The prevalence of unrecognized adult celiac disease in Central Anatolia.

Background: The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of unrecognized adult celiac disease in Central Anatolia of Turkey and establish if prevalence figures are similar to other reports in the international literature.

Methods: Subjects were randomly selected from patients at the time of blood sampling because of a routine examination or suspicion of some disorder other than celiac diseases and were screened with anti-tissue transglutaminase IgA and serum IgA measurements. Duodenal biopsies were taken from the patients who were found positive for anti-tissue transglutaminase IgA and had low IgA levels.

Efficacy of levodopa and carbidopa on visual function in patients with non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy.

The benefit of levodopa and carbidopa therapy in improving visual function in patients with non-arteritic anterior ischaemic neuropathy (NAION) was evaluated. Twenty-four subjects with NAION were randomly selected to receive either levodopa-carbidopa or a placebo. Visual functions of neither the study nor the placebo groups showed improvement.

The efficiency of hysterosalpingo-contrastsonography (HyCoSy) in the evaluation of tubal patency.

Radiological hysterosalpingography (R-HSG) and laparoscopic hydrotubation are widely used for the evaluation of tubal patency in infertile patients. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages that limit their use. In this study, the efficiency of a new method (HyCoSy) in the diagnosis of tubal patency was evaluated by comparing it with the traditional methods (R-HSG and laparoscopic hydrotubation).

Delay in neurovenous flaps: experimental and clinical experience.

The objective of this study was to examine the effects of the standard surgical delay in the flaps based on the cutaneous branches of the vascular axis around a superficial sensory nerve. The delay procedure was experimentally tested in rats and subsequently used in patients. In the experimental study, the survival of a delayed inferior epigastric neurovenous flap was compared with that of a nondelayed inferior epigastric neurovenous flap.

Clinical features and prognosis in ocular toxoplasmosis.

Purpose: To evaluate retrospectively the clinical characteristics, complications, and prognosis in patients with ocular toxoplasmosis.

Patients And Methods: We reviewed the records of 189 patients (243 eyes) with ocular toxoplasmosis who were examined between 1972 and 1999. Color fundus photography and, in some patients, fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography were performed.

Subclinical optic neuropathy in Graves' orbitopathy.

Purpose: The aims of the study were to detect early changes in the optic nerve function of patients with Graves' orbitopathy (GrO) who do not have any signs and symptoms of optic neuropathy, using pattern visual evoked potentials (P-VEP), and investigate any possible relation between the disease activity and P-VEP P100 latencies of the patient group.

Methods: The study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital. Sixteen patients with GrO and 15 healthy controls were enrolled.

Low serum apolipoprotein AI levels in amyloidosis related to familial Mediterranean fever.

Amyloidosis (A) related to familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) causes serious morbidity and mortality in children. Our study evaluates serum levels of apolipoprotein (Apo) AI, AII, B, and E and Apo AII/AI ratios as a non-invasive diagnostic tool for amyloidosis in children with FMF and FMF-A. Results were compared with those of patients with childhood nephrotic syndrome (NS) and healthy children (controls).

Expression of heat-shock proteins hsp27, hsp70 and hsp90 in malignant epithelial tumour of the ovaries.

Recently, considerable attention has been focused on the role of the small heat-shock protein group hsp27, hsp70 and hsp90 in the clinical outcome of several malignancies. However, conflicting data exist regarding the prognostic role of hsp27 expression in ovarian carcinoma, and the prognostic significance of hsp70 and hsp90 expression still remains unknown in these tumours. The purpose of this study was to investigate immunohistochemically whether hsp27, hsp70 and hsp90 expression was associated with clinicopathological parameters and survival in 52 epithelial ovarian carcinomas.

Pericardial cystic mass with fetal tachycardia.

A pericardial cystic mass is a rare congenital anomaly and may be mistaken for other pericardial and pleural masses. A 31-year-old pregnant woman at 38 weeks of gestation presented with fetal pericardial cyst and fetal tachycardia, which were confirmed by transthoracal echocardiography after delivery. Tachycardia did not persist after delivery.

Wolfram (DIDMOAD) syndrome: a multidisciplinary clinical study in nine Turkish patients and review of the literature.

Aim: To study Wolfram syndrome (WFS) with multidisciplinary consultations and compare the results with the literature.

Methods: Nine patients fulfilled the ascertainment criteria of WFS (insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus and optic atrophy). All patients were evaluated by the departments of paediatrics, ophthalmology, audiology, urology and medical biology.

The effect of platinum-based combination chemotherapy on the lymph nodes in advanced-stage epithelial ovarian cancer: does it decrease the incidence of lymph node involvement?

This paper aims to determine the impact of platinum-based combination chemotherapy on the lymph nodes in advanced-stage epithelial ovarian carcinoma. From 1997 to 2000, the patients in whom we performed lymphadenectomy before (group A) or after chemotherapy (group B) in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Akdeniz University School of Medicine were enrolled in this study. A total of 47 cases were included in the study.

Evaluation of factors concerning the patency of the internal jugular vein after functional neck dissection.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of several factors on the patency of the internal jugular vein (IJV) after functional neck dissection (FND). A prospective clinical study was undertaken in 21 patients (36 neck dissections) before and after FND at the 1st and 3rd postoperative months by using duplex Doppler ultrasonography. The patients who had radiation therapy (RT) were evaluated again in the 6th postoperative month in order to assess possible late effects of radiation therapy.

Case report: bilateral vocal cord paralysis caused by cervical spinal osteophytes.

Thyroid and cervical surgery, tracheal intubation, trauma and neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases may cause bilateral vocal cord paralysis. There are only a few reported cases of bilateral cord paralysis associated with cervical hyperostosis in the English literature. We report the MR and CT findings of a case of bilateral vocal cord paralysis caused by cervical spinal osteophytes compressing the recurrent laryngeal nerves.

Impact of different hormone replacement therapy regimens on the size of myoma uteri in postmenopausal period: tibolone versus transdermal hormonal replacement system.

Objectives: To assess the effect of different hormone replacement therapy regimens on myoma uteri in postmenopausal period.

Methods: Totally 46 patients with 60 myomas attending to Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Akdeniz University School of Medicine between May 2000 and March 2001 because of postmenopausal symptoms and having myoma uteri were included in this study. These patients were randomized for tibolone and transdermal hormonal replacement therapy system.

Drug resistance in epithelial ovarian cancer: P-glycoprotein and glutation S-transferase. Can they play an important role in detecting response to platinum-based chemotherapy as a first-line therapy.

Objective: Drug resistance is important for the treatment of ovarian cancer. P-glycoprotein and glutation S-transferase as resistance markers play an important role in the effectivity of chemotherapeutical agents. The role of P-glycoprotein and glutation S-transferase in the treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer is not well understood.

Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and Ki-67 in epithelial ovarian tumours: correlation with DNA flow cytometric analysis.

Aims: The aim of the present retrospective study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of Ki-67 and Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunostaining and DNA content measured by flow cytometry (FCM) in epithelial ovarian tumours. Further, we compared these variables with histopathologic features and each other.

Methods: We used immunohistochemical methods on paraffin embedded tissue sections of 67 surgically resected epithelial ovarian neoplasms, diagnosed between 1987-1998, (benign serous n=12, benign mucinous n= 15, borderline mucinous n=3, malignant serous n= 15, malignant mucinous n=8, malignant endometrioid n=10, clear cell n=3 and malignant Brenner n= 1) for the presence of PCNA and Ki-67 reactivity.

Comparative efficacy of beta-irradiation and mitomycin-C in primary and recurrent pterygium.

Purpose: To determine the efficacy and safety of mitomycin-C as adjunctive treatment and to compare this drug with beta irradiation with strontium-90 after surgical excision of primary and recurrent pterygia.

Materials And Methods: The study group consisted of 193 patients with primary and recurrent pterygia who underwent surgical excision with the bare sclera technique. They were divided into two groups according to the type of adjunctive treatment.

The utilization of immunohistochemical prognostic factor in endometrial adenocarcinoma: is it cost effective?

This study investigated the relation between immunohistochemical prognostic factors and clinical stage and histopathological grade in endometrial adenocarcinoma. Twenty-seven patients with a mean age of 61 (38-74), who underwent radical surgery due to endometrial adenocarcinoma in our hospital between 1983-1998, were re-evaluated. For clinical staging FIGO criteria were used.

Toxicity of chemotherapeutical protocols in the treatment of uterine sarcomas (Vincristine, actinomycin D, Cyclophosphamide VAC versus ifosfamide).

Objective: Uterine sarcomas are rare tumors which account for 1% of all genital tract malignancies. They have a poor prognosis with an overall survival of under 50% at 2 years. The benefit of chemotherapy is unclear and different chemotherapy protocols are used for the treatment of uterine sarcomas.

Primary pure choriocarcinoma of the ovary in reproductive ages: a case report.

Choriocarcinoma is an aggressive tumor with cyto- and syncytiotrophoblastic cells. It arises gestationally or nongestationally. Nongestational choriocarcinoma of the ovary can be pure or mixed with other germ cell tumors.

The evaluation of normal corneal topography in emmetropic eyes with computer-assisted videokeratography.

Purpose: By defining the topographic features of normal corneas, corneal surface abnormalities and their relation to visual function may be better understood. In our study, we have defined the corneal topographic features of emmetropic eyes to evaluate the relationship between topographic patterns and visual acuity.

Methods: Topographic pattern of 114 normal corneas of 114 emmetropic subjects with a keratometric astigmatism of 0.