Torsion of an Encysted Fluid Collection

Torsion of a cyst within the tunica vaginalis is a rare entity and clinical course can easily be confused with other diseases that cause acute scrotum. We report a 6-year-old child with 3 days of acute scrotum findings. Patient had surgery with the suspicion of testis torsion. Torsion of a cyst within the tunica vaginalis was found intraoperatively. In pathologic evaluation, a necrotic funicular cyst was diagnosed. Two different mechanisms were reported for the reason of this disease: hernia sac protrusion in the hydrocele sac and bell-clapper deformity. Our observations were on the side of bell-clapper deformity. We aimed to share our findings with this report

Effect of atorvastatin therapy on oxidant-antioxidant status and atherosclerotic plaque formation

PubMed ID: 21731885Background: The aim of this study was to determine the oxidant-antioxidant status and lipid peroxidation products, as well as paraoxonase and atherosclerotic plaque formation, in a hypercholesterolemic atherosclerosis rabbit model to investigate the effects of atorvastatin in the atherosclerotic process. Methods: Forty male New Zealand rabbits were divided into four groups, ie, a control group receiving standard pellets, a group receiving atorvastatin therapy, a hypercholesterolemic group receiving an atherogenic diet, and a group receiving both an atherogenic diet and atorvastatin. Results: The atherogenic diet increased the levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (1.84 vs 3.79 nmol/mg protein) and LDL-conjugated diene (147 vs 318 µmol/mg protein) after induction of oxidation by Cu2+, despite an increase of superoxide dismutase activity. Treatment with atorvastatin limited LDL oxidation significantly (LDL thiobarbituric acid reactive substances 2.19 nmol/mg protein, LDL-conjugated diene 222 µmol/mg protein). Paraoxonase, which prevents LDL oxidation and inactivates LDL-derived oxidized phospholipids, showed a pronounced decrease in the group receiving the atherogenic diet (110 U/L to 28 U/L), and atorvastatin treatment increased paraoxonase activity. Histological examination of arcus aorta tissues from the hypercholesterolemic group showed abundant plaque formation surrounding and obstructing the lumen, whereas treatment with atorvastatin prevented or limited plaque formation, keeping the plaque thin and localized. Conclusion: Atorvastatin has dramatic antiatherosclerotic effects, part of which seems to be due to the antioxidant features of the parent drug and/or its metabolites, favoring inhibition of LDL oxidation. © 2011 Sezer et al, publisher and licensee Dove Medical Press Ltd

The frequency of Duchenne muscular dystrophy/Becker muscular dystrophy and Pompe disease in children with isolated transaminase elevation: results from the observational VICTORIA study

IntroductionElevated transaminases and/or creatine phosphokinase can indicate underlying muscle disease. Therefore, this study aims to determine the frequency of Duchenne muscular dystrophy/Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD) in male children and Pompe disease (PD) in male and female children with isolated hypertransaminasemia.MethodsThis multi-center, prospective study enrolled patients aged 3–216 months with serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and/or aspartate transaminase (AST) levels >2× the upper limit of normal (ULN) for ≥3 months. Patients with a known history of liver or muscle disease or physical examination findings suggestive of liver disease were excluded. Patients were screened for creatinine phosphokinase (CPK) levels, and molecular genetic tests for DMD/BMD in male patients and enzyme analysis for PD in male and female patients with elevated CPK levels were performed. Genetic analyses confirmed PD. Demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of the patients were analyzed.ResultsOverall, 589 patients [66.8% male, mean age of 63.4 months (standard deviation: 60.5)] were included. In total, 251 patients (188 male and 63 female) had CPK levels above the ULN. Of the patients assessed, 47% (85/182) of male patients were diagnosed with DMD/BMD and 1% (3/228) of male and female patients were diagnosed with PD. The median ALT, AST, and CPK levels were statistically significantly higher, and the questioned neurological symptoms and previously unnoticed examination findings were more common in DMD/BMD patients than those without DMD/BMD or PD (p < 0.001).DiscussionQuestioning neurological symptoms, conducting a complete physical examination, and testing for CPK levels in patients with isolated hypertransaminasemia will prevent costly and time-consuming investigations for liver diseases and will lead to the diagnosis of occult neuromuscular diseases. Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT04120168

Analysis of circular bended optical fiber sensors and a sensor design

Yaşanan teknolojik gelişmeler neticesinde optik fiber kullanımı yaygınlaştırmıştır. İlk olarak haberleşme alanında kullanılan optik fiber, zaman içerisinde aydınlatma ve sensör teknolojileri gibi farklı alanlarda da kullanılmaya başlanmıştır. Plastik optik fiberin üretimi ile maliyetler azalmış ve optik fiber kullanımı artmıştır. Mikro bükülme tekniğiyle çalışan sensörler hakkında birçok çalışma yapılmıştır. Optik fiber sensörlerin yapısının esnek olması, manyetik ortamda çalışabilmesi ve maliyetinin düşük olması optik fiber sensörlere olan ilgiyi arttırmıştır. Bu tez çalışmasında optik fiberin mikro bükülmelere verdiği tepki araştırılmıştır. Araştırma sonucuna göre sensör tasarımı yapılmıştır. Mikro bükülmelerin ortaya çıkardığı zayıflamalar kullanılarak sensör tasarlanmıştır. Optik fiber sensörlerin test sonuçlarının yorumlanabilmesi için LabVIEW programı ile algoritma geliştirilmiştir. Geliştirilen yazılım test sonuçlarının izlenmesini ve kaydedilmesini sağlar.Optical fiber is commonly used in technology due to recent technology improvements. Optical fiber initially is used in the field of communication and afterwards, started to be to used in illumination and sensor technology. Since the plastic optical fiber is launched, manufacturing costs are diminished and usage of optical fiber is increased. Meanwhile, number of study has been done for micro bending effects. The optical fiber sensors composition flexibility, ability of working in magnetic conditions and low manufacturing cost advantages increased to interest of using them in other technology fields. In this thesis, the reaction of optical fiber against micro bending has been investigated. According to test results a new sensor designed depends on micro bending loss effects. LabVIEW program algorithm is developed to evaluate the test results. With this new program test results are able to be evaluated and recorded

A New Approach to the Prophylaxis of Cyclic Vomiting: Topiramate

Background/Aims The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and tolerability of topiramate and propranolol in preventing pediatric cyclic vomiting syndrome. Methods A retrospective medical-record review of patients who underwent prophylaxis after receiving a diagnosis of cyclic vomiting syndrome was performed. Patients who completed at least 12 months of treatment were included in the analysis. Responder rate, and adverse, event rates were also calculated from all patients. Response to treatment was assessed as the total number of vomiting attacks per year. Patients in whom the frequency of vomiting attack reduced greater or equal to 50% were defined as responders, and the remaining patients were classified as nonresponders. Results A total of 38 patients who were treated prophylactically with either topiramate (16 patients) or propranolol (22 patients) were identified. Fifty-nine percent of the patients in the propranolol group and 81% of the patients in the topiramate group reported freedom from attacks. A decrease of more than 50% in attacks per year occurred in 23% of patients in the propranolol group and 13% of patients in the topiramate group. The responder rates were 81% for propranolol group and 94% for topiramate group (P = 0.001). Despite minor adverse effects (drowsiness, nervousness, and dizziness) observed in a few patients, the adverse event rates were not significantly different between the 2 groups (P = 0.240). Conclusions The efficacy of topiramate was superior to propranolol for the prophylaxis of pediatric cyclic vomiting syndrome

Determining the Use of Traditional and Complementary Therapies Among Infertile Women

Objective: The aim of the study is to determine the use of traditional and complementary therapies by infertile women. Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional research was carried out with 270 infertile women who visited the In-vitro Fertilization Centre of a public hospital in İzmir, Turkey. Scientific ethical committee approval was obtained to conduct the research and permission was obtained from the hospital and the women participating in the research in order to conduct the research. Data were collected via a face-to-face interview in the hospital with a questionnaire developed by researchers. Results: Of the women, 98.9% had knowledge of traditional and complementary therapies and the main source of the information was friends/family (71.2%). The use of traditional and complementary therapies in infertile women is 92.9%. Of the women, 62.1% believed that traditional and complementary therapies would be effective, and 82.3% did not disclose their traditional and complementary therapies use to the health professionals. The most common three traditional and complementary therapies methods in the study were: hip and leg elevation after sexual intercourse; consuming herbs/herbal products; and changes in daily life. Conclusions: The use of traditional and complementary therapies was found to be high in infertile women, and most of the women did not disclose traditional and complementary therapies to health professionals