Sensitization to food allergens is associated with more severe wheezing in children.

Aims: We investigated sensitization to food allergens as a prognostic factor for wheezing in children with recurrent wheezing and compared serum club cell 16 (CC16) and surfactant protein D (SP-D) among these children with and without sensitization to food allergens.

Materials And Methods: Children with recurrent wheezing were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Specific IgE to five common food allergens (Fx5) was assessed at baseline, and children were followed-up for 1 year for new-onset wheezing episodes.

Epidemiology of heart failure in Türkiye.

Background/aim: The epidemiological data on heart failure (HF) vary between regions within the same country. We aimed to investigate the epidemiological data on HF in Türkiye across all age groups regarding seven geographical regions.

Materials And Methods: We included all patients from the Turkish population who received a first diagnosis of HF between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022, using ICD-10 codes from the National Electronic Healthcare Database.

Diagnostic approach to heart failure in Türkiye.

Background/aim: Final diagnosis of heart failure (HF) relies on a combination clinical findings, laboratory and imaging tests. The aim of this study was to review the diagnostic approach to HF in Türkiye.

Materials And Methods: This study is a subanalysis of the nationwide TRends-HF study, based on anonymized data from National Electronic Database between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2022.

Medical and advanced heart failure therapies in Türkiye.

Background/aim: Effective management of heart failure involves evidence-based use of multiple medications and their combinations. Furthermore, dosage escalation of the recommended medications is advised. In cases of advanced heart failure, long-term mechanical assistance devices or heart transplantation surgery may be necessary.

Outcomes of patients with heart failure in Türkiye.

Background/aim: Despite Türkiye's relatively young population, there is an emerging trend of earlier diagnoses of chronic diseases, including heart failure (HF). This study aims to shed light on survival rates, potential influences of guideline-directed therapies, and sex-based differences necessitating personalized management in HF.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a nationwide retrospective cohort analysis of 2,722,151 patients with HF using deidentified data from the Turkish Ministry of Health's national electronic database.

Approaching a nationwide registry: analyzing big data in patients with heart failure.

Background/aim: Randomized controlled trials usually lack generabilizity to real-world context. Real-world data, enabled by the use of big data analysis, serve as a connection between the results of trials and the implementation of findings in clinical practice. Nevertheless, using big data in the healthcare has difficulties such as ensuring data quality and consistency.

Burden of comorbidities in heart failure patients in Türkiye.

Background/aim: Heart failure (HF) is associated with a wide range of comorbidities that negatively impact clinical outcomes and cause high economic burden. We aimed to evaluate the frequency and burden of comorbidities in HF patients in Türkiye and their relationships with patients' demographic characteristics.

Materials And Methods: Based on ICD-10 codes in the national electronic database of the Turkish Ministry of Health covering the entire population of Türkiye (n = 85,279,553) from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2022, data on the prevalence of comorbidities in HF patients were obtained.

Impact of implantable cardioverter defibrillators on mortality in heart failure receiving quadruple guideline-directed medical therapy: a propensity score-matched study.

Background: In the contemporary management of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), the recommended quadruple guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) consists of angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitor (ARNI), evidence-based beta-blockers (BB), mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRA), and sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT-2i). This study explored the impact of adding implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) therapy to this comprehensive regimen in HFrEF patients.

Methods: Utilizing deidentified data from the National Electronic Database of the Turkish Ministry of Health, we conducted a nationwide retrospective cohort study on 5450 HFrEF patients receiving quadruple GDMT, including ARNI.

Deciphering mortality risk of diabetes medications in heart failure patients with diabetes mellitus under triple guideline-directed medical therapy.

Background: Scientific evidence regarding the impact of different combinations of diabetes medications in heart failure patients with diabetes mellitus (HFwDM) remains limited.

Aim: We aimed to investigate the effect of monotherapy and combination therapy for DM on all-cause mortality in HFwDM under triple guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT).

Method: This nationwide retrospective cohort study included adult HFwDM under triple GDMT between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2022.

Navigating Heart Failure: Unveiling Sex Disparities in Guideline-Directed Medical Therapy Combinations.

Major heart failure (HF) trials remain insufficient in terms of assessing the differences in clinical characteristics, biomarkers, treatment efficacy, and safety because of the under-representation of women. The study aimed to present sex-related disparities in HF management, including differences in demographics, co-morbidities, cardiac biomarkers, prescribed medications, and treatment outcomes. The study utilized anonymized data from the Turkish Ministry of Health's National Electronic Database between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2022.

Trends in heart failure between 2016 and 2022 in Türkiye (TRends-HF): a nationwide retrospective cohort study of 85 million individuals across entire population of all ages.

Background: Data on the burden of heart failure (HF) outside western countries are limited, but available data suggest it may present differently in other countries. The aim of this study was to examine the incidence, prevalence, and survival rates of HF in Türkiye, with a specific focus on how these rates vary according to age, sex, comorbidities, and socioeconomic status (SES).

Methods: We harnessed the extensive National Electronic Database of the Turkish Ministry of Health, covering Turkey's entire population from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2022, to identify 2,722,151 cases of HF and their associated comorbidities using ICD-10 codes.

Are COL4A1 and COL4A2 gene polymorphisms associated with cerebral palsy?

Objectives: This study aims to investigate the association of COL4A1 and COL4A2 gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to risk of developing cerebral palsy (CP) and severity of CP.

Patients And Methods: Between December 2016 and June 2017, a total of 176 patients with CP (101 males, 75 females; mean age 71.8±37.

Anti-VEGF treatment suppresses remodeling factors and restores epithelial barrier function through the E-cadherin/β-catenin signaling axis in experimental asthma models.

Besides maintaining a physical barrier with adherens junctional (AJ) and tight junctional proteins, airway epithelial cells have important roles in modulating the inflammatory processes of allergic asthma. E-cadherin and β-catenin are the key AJ proteins that are involved in airway remodeling. Various mediators such as transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β), epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), insulin-like growth factor (IGF), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and angiogenic factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), are released by the airway epithelium in allergic asthma.

Clinical Usefulness of Acute-Phase Markers in Distinguishing between PFAPA and Other Exudative Tonsillitis Causes: A Methodological Study.

Background: We investigated the practical use of procalcitonin (PCT), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and complete blood count (CBC) parameters in distinguishing periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis and cervical adenitis syndrome (PFAPA) attacks from exudative tonsillitis associated with group A streptococcus (GAS) and Epstein-Barre virus (EBV).

Methods: The study population consisted of cases with exudative tonsillitis who had been subsequently diagnosed as PFAPA, EBV, and GAS tonsillitis through a period of 6 years. We retrieved the CBC, ESR, CRP and PCT data from patients' medical records.

Significant Changes in Trans-Epithelial Barrier Proteins of Adenoid Tissue with Atopic Status in Children.

Objectives: Adenoid tissue is important in local immune response and epithelial barrier dysfunction of this tissue may contribute to allergies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between the status of cross-epithelial barrier elements in adenoid tissue lymphoepithelium and inhalant allergen sensitization.

Materials And Methods: Children aged 5-15 years, who underwent adenotonsillectomy, participated in this study.

The use of in vivo and in vitro tests in children with beta lactam allergy.

Background: Drug allergies are reactions within the context of drug hypersensitivity reactions, which are caused by immunological mechanisms due to a previously sensitising drug. Beta-lactam antibiotics (BLA) are the leading agents causing drug hypersensitivity reactions in children. The aim of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic importance of in vivo and in vitro diagnostic tests in children with suspected immediate-type BLA hypersensitivity and to investigate the frequency of their use for the final diagnosis.

Vascular endothelial growth factor antagonism restores epithelial barrier dysfunction via affecting zonula occludens proteins.

Epithelial barrier dysfunction is important in the pathogenesis of asthma and allergic responses, and is therefore a therapeutic target. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of dexamethasone, a classic therapeutic agent, an anti-tumor necrosis factor agent (etanercept), which is used to treat difficult cases of asthma, and an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agent (bevacizumab), which is an angiogenesis inhibitor, on zonula occludens (ZO) proteins in an experimental asthma model. The experimental model of asthma was developed using intraperitoneal (IP) and inhaled administration of ovalbumin in 38 BALB/c mice, which were divided into four groups.

Follicular bronchiolitis: a rare disease in children.

Follicular bronchiolitis (FB) is a benign progressive lung disease. It is characterized with lymphoplasmocellular infiltration and hyperplastic follicles in the peribronchial areas in the small airways. Follicular bronchiolitis should be considered in cases where chronic cough, recurrent upper respiratory tract infections and progressive dyspnea are observed in children.

IL-5, IL-8 and MMP -9 levels in exhaled breath condensate of atopic and nonatopic asthmatic children.

Rationale: Asthma is a heterogeneous disease, and a great majority of pediatric patients with asthma demonstrate atopic characteristics and develop a Th2 type cytokine response. Nonatopic asthma, on the other hand, is seen more rarely.

Methods: In this study, levels of IL-5, IL-8 and MMP-9 were measured in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) of the subjects to demonstrate the extent of tissue damage as well as eosinophilic and neutrophilic inflammation in children with atopic and nonatopic asthma.

E-cadherin as an epithelial barrier protein in exhaled breath condensate.

Airway epithelium plays an important role as a physical barrier and a modulator of allergic response. Junctions between cells provide epithelial integrity and barrier function. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of atopy on airway epithelial integrity in asthma and to measure E-cadherin levels in exhaled breath condensate as an indicator epithelial damage.

Risk factors for candidemia in pediatric intensive care unit patients.

Objective: To determine the risk factors for developing candida infections in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

Methods: The present study was conducted as a case-control study and included the population of patients who were admitted to PICU during the period of March 2010-March 2011.

Results: During the study period, a total of 57 patients in PICU had candidemia, 4 cases were excluded due to their PICU stay less than 48 h and one due to the insufficient data.

Affected States soft independent modeling by class analogy from the relation between independent variables, number of independent variables and sample size.

Objective: The aim of study is to introduce method of Soft Independent Modeling of Class Analogy (SIMCA), and to express whether the method is affected from the number of independent variables, the relationship between variables and sample size.

Study Design: Simulation study.

Material And Methods: SIMCA model is performed in two stages.

Assessment of myocardial dysfunction in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy: is it a significant predictor of mortality?

Objectives: Hypoxic-ischemic cerebral injury due to perinatal asphyxia is an important cause of neonatal mortality and morbidity. To predict who will survive or die due to this disorder still remains obscure. The aim of this study is to evaluate the predictive value of myocardial involvement in the assessment of mortality for the neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE).