Lumbar opening pressure and radiologic scoring in idiopathic intracranial hypertension : is there any correlation?

Background: To investigate correlation between lumbar opening pressure (LOP) and radiological scores based on cranial MRI and contrast-enhanced MR venography in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). Material/Methods: Patients with IIH who underwent brain MRI and contrast-enhanced MR venography before measurement of LOP between 2010-2014 were evaluated retrospectively. Three experienced radiologists (blinded to LOP values) evaluated a total of 51 patients. They reached a consensus on the presence or absence of 6 radiological findings identified in the literature as characteristic for IIH: empty sella, perioptic dilation, optical tortuosity, flattening of the posterior globe, swelling of the optic disc, and bilateral transverse sinus stenosis. The radiological score was obtained by giving 1 point for the presence of each finding, with the highest possible score of 6 points. The correlation between the calculated radiological scores and LOP was evaluated. Results: There was no significant correlation between LOP and radiological scores (r=0.095; p=0.525, Spearman's rank coefficient). Similarly, no significant correlation was detected between LOP and each of the radiological findings (partial empty sella [p=0.137], perioptic dilation [p=0.265], optical tortuosity [p=0.948], flattening of the posterior globe [p=0.491], swelling of the optic disc [p=0.881], and bilateral dural sinus stenosis [p=0.837], Mann-Whitney U test). Conclusions: There was no significant correlation between LOP and reliable radiological features of IIH

Investigation of the relationship between mean platelet volume and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is characterized by recurrent upper airway obstruction and intermittent hypoxia during sleep. Intermittent hypoxia and increased inflammatory activity plays a role in increased risk of cardiovascular disease in the OSAS. OSAS is an important cause of morbidity and mortality and cardiovascular disorders are the most important complications of OSAS. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is a marker of platelet activation and function, and increased platelet volume is associated with increased platelet activity. Different diseases related with inflammation, hypoxia, vascular injury, thrombosis and atherosclerosis were found to be associated with MPV. In this study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between OSAS and MPV. Methods: In this retrospective study, data of sex and age matched 33 patients with moderate OSAS, 34 patients with severe OSAS and 30 healthy subjects were evaluated. Results: The mean MPV was found in control, moderate OSAS and severe OSAS groups as 7.83±1.00, 8.26±1.40 and 8.94±1.20 (fL) respectively. The mean MPV value was significantly higher in severe OSAS group than control subjects (p=0.001). In correlation analysis, there were positive correlation between MPV with apnea-hypopnea index and total sleep time, and negative correlation between MPV with platelet count and minimum oxygen saturation (Respectively, p=0.003 / R=0.295, p=0.030 / R=0.221, p=0.011 / R= -0.257, p=0.019 / R= -0.238). Conclusion: In this study, the increased MPV was associated with severe OSAS and the results of this study suggest that the platelet activation is increased in OSAS. Hypoxia caused by OSAS, due to the activated platelets, may play a role in the development of cardiovascular diseases which is an important cause of morbidity and mortality in OSAS. J Clin Exp Invest 2013; 4 (4): 492-49

Assessment of hepatic artery flow volume changes due to hepatosteatosis on pediatric obese patients

Amaç: Pediatrik yas grubunda obesiteye baglı hepatosteatozun hepatik arterin akım volümü üzerine olan etkisinin, doppler ultrasonografi kullanılarak arastırılması amaçlandı. Gereç ve Yöntem: Yasları 8,5 ile 17 arasında degisen, normal vücut kitle indeksine sahip 32 ve obes vücut-kitle indeksine sahip 42 hastanın, hepatik arter akım volümü doppler ultrasonografi ile degerlendirildi. Bulgular: Obes hasta grubu ile normal grup arasında hepatik arter akım volümü ortalamaları arasında anlamlı fark saptanmadı (p>0.05). Hepatosteatoz derecesinin artısı ile hepatik arter akım volümünde artıs izlenmekle birlikte, istatistiksel anlamda farklılık bulunmadı (p>0.05). Obesite ile hepatosteatoz arasında güçlü korelasyon izlendi (r=0.638). Sonuç: Obesiteye baglı hepatosteatozun derecesindeki artıs ile hepatik arter akım volümünde göreceli artıs izlenmekte olup, bu parametrenin kullanımı rutin takip incelemelerde sınırlı da olsa katkı saglayabilir. Objective: The purpose of the study is to determine the effect of obesity related hepatosteatosis on hepatic artery flow volume by Doppler ultrasonography in pediatric patients. Materials and methods: The hepatic artery flow volume of 42 obese patients according to BMI and 32 patients having normal BMI were evaluated using Doppler ultrasonography. The ages of the patients were between 8.5 and 17. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the normal group and obese group according to the mean hepatic artery flow volume (p>0.05). Increased hepatic artery flow volume was parallel with increased grade of hepatosteatosis, however, this was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Strong correlation was observed between obesity and hepaosteatosis. Conclusion: Increased grade of hepatosteatosis due to obesity is accompanied with a relative increase in hepatic artery flow volume. The use of this parameter can provide limited contribution in routine follow up examinations

The 4th and 5th Grade Primary Teachers’ Opinions Related to Project and Performance Tasks at Science and Technology Course

Bu çalışmanın amacı 4. ve 5. sınıf öğretmenlerinin Fen ve Teknoloji dersine ilişkin proje ve performans görevlerini izleme ve değerlendirme sürecine ve süreçteki problemlere ilişkin görüşlerini incelemektir. Bu nedenle araştırmaya 4. ve 5. sınıflarda görev yapan 21 sınıf öğretmen katılmıştır. Araştırmada öğretmenlerin proje ve performans görevlerini değerlendirmelerinin ardından, öğretmenlerin proje ve performans görevlerinin izleme ve değerlendirme süreçlerini belirlemek için altı açık uçlu sorudan oluşan bir anket uygulanmıştır. Öğretmenlerin ankete verdikleri yanıtlar NVİVO 2 programı kullanılarak betimsel olarak incelenmiştir. Veriler üç farklı araştırmacı tarafından ayrı ayrı kodlandıktan sonra belirlenen temaların tutarlığı incelenmiş ve üç araştırmacı tarafından belirlenen temaların %85.5 oranında tutarlı oldukları tespit edilmiştir. Farklı olan temaların üzerinde ise tekrar tartışılmış ve uzlaşmaya varılmıştır. Araştırmadan elde edilen veriler çözümlendiğinde, öğretmenlerin %81’inin performans ve proje görevi verdikleri, %19’unun ise bu görevleri veremedikleri belirlenmiştir. Öğretmenlerin %57’sinin performans ve proje görevlerini bireysel, %43’ünün ise grup olarak vermeyi uygun gördükleri ve öğretmenlerin %62’sinin proje ve performans görevlerinin tamamlanma sürecini izledikleri, %38’inin ise sınıftaki öğrenci sayısının fazla olması, zaman sıkıntısı gibi nedenlerle izleyemedikleri tespit edilmiştir. Bu bulguların yanı sıra araştırmaya katılan öğretmenlerinin %86’sının objektif olması, zaman kaybını önlemesi gibi nedenlerle dereceli puanlama anahtarını kullandıkları ve öğretmenlerin en fazla kaynak ve malzeme sıkıntısı yaşadığı belirlenmiştir.The aim of this study is to investigate the 4th and 5th grade primary teachers’ opinions related to monitoring, evaluation process and the problems about project and performance tasks at Science and Technology Course. Therefore the sample group was constituted by 21 4th and 5th grade primary teachers. In this research, after the teachers' assessments of students’ project and performance tasks, a questionnaire included with 6 open-ended question was administered to determine the teachers’ monitoring and evaluation process of project and performance tasks. Answers of teachers to the questionnaire were analyzed descriptively by used NVIVO 2 program. The data has been encoded separately by three different researchers then examined the consistency of themes and the themes determined by three researchers was found to be consistent the rate of 85.5%. The different themes were discussed again and reconciliation was provided. According to the results of the research, it has been observed that 81% of teachers have given project and performance tasks on the contrary 19% of teachers haven’t given project and performance tasks. Also, it has been observed that 57% of teachers have given project and performance tasks to students as individually and 43% of teachers have given project and performance tasks to students as a group work and 62% of the teachers have been monitoring the process of completion of project and performance tasks but 38% of the teachers haven’t been monitoring the process of completion of project and performance tasks because of the reasons such as the crowded classrooms and lack of time. 86% of teachers have used the rubric because of the reasons such as rubric is to be objective and to avoid loss of time and the lack of the sources and materials is the main problem of teachers in this process

A case of carotid dissection having significant benefit from thrombolytic treatment

Ischemic stroke due to carotid artery dissection is more common among young people and it accounts about 2-5% of all strokes. A 56 year old left landed male patient was evaluated for left-sided hemiparesis and aphasia in the emergency department. His cranial CT was assessed normal and NIH score was assessed 24 then he undergone thrombolytic therapy. His NIH score was decreased to 14 after 24 hours. At extracranial dupplex USG, cranial MRI and MR-Angiography, done the same day there were findings for carotid dissection. At MR-anjio repeated 5 days later, partial recanalization were seen. At control cranial CT only striocapsüler infarct was seen. There was no any evidence of bleeding as complication. Here we present a rare case of extracranial carotid artery dissection case undergone IV thrombolytic therapy and want to take attention that in carotid dissection IV thrombolytic therapy is quiet safe and there is no difference of complication such as hemorrhage and the prognosis is no different then those with no carotid dissection

Diffusion-Weighted MRI Predicts Prognosis in Hypoglycemic Encephalopathy: Case Report

Hypoglycemia may present with neurological symptoms. Diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) may be useful for prediction of prognosis. We report a comatose patient who had severe hypoglycemia due to sepsis with lesions on MRI. The localization of lesions on MRI and prognosis of hypoglycemia were discussed. The hypoglycemia associated MRI lesions located in diffuse cerebral cortex is associated with worse prognosis. [Dis Mol Med 2015; 3(1.000): 8-10