Prevalence of toenail onychomycosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and evaluation of risk factors

WOS: 000287165900007PubMed: 21242470Background: We sought to determine the frequency of toenail onychomycosis in diabetic patients, to identify the causative agents, and to evaluate the epidemiologic risk factors. Methods: Data regarding patients' diabetic characteristics were recorded by the attending internal medicine clinician. Clinical examinations of patients' toenails were performed by a dermatologist, and specimens were collected from the nails to establish the onycomycotic abnormality. All of the specimens were analyzed by direct microscopy and culture. Results: Of 321 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, clinical onychomycosis was diagnosed in 162; 41 of those diagnoses were confirmed mycologically. Of the isolated fungi, 23 were yeasts and 18 were dermatophytes. Significant correlations were found between the frequency of onychomycosis and retinopathy, neuropathy, obesity, family history, and duration of diabetes. However, no correlation was found with sex, age, educational level, occupation, area of residence, levels of hemoglobin A(1c) and fasting blood glucose, and nephropathy. The most frequently isolated agents from clinical specimens were yeasts. Conclusions: Long-term control of glycemia to prevent chronic complications and obesity and to promote education about the importance of foot and nail care should be essential components in preventing onychomycosis and its potential complications, such as secondary foot lesions, in patients with diabetes mellitus. (J Am Podiatr Med Assoc 101(1): 49-54, 2011

Comparison of Clinical, Laboratory and Demographic Characteristics of Patients Diagnosed with COVID-19 as Symptomatic and Atypical Symptoms

Background: Clinical findings of COVID-19 have been observed with a wide spectrum ranging from asymptomatic disease and mild upper respiratory tract infection to severe viral pneumonia resulting in mortality. While clinical symptoms present in some COVID-19 patients, others have been incidentally identified. The objective of this study was to examine the clinical and laboratory features of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 who were symptomatic or had atypical symptoms and to make a contribution to the literature. Methods: Patients with the likelihood of having COVID-19 pneumonia were evaluated with RT-PCR samples, other laboratory tests, and chest computed tomography. Results: There were significant differences between these groups in terms of age, dyspnea, saturation, and comor-bidities including hypertension [HT] in 19 patients, cerebrovascular events [CVE] that were classified as other diseases in two patients (intracranial mass in one patient and Alzheimer's disease in one patient), and CRP and platelet counts (PLT) among the laboratory parameters (for all p < 0.05). Conclusions: Atypical symptoms have increased due to the progression of the outbreak. Infected people with atypical symptoms can act as sources of the infection. Therefore, the epidemiological history of these patients should be sought in detail, and individuals with atypical symptoms in society should be identified as soon as possible in order to control the spreading of the disease.WOS:0006521615000222-s2.0-85105768781PubMed: 3397836

Comparison of changes in renal function with dosimetric parameters in gastric cancer patients treated with adjuvant chemoradiotherapy

Our objective was to analyze kidney damage using glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and dynamic renal scintigraphy (DRS) compared with dose volume histogram (DVH) parameters in gastric cancer patients

Identification of the Gram Positive Bacterial Sepsis Agent with Rapid Genotype Test

Objective: An irreversible process begins when a systemic infection causes sepsis. Therefore, rapid identification of the agent bacteria in sepsis and its antibiotic resistance is crucially important. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the efficiency of rapid genotype test in detecting sepsis agent Gram positive bacteria and important antibiotic resistance. Methods: 2132 blood culture samples sent to the laboratory were examined with an automatic blood culture system (BACTEC, BD, USA) between 2018-2019. Blood culture bottles sent to the laboratory were Growing bacteria was identificated by VITEK (bioMerieux, France) automated bacteria identification / antibiotic susceptibility system. In addition, bacterial species and mecA, vanA, vanB, vanC1, vanC2 / C3 genes in blood cultures with Gram positive bacterial growth were also determined by the Genotype (R) BC Gram-positive (Hain Lifesience, Germany) test. Results: 72 patients with gram-positive bacteria growth in two or more blood culture bottles were included in the study. In 44 of the samples (61%) the same bacterial species were detected with conventional method (bacteria culture) and BC Gram positive test. In 28 of the samples (39%) differences were detected between results of methods regarding bacterial species name or vancomycin/methicillin resistance rate. Although single agent was isolated with culture method in all of the samples, multiple agents were detected in eight samples with rapid genotype test. Also, it was found that in mecA positive samples, ciprofloxacin resistance was higher than mecA negative ones. Conclusions: In the study, it was observed that BC Gram positive test could correctly identify sepsis agent bacteria and their resistance genes within 4-5 hours.Duzce University Scientific Research Projects CoordinationDuzce University [017.04.01.618]This research was supported by Duzce University Scientific Research Projects Coordination; with the project title Identification and resistance determination in blood cultures with a growth of gram positive bacteria with genotyping, number 017.04.01.618.WOS:00070904020000

Phospholipase and proteinase activities in different Candida species isolated from anatomically distinct sites of healthy adults

The aim of the present study was to determine in vitro phospholipase and protease activities in 122 Candida spp. isolated from several anatomically distinct sites of healthy adults. C. albicans (66.4%) was the most frequently isolated Candida spp. C. glabrata (7.3%), C. tropicalis (6.3%) and C. kefyr (4.9%) were the most frequently isolated non-C. albicans Candida spp. Fifty (40.9%) of the isolates examined were phospholipase positive and 64 (52.4%) were protease positive. Forty-three (53.8%) of the C. albicans isolates tested were phospholipase producers-however, only a few strains of non-C. albicans Candida spp. behaved in the same way. Protease activity was detected in 46 (56.7%) of the C. albicans strains tested and in a few strains of non-C. albicans Candida spp. The levels of phospholipase and protease activities in commensal isolates were found to be lower than the levels of other enzyme activities previously reported in clinical Candida spp. isolates. The phospholipase activity of Candida spp. was found to be higher in oral (59.0%) and fecal (42.8%) isolates. The protease activity of Candida spp. was found to be higher in urogenital (55.1%) and skin (58.8%) isolates. We conclude that further investigations will be needed on the phospholipase and protease activity of Candida spp. in healthy subjects in order to clarify their contribution to fungal virulence

A 52-year-old man with no known history of hand trauma presenting to the clinic with a pulsatile mass in his right palm

WOS: 000297048200027PubMed: 22048521

Evaluation of Quality Assurance Indicators and Contamination Rate in Blood Culture

Objective: Blood culture are of vital importance in patient follow-up, as they enable the identification and production of sepsis causative microorganisms, initiate antibiotic treatment in a timely manner and reduce mortality and morbidity. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the microorganisms grown in the automated blood culture in the microbiology laboratory of the hospital in terms of quality indicators. Methods: In this study, microorganisms grown from automated blood culture BACTEC-9120 (Becton Dickinson, USA) system from the blood culture samples sent to Duzce University Medical Microbiology Laboratory were evaluated retrospectively. For this purpose, the rejection and contamination rate of the samples for which blood culture was requested, the result of Gram staining-final identification compliance, the number of samples sent from a single bottle, and the growth times of microorganisms after incubation were determined. Results: 5037 blood culture samples were sent to the laboratory from various clinics. 1.7% of these samples were rejected as inappropriate samples. Gram stain-final identification compatibility of blood cultures was investigated and it was determined as 97.8%. The single bottle number of the samples sent was found to be 511. For the 5037 samples included in the study, growth was detected in 20.7%, of which 10.2% were considered as contaminants In our study, the average breeding time of the factors examined for breeding time was determined to be 30.29 hours. Conclusions: As conclusion, there is no gold standard to distinguish true pathogens from contaminant agents in blood cultures.WOS:00070904020001