Publications by authors named "Meltem Alkan Melıkoglu"

Introduction: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate the monocyte to albumin ratio (MAR), neutrophil to albumin ratio (NAR), platelet to albumin ratio (PAR), and C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) as potential biomarkers for disease activity in patients with Behçet's disease (BD).

Material And Methods: Both BD cases and healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Demographic characteristics, disease duration, and current medications were recorded for all participants.

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Objectives: The study aimed to investigate and compare clinical features, disease activity, and the overall disease burden among psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients across seven distinct geographic regions in Türkiye.

Patients And Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study involving 1,134 PsA patients from 25 referral centers across seven regions was conducted. Demographic and clinical characteristics, comorbidities, joint involvement, extra-articular manifestations, and disease activity measures were evaluated across regions.

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Objective: This study aimed to compare bone mineral density (BMD) values in patients with lumbar osteoarthritis (OA) with and without osteoporosis (OP). This study evaluated the effect of lumbar osteoarthritis in patients with osteoporosis on Dexa scores using the Lane and Wilke scale.

Methods: A total of 51 individuals with OA, 20 with OP, and 31 without OP were included in the study.

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Objectives: This study aimed to assess the clinical outcomes and risk factors for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with inflammatory rheumatic disease (IRD) of a national cohort.

Patients And Methods: The multicenter cross-sectional study was carried out between July 15, 2020, and February 28, 2021. Data collection was provided from a national network database system, and 3,532 IRD patients (2,359 males, 1,173 females; mean age: 48.

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Objective: Biomarkers using routine laboratory tests accurately presenting systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) disease activity may have important practical values in clinical settings. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII; neutrophil X platelet/lymphocyte) as potential biomarkers of disease activity in cases with SLE.

Methods: In this case-control observational study, cases with SLE and demographically similar healthy controls were included.

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The association between spondyloarthritis and cardiovascular (CV) diseases is complex with variable outcomes. This study aimed to assess the prevalence rates of CV diseases and to analyze the impact of CV risk factors on CV disease in patients with spondyloarthritis. A multi-center cross-sectional study using the BioSTAR (Biological and Targeted Synthetic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs Registry) database was performed on patients with spondyloarthritis.

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Article Synopsis
  • Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) face higher risks of cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and this study assessed the prevalence of CVD and its risk factors among RA patients using a multi-center approach.
  • Among 724 RA patients studied, 4.6% were diagnosed with CVD, with ischemic heart disease being the most common condition.
  • Key findings revealed that male gender and hypertension are significant risk factors for developing CVD in these patients, with obesity also being prevalent among the risk factors.
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This study aimed to investigate the duration of diagnostic delay in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and identify potential contributing factors using a comprehensive, population-based approach. Data were obtained from the Turkish League Against Rheumatism (TLAR)-Network, involving patients who met the CASPAR criteria. Diagnostic delay was defined as time interval from symptom onset to PsA diagnosis, categorized as ≤ 2 years and > 2 years.

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The aim of this study was to analyze the pregnancy process, especially the Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) disease course and attack types during pregnancy, and to examine the relationship between disease-related factors and female infertility in FMF patients. The study, which was planned in a multicenter national network, included 643 female patients. 435 female patients who had regular sexual intercourse were questioned in terms of infertility.

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This study aims to investigate the relationship between disease duration and psychological burden in PsA and to identify the risk factors associated with psychological distress. Patients with PsA who met CASPAR classification criteria enrolled by Turkish League Against Rheumatism (TLAR)-Network. Patients were categorized into three groups based on disease duration: early stage (< 5 years), middle stage (≥ 5, < 10 years), and late stage (≥ 10 years).

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Objective: While the relationship between psoriatic arthritis and skin findings is well-known in patients with psoriasis, the relationship between psoriatic arthritis and nail involvement is less known. In this study, it was aimed to examine the frequency of association between nail involvement and psoriatic arthritis in patients with psoriasis.

Materials And Methods: Our study is a retrospective observational study.

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Objectives: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the factors associated with disability and quality of life (QoL) in Turkish patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Patients And Methods: Between January 2018 and January 2019, a total of 256 SSc patients (20 males, 236 females; mean age: 50.9±12.

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Objectives: The aim of this case-control study was to evaluate the physical activity levels of patients with fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) and to assess a possible relation between physical activity and FMS characteristics.

Methods: Seventy patients with FMS and 50 age-gender-matched controls were included. Pain was evaluated using the visual analog scale.

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Behcet's disease is a chronic vasculitis of unknown etiopathogenesis. Serum vitamin D levels have been reported to be associated with a variety of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases one of which is Behcet's disease. The previous studies about vitamin D in Behcet's disease seem to be focused on 4 main categories; the studies evaluating serum vitamin D levels between patients with Behcet's disease and controls, the studies evaluating serum vitamin D in the susceptibility and pathogenesis of Behcet's disease, the studies evaluating serum vitamin D in clinical involvements and activity of Behcet's disease, and the studies evaluating the effect of serum vitamin D replacement in Behcet's disease.

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Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the clinical, functional, and radiological features of hand osteoarthritis (OA) and to examine their relationships in different geographic samples of the Turkish population.

Patients And Methods: Between April 2017 and January 2019, a total of 520 patients (49 males, 471 females; mean age: 63.6±9.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to evaluate comorbid conditions in Turkish patients diagnosed with Spondyloarthritis (SpA), highlighting the need to consider these conditions in management recommendations.
  • Conducted on 1,242 patients, it collected data on demographics, disease activity, and comorbidities from a registry, using established medical criteria for accurate diagnosis.
  • Results indicated that the most common comorbidities included hypertension, diabetes, thyroid disorders, and depression, with a noteworthy prevalence among women, those with higher BMI, and patients over 60.
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Aim: Nail involvement is common in psoriatic arthritis. This study assesses clinical characteristics, nail psoriasis prevalence, and impact of nail psoriasis on disease activity in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

Method: This cross-sectional multicenter study was conducted by the Turkish League Against Rheumatism using PsA patients recruited from 25 centers.

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To evaluate of hepatitis serology and reactivation frequency in patients with rheumatic disease receiving biologic agents. Our study included patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases from 23 centers, who were followed up with biological therapy. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients, duration of drug use and hepatitis serology and the state of viral reactivation were analyzed.

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Objectives: The aim of this study was to compare the risk of falling in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to the healthy individuals and to identify the factors affecting the risk of falls.

Patients And Methods: Between December 2015 and August 2016, a total of 100 consecutive patients with RA (16 males, 84 females; mean age: 49.5±11.

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Background And Aim: Concomitant fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) has been known to be more frequent in patients with several rheumatic diseases. In this study, our aim was to investigate the prevalence of FMS in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), to analyze the possible factors related to this frequency, and to evaluate the impact of FMS on the functionality and quality of life (QoL) of the patients with FMF.

Patients And Methods: One hundred cases with FMF and 100 controls were included to this case-control study.

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Objective: The study aimed to analyse the hearing levels of patients with gout using extended high frequencies (EHFs) audiometry. Thus, we aimed to reveal the early detectability of potential hearing losses.

Design: Comparative cross-sectional study.

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Objectives: Factors associated with disease activity of axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA) and switching of biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs have not been clearly defined. We aimed to evaluate clinical characteristics of patients with axSpA, factors related to remission in treat to target era and predictive factors for biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug switching.

Method: A multicenter, observational cross-sectional study was performed between February 2019 and August 2019.

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Objective: Methotrexate (MTX) is the anchor drug in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the therapeutic response to MTX has been observed to vary widely among these patients. The aim of this study was to investigate ABCB1 gene (the multidrug resistant 1 gene; MDR1 gene) polymorphism in patients with RA and to evaluate the relation between MTX unresponsiveness and this polymorphism.

Methods: Forty-five patients with RA administered MTX were included in this pharmacogenetic cross-sectional study.

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