Effects of lidocaine on membrane stabilization in harvested vein graft storage.

Objective: To investigate the effects of lidocaine on the morphology of saphenous veins (SVs) harvested during coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery.

Methods: This experimental study was conducted at the Cardiovascular Surgery Department, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, between May and September 2007. The SVs from 11 patients who underwent CABG surgery were divided into 3 segments.

Rattus norvegicus acting as reservoir of leptospira interrogans in the Middle Black Sea region of Turkey, as evidenced by PCR and presence of serum antibodies to Leptospira strain.

Leptospirosis, a common form of zoonosis, especially in rainy countries, is caused by Leptospira interrogans. In our region of Turkey this type of disease has often been encountered in connection with rice harvesting and we therefore attempted to evaluate the prevalence of L. interrogans in wild rats in our region.

Bacterial flora of Hirudo medicinalis and their antibiotic sensitivities in the Middle Black Sea Region, Turkey.

The rate of infectious complications of leech therapy is almost 20% because Hirudo medicinalis has endosymbiotic bacteria. The aim of this study was to determine the bacterial flora of H. medicinalis and their antibiotic sensitivities in a region in Turkey.

Low prevalence of hepatitis G virus antibodies in glomerular diseases.

A possible agent for human non-A-E hepatitis has been identified and named hepatitis G virus (HGV). HGV is also a flavivirus, and the clinical characteristics and risk factors of HGV infection may be similar to those of hepatitis C virus infection. Hepatitis C virus infection may manifest as a primary glomerulonephritis.