Comparison of tuberculin skin test and quantiferon-TB gold in tube test for diagnosis of latent tuberculosis infection in health care workers: A cross sectional study.

Objective: To compare the diagnostic efficacy and agreement of the traditional tuberculin skin test with QuantiFERON-Tuberculosis Gold In-Tube test for latent tuberculosis infection in healthcare workers.

Methods: The cross-sectional analytical study was conducted between March 1 and 31, 2008, at a specialist tuberculosis hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, and comprised healthcare workers who had been employed for at least one year at the hospital and volunteered to take part. Tuberculin skin test and QuantiFERON-Tuberculosis Gold In-Tube test were both performed simultaneously and their results were compared Using SPSS 12.

Peripheral immune response in pulmonary tuberculosis.

Cellular immune response and delayed-type hypersensitivity reactions are considered to play a major role in the immunopathogenesis of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). But the exact mechanism is still to be clarified. Th1 cells are mainly involved in cellular immune responses in PTB and provide a normal healing process with minimal or no sequela whereas Th2 cell and CD8(+) T lymphocyte responses may lead to more severe type of disease.

Does atopy affect the radiological extent of pulmonary tuberculosis?

Background: Th1 cytokines, IL-2 and IFN-gamma , have critical importance in the CD4 cell driven antimycobacterial activity. Th2 type immune response is a characteristic feature of atopic disorders. Th1 and Th2 cells have been reported to negatively cross-regulate each other in vitro and in experimental animals.

Effect of active tuberculosis on skin prick allergy tests and serum IgE levels.

Objective: Mycobacterium tuberculosis has been shown to suppress allergic airway disease driven by type 2 helper T cells in animal models. In this study, we investigated the effect of active tuberculosis on skin prick test (SPT) positivity and serum immunoglobulin (Ig) E levels of atopic patients with and without tuberculosis infection.

Materials And Methods: Seventeen atopic HIV-negative men with pulmonary tuberculosis and 18 atopic healthy male controls at our military hospital were studied prospectively between March 2005 and March 2006.

Does the atopic phenotype prevent development of active tuberculosis infection?

This study investigated the relationship between the atopic phenotype and the development of active tuberculosis. A total of 82 human immunodeficiency virus negative males with active pulmonary tuberculosis and 88 healthy controls were enrolled into this prospective study. Serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels were measured and skin prick tests performed before initiation of treatment.

Th1-Th2 interaction: is more complex than a see-saw?

Infections, such as tuberculosis, measles and diphtheria, may decrease the risk of developing atopic allergic disorders. Patients with pulmonary TB having similar allergic skin prick test sensitivity as healthy controls but unable to show vigorous atopic phenotype in their healthy period might be a sign for Th1-Th2 immune interaction.

The course of serum adenosine deaminase levels in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.

Background: This study was done to investigate the course of serum adenosine deaminase (sADA) level during pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) and its relationship with clinical, radiological, and laboratory parameters in TB patients.

Material/methods: sADA levels were measured at the beginning and after the first, second, and sixth months in 38 smear-positive TB patients. Chest X-rays were taken.

The significance of elevated brain natriuretic peptide levels in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

We investigated the clinical significance of brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), a cardiac hormone, in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Subjects were 38 patients with stable COPD, of whom 20 had cor pulmonale (CP), and 22 were healthy individuals. Plasma BNP levels were measured and pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) was estimated by echocardiography.

The roles of HRCT and clinical parameters in assessing activity of suspected smear negative pulmonary tuberculosis.

Background: Smear-negative pulmonary tuberculosis (SNPTB) constitutes a major problem in countries with a moderate or high TB prevalence. The value of high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT), chest x-ray and other clinical findings in determining activity of SNPTB were investigated.

Methods: The study population consisted of 85 patients with suspected SNPTB, of whom 52 were confirmed as active pulmonary TB according to either culture positivity for Mycobacteriun tuberculosis or demonstration of caseous granulomatous inflammation.

Low parathormone levels and hypercalcaemia in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis: relation to radiological extent of disease and tuberculin skin test.

Aim: We hypothesised that serum calcium (Ca) and parathormone (PTH) levels correlate with radiological extent and that there may also be a relationship between the tuberculin skin test (TST), serum Ca and PTH levels in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB).

Materials And Methods: Forty-four patients with active PTB and 33 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study. Serum Ca, PTH, magnesium and phosphate levels were measured in patients and controls and compared.

[Tuberculin skin test screening in a military school in Istanbul city center].

To investigate the reason of high incidence of annual patients with tuberculosis (TB) in a military school previously known by screening tuberculin skin test (TST) and finding out the proportion of annual infection risk (PAIR), the prevalance of TB infection and the distribution for each grades. Our study is a cross-sectional epidemiologic study made about TB infection. TST were screened for all students in the school.

The incidence of tuberculosis in the armed forces: a good reflection of the whole population.

Objective: Precise epidemiological data are essential to increase the efficiency of a tuberculosis (TB) control programme. In some countries significant numbers of TB cases go unrecorded or undetected. We aimed to investigate the incidence of TB in the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF), to obtain more reliable data on the entire population.

[The value of bronchial lavage in patients with radiologically suggestive pulmonary tuberculosis with no sputum production and gastric lavage smear negativity].

We assessed whether acid-fast bacilli (AFB) investigation in bronchial lavage (BL) contributes to diagnosis in patients with gastric lavage smear negative and radiologically suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis. Eighty-three patients were recruited for the study, five cases were excluded due to diagnosis of inactive disease or non-tuberculosis disease. The remaining 78 patients were evaluated.

Endurance and strength training in patients with COPD.

Study Objectives: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of endurance training only to endurance plus strength (combined) training in a randomized trial of patients with COPD.

Methods: Twenty-four patients completed the study: 11 patients in the combined training group (FEV(1) 45 +/- 5% predicted), and 13 patients in the endurance training group (FEV(1) 40 +/- 4% predicted) [mean +/- SE]. Muscle strength, quality of life, exercise performance, and quadriceps fatigability were measured before and after rehabilitation.

Pulmonary function tests and thyroid hormone concentrations in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between pulmonary function tests, arterial blood gases, and thyroid gland functions in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Subjects And Methods: Thirty-two patients (mean age 64.1 +/- 7.

Values of high-resolution computed tomography and pulmonary function tests in managements of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection.

Aim: To investigate pulmonary involvement via pulmonary function tests (PFT) and high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

Methods: Thirty-four patients with chronic HCV infection without diagnosis of any pulmonary diseases and 10 healthy cases were enrolled in the study. PFT and HRCT were performed in all cases.

Diagnostic contribution of gastric and bronchial lavage examinations in cases suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis.

We assessed whether acid fast bacilli (AFB) determination in gastric lavage (GL) and bronchial lavage (BL) contributes to diagnosis in cases radiologically suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis but with either negative AFB in sputum or the inability to expectorate sputum. Of 129 cases recruited for the study, 22 were excluded due to evaluation as inactive disease or non-tuberculosis disease. The remaining 107 cases were evaluated in 2 groups.

Quadriceps fatigue after cycle exercise in patients with COPD compared with healthy control subjects.

Study Objectives: Quadriceps fatigue can occur in patients with COPD after exhaustive cycle exercise. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the degree of fatigue elicited by cycle exercise was greater in patients with COPD compared with matched control subjects.

Subjects: Nine male patients with COPD with a mean (+/- SE) age of 66 +/- 3 years and mean FEV(1) values of 1.

Primary antituberculosis drug resistance at Turkish military chest diseases hospital in Istanbul.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of primary drug resistance to tuberculosis.

Methods: We evaluated the clinical data, radiological features and sputum samples from 365 newly diagnosed patients with a positive culture of pulmonary tuberculosis at the Turkish Military Chest Diseases Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. No patients had taken antituberculosis drugs previously.

Hemostatic changes in active pulmonary tuberculosis.

Objective: Severe pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is sometimes complicated by deep vein thrombosis (DVT). We have searched for possible hemostatic disturbances that are predisposing factors for venous thrombosis in patients with PTB.

Design: Coagulation and platelet function tests were studied in 45 patients with active PTB and 20 healthy control volunteers before therapy.

Association between plasma endothelin-1 levels and Cheyne-Stokes respiration in patients with congestive heart failure.

Study Objectives: Elevated plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels have been reported in association with hypoxia and congestive heart failure (CHF). Furthermore, Cheyne-Stokes respiration-central sleep apnea (CSR-CSA) has been found to correlate with the degree of pulmonary hypertension and the severity of CHF; however, the association between ET-1 levels and CSR-CSA has not been investigated previously.

Setting: Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

Can't lung cancer patients detoxify procarcinogens?

Background: Glutathione S-transferase mu (GST mu) enzyme detoxifies carcinogens in tobacco smoke. We assessed the clinical usefulness of serum assay of GSTm in determining the risk for lung cancer.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-nine patients with primary lung cancer and 32 control cases were enrolled.

Morbid obesity in the medical ICU.

Study Objective: To describe the clinical course, complications, and prognostic factors of morbidly obese patients admitted to the ICU compared to a control group of nonobese patients.

Design: A retrospective study.

Setting: Two university-affiliated hospitals.

Skeletal muscle dysfunction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

It has become increasingly recognized that skeletal muscle dysfunction is common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Muscle strength and endurance are decreased, whereas muscle fatigability is increased. There is a reduced proportion of type I fibers and an increase in type II fibers.