Follow-up outcomes of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients who underwent dilatation and curettage with the Karakoca resector balloon: A 188-case series over 5 years.

We previously reported satisfactory results with the Karakoca resector balloon in 10 patients with stage IV chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who did not respond to medical treatment. In this article, we present the outcomes of the Karakoca resector balloon dilatation and curettage technique in a larger case series (n = 188).A total of 188 COPD patients [mean age (SD): 69.

Byssinosis and COPD rates among factory workers manufacturing hemp and jute.

Objectives: Prior studies have been performed on cotton textile plants throughout the world. This study was planned to identify the rate of byssinosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in hemp and jute workers and those who worked with both of them.

Material And Methods: The study was realized in a factory which consecutively processed hemp and jute.

Use of Resector Balloon Desobstruction in Patients With Severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease: A Pilot Feasibility Study on a Novel Desobstruction Technique.

Background: Inflammation of the small airways (bronchiolitis) contributes to airflow limitation by narrowing and obliterating the airway lumen in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Although currently available treatments provide satisfactory disease control in most patients, a significant number of patients do not respond. This study presents the outcomes of Karakoca resector balloon desobstruction in patients with severe COPD who did not respond to medical treatment.

Neurofibroma like nodules on shoulder: First sign of gastric adenocarcinoma.

Cutaneous metastasis is a relatively uncommon manifestation of visceral malignancies. It most often occurs late in the course of a disease but may also be the first presenting sign of advanced visceral cancer. The average incidence of cutaneous metastasis from a visceral neoplasm is 5.

Therapeutic bronchoscopic intervention with resector balloon.

In this study a novel therapeutic bronchoscopic technique, balloon bronchoplasty with resector balloon, was used in 128 procedures for 112 consecutive patients with airway obstruction from lung cancer or granulation tissue. All procedures, except 4, were performed with a rigid bronchoscope under general anesthesia. The remainder were performed with a flexible bronchoscope under local anesthesia.

A new endoluminal resection technique and device: resector balloon.

Purpose: We have developed a new resection technique and designed a special balloon by which resection of endoluminal airway lesions can be safely and successfully done.

Description: From April to December 2006, 38 interventions were done in 30 patients; endobronchial tumor or granulation tissues were mechanically removed by a catheter by which the balloon was covered with a polyurethane mesh structure. Acute and long-term complications, results, advantages, and disadvantages of this new technique and device were determined.

Lung health in workers exposed to reed dust.

We conducted a cross-sectional survey in a cellulose plant among 109 reed workers, exposed to reed dust and 78 unexposed office workers, to investigate respiratory health effects of reed dust exposure. Investigations included dust measurements, serum total IgE, skin prick test, pulmonary function testing and questionnaire on respiratory symptoms. Total dust level in the reed processing unit was higher than the office (9.

[Therapeutic bronchoscopic treatment of postintubation tracheal stenosis: 5 cases].

Benign airway obstruction is known as curable by therapeutic bronchoscopic methods. Compared by surgical therapies it is comfortable and has no risks for the patients. For five patients who applied our clinic after tracheostomy and endotracheal intubation stenosis we used therapeutic bronchoscopic methods; "laser-stenotic silicon stent".

Recognition of cigarette brand names and logos by primary schoolchildren in Ankara, Turkey.

Objective: To assess the smoking behaviour of primary schoolchildren and their ability to recognise brand names and logos of widely advertised cigarettes, compared with other commercial products intended for children.

Design: Cross-sectional survey in classroom settings using a questionnaire designed to measure attitudes towards smoking and the recognition of brand names and logos for 16 food, beverage, cigarette, and toothpaste products.

Setting: Ankara, Turkey.

Environmentally-induced malignant pleural mesothelioma and HLA distribution in Turkey.

Setting: A large university hospital in Ankara, Turkey.

Objective: To investigate the potential links, if any, between the occurrence of malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) and the presence and distribution of human leukocyte antigens (HLA) in patients environmentally exposed to asbestos and erionite in rural Anatolia, Turkey.

Design: A case-control study design was used to compare the relative frequency and distribution of HLA among 31 MPM patients originating from the fibrous zeolite (erionite) and asbestos villages in central Anatolia, and two sets of controls.

Assessment of the value of fibronectin as a tumour marker in malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Fibronectin concentrations both in plasma and pleural effusion were prospectively determined in 60 patients with exudative pleural effusions. Fibronectin concentrations in plasma and pleural fluid in 12 patients with infectious and exudative pleural effusions (mean +/- SD) were 240 +/- 103 and 212 +/- 115 micrograms.mL-1, in 17 patients with primary or metastatic lung carcinoma 242 +/- 104 and 210 +/- 82 micrograms.

Fibrinolytic system in plasma and pleural fluid in malignant pleural mesothelioma.

The two major fibrinolytic activators, urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) and tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) may play role in tumor spread and metastasis. Malign pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a kind of tumor with predominantly local invasion and low incidence of distant metastasis. In this study, u-PA, t-PA and PA activator-1 (PAI-1) antigen and activity were measured in plasma and pleural fluid samples from patients with MPM, lung cancer and benign effusion.

Prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases in Turkish university students in Ankara.

An epidemiological study was performed in the students of Hacettepe University from various parts of Turkey to find the prevalence of asthma and allergic diseases and search for geographical differences in Turkey. A questionnaire related with symptoms of asthma and allergic diseases was distributed to 4600 students and filled by 4331 students (1884 males, 43.5%-2447 females, 56.

Environmental fibrous zeolite (erionite) exposure and malignant tumors other than mesothelioma.

We studied the mortality in three villages in the Cappadocian region of Central Anatolia, Karain, Tuzköy, and Sarihidir, which were exposed to fibrous zeolite (erionite), a known carcinogen more potent than the amphibole asbestos. Between 1970 and 1994, there were 305 deaths in Karain, and 177 (58%) were cancer related, including 150 (49.2%) malignant pleural mesothelioma, seven (2.

Birch pollen related food hypersensitivity: as a para-occupational syndrome.

Two patients presented with allergy to birch pollen and hypersensitivity to hazelnut and apple. Since both of these patients developed pollen sensitivity when they were abroad for occupational purpose, we want to mention this situation as "a para-occupational syndrome".

Prevalence of childhood asthma and allergic diseases in Ankara, Turkey.

The first epidemiologic survey of the prevalence of childhood asthma and other allergic disease in Ankara, Turkey, was done in May 1992. A questionnaire on factors influencing the atopic status and allergic symptoms was distributed to parents of 1226 children aged 6-12 years. In this questionnaire, parents were asked to give information about physician-diagnosed asthma and atopic dermatitis (AD), and self-reported wheezing and rhinoconjunctivitis (perennial or seasonal).