Results of 1001 liver transplantations in 23 years: Ege University experience.

Background/aims: Liver transplantation (LT) is now the standard of care for most end-stage liver diseases. Over the next 30 years, advances in medicine and technology will greatly improve the survival rates of patients after this procedure. The aim of the present study was to analyze retrospectively the results of 1001 patients withLT.

Delirium is associated with increased mortality in the geriatric population.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of delirium and its association with mortality rates in elderly inpatients.

Methods: The medical records of 1435 patients over 65 years old who were treated at a regional university hospital and were referred to the university's Consultation and Liaison Psychiatry Clinic for psychological evaluation were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with and without a diagnosis of delirium were compared.

Comorbidities and their impact on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex disease that is associated with devastating outcomes resulting from lung involvement and several comorbidities. Comorbidities could impact on symptomology, quality of life, the complications, the management, economic burden and the mortality of the disease. The importance of comorbidities originates from their impact on the outcome of COPD.

Depression and anxiety levels of the mothers of children and adolescents with left ventricular assist devices.

VADs have been used to provide treatment for end-stage heart failure. Parents may feel overwhelmed with the VAD regimes responsibility and be affected from this process beside children. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the depressive and anxiety symptoms of mothers of the first eight children equipped with a VAD in Turkey.

The role of BDNF and HPA axis in the neurobiology of burnout syndrome.

Chronic stress is known to affect the HPA axis. The few clinical studies which have been conducted on HPA-axis function in burnout have produced inconsistent results. The etiological relationship between sBDNF and burnout has not yet been studied.

An open-label long-term naturalistic study of mirtazapine treatment for depression in cancer patients.

Background: Depression is quite common among cancer patients. It has yet to be determined which antidepressant is the most effective in cancer patients with depression.

Methods: The present study included 21 consecutive depressed oncology patients of whom 19 were followed up for 6 months.

Live donor liver transplantation for acute liver failure.

Background: Acute liver failure (ALF) carries a high mortality unless urgent orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) is performed on time. Live donors are utilized to treat this irreversible condition first in pediatric cases and then in adults. Herein, we aimed to report our experience with live donors for ALF in a country of a deceased donor organ donation rate is only 1.

Urgent adult-to-adult right lobe living donor liver transplantation for acute liver failure; a single center experience from Turkey.

Background/aims: Acute liver failure is a fatal condition unless an urgent liver transplantation is performed. In countries like Turkey, because of limited availability of cadaveric allografts, living donors could be used as an organ source for acute liver failure. We report our single center experience.

Variables affecting patient satisfaction in breast surgery: a cross-sectional sample of Turkish women with breast cancer.

Objective: In Turkey, despite the fact that breast cancer accounts for 24.1% of all cancer in women, a very small number of these patients receive breast reconstruction. This low percentage would seem to indicate that there are several factors affecting the decision of which surgical procedure should be selected.

Liver biopsy: is the pain for real or is it only the fear of it?

Although percutaneous liver biopsy (PLB) has very low mortality and morbidity rates, it often is considered painful and frightening by the patients. This study was designed to grade the intensity of pain expected before the procedure and experienced during the procedure, and whether there is any correlation between pain and the emotional state of the patient. A total of 118 consecutive patients (aged 19-68 (mean, 44) years), who were undergoing PLB for the first time, were included in the study.

[Psychosocial aspects of pain].

Though pain is a warning friend, it also is a life disturbing and hurting symptom. We need to consider psychological aspects of pain together with the physiological aspects, in order to be able to understand, to differentiate the etiology and to treat completely. In this review, we will discuss psychological aspects of pain patients, psychiatric patients who apply to pain clinics with pain symptoms, primarily psychological and psychiatric treatments of chronic pain patients.

[Effects of surgery type on body image, sexuality, self-esteem, and marital adjustment in breast cancer: a controlled study].

Objective: To examine the effects of surgery type on body image, sexuality, self-esteem and marital adjustment, and to determine the most frequent sexual dysfunction seen among breast cancer survivors.

Method: A total of 75 breast cancer survivors (50 patients underwent total mastectomy alone and 25 underwent total mastectomy with breast reconstruction), and 50 healthy volunteers were recruited. All subjects were given the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (RS), Body Cathexis Scale (BCS), Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS), and Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) after the Structured Clinical Interview Diagnosis for DSM-III-R, Non-Patient Form (SCID-NP) had been applied.

Donepezil for anticholinergic drug intoxication: a case report.

We present a case of delirium due to amitriptyline overdose, which resolved rapidly following initiation of the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil. The authors discuss the possibility of cholinesterase inhibitors being an effective choice in the management of anticholinergic drug induced delirium.

Valproate-associated reproductive and metabolic abnormalities: are epileptic women at greater risk than bipolar women?

Objective: Evidence indicates that valproate (VPA) may have an adverse impact on reproductive endocrine and metabolic functions in women with epilepsy. This study explores whether the association of VPA with reproductive endocrine abnormalities is applicable to women with bipolar disorder (BD) or is unique to women with epilepsy.

Methods: Thirty female patients aged 18-40 years with a DSM-IV diagnosis of BD (15 on lithium monotherapy and 15 on VPA monotherapy or VPA in combination with lithium therapy) and 15 with idiopathic generalized epilepsy (IGE) on VPA monotherapy were evaluated for reproductive endocrine functioning and metabolic parameters.

Seasonal affective disorder in eight groups in Turkey: a cross-national perspective.

Objective: Previous estimates of the prevalence of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) in community-based samples generally originated from western countries. We report prevalence rates in eight groups from four latitudes in Turkey.

Method: Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ) was distributed to the community-based samples from eight different locations at four latitudes in Turkey.