radiologically diagnosed as TO, and also secondary amyloidosis is presented. A 53 years, man patient reported a 3 years history of dyspnea. Pulmonary function tests (PFTs) showed an obstructive pattern. Chest X-rays revealed right middle lobe atelectasis. FOB and CT detected nodular lesions in the trachea and in the anterior and lateral walls of the main bronchi. AA amyloidosis was confirmed by endobronchial biopsy. In the abdominal fat pad biopsy, amyloidosis was not detected. Asthma bronchiole was excluded by PFTs. This case illustrates that it is possible for TO and amyloidosis to masquerade as asthma. TO and amyloidosis should be suspected in patients of older ages with asthma and especially with poorly treated asthmatic patients. Although nodular lesions in the anterior and lateral tracheobronchial walls are typical for TO, a biopsy should be obtained to exclude amyloidosis

Two cases of extrapulmonary onset granulomatosis with polyangiitis which caused diffuse alveolar haemorrhage

Granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) is a rare form of vasculitis. Multidisciplinary therapeutic approach and early diagnosis assume vital importance in management of patients with diffuse alveolar haemorrhage caused by GPA, which is a rare complication. The purpose of this study was to present the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges experienced by clinicians in management of two severe cases of GPA with insidious extrapulmonary manifestations which rapidly progressed into acute kidney injury, alveolar haemorrhage and acute respiratory failure

Mutations in SLC34A2 Cause Pulmonary Alveolar Microlithiasis and Are Possibly Associated with Testicular Microlithiasis

Pulmonary alveolar microlithiasis (PAM) is a rare disease characterized by the deposition of calcium phosphate microliths throughout the lungs. We first identified a PAM locus by homozygosity mapping to 4p15, then identified, by a candidate-gene approach, the gene responsible for the disease as SLC34A2 (the type IIb sodium-phosphate cotransporter gene), which is involved in phosphate homeostasis in several organs. We identified six homozygous exonic mutations in the seven unrelated patients with PAM we studied. Three of the mutations were frameshifts, one was a chain termination, one was an amino acid substitution, and one was a deletion spanning the minimal promoter and the first exon. Absence of functional protein product of the gene is compatible with calcium phosphate deposition in alveolar airspaces. We show that impaired activity of the phosphate transporter is presumably responsible for the microliths and that PAM is a recessive monogenic disease with full penetrance. Testicular microlithiasis (TM) is a disease that is more common than PAM. It is often associated with cancer and infertility. Since the gene we identified is also expressed in testis, we searched for mutations in subjects with TM. In 2 of the 15 subjects with TM we studied, we identified two rare variants, one synonymous and the other noncoding, that are possibly associated with the condition