Sexual abuse among female high school students in Istanbul, Turkey.

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of sexual abuse in female adolescents in Istanbul, Turkey from data collected as part of a school-based population study on health and health behaviors.

Method: A stratified cluster sampling procedure was used for this cross-sectional study. The study sample included 1,955 randomly selected 9th through 11th grade female students attending 26 randomly-selected high schools in Istanbul.

Plasma total homocysteine level and its association with carotid intima-media thickness in obesity.

Background: Elevated plasma concentrations of total homocysteine (tHcy) and obesity are risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The relationship between hyperhomocysteinemia and obesity has not been totally elucidated.

Objective: The first aim of the study was to investigate whether anthropometric measurements and insulin resistance contribute to the variation in homocysteine levels in obese adults.

A double-blind trial of depot corticosteroids in Behçet's syndrome.

Objectives: Corticosteroids are widely used in Behçet's syndrome despite the absence of controlled studies. We assessed the effect of depot corticosteroids primarily for genital ulcers and secondarily for the other mucocutaneous manifestations of Behçet's syndrome.

Methods: We randomized 86 patients who had active disease with genital ulcers to receive either intramuscular corticosteroid injections (40 mg methylprednisolone acetate) or placebo every 3 weeks for 27 weeks.

Cyclic voiding cystouretrography without the use of fluoroscopic monitoring.

Purpose: To determine whether cyclic voiding cystourethrography (VCUG) examinations can be performed without using real-time fluoroscopic monitoring.

Materials And Methods: VCUG examinations were performed in 209 children (133 girls and 76 boys). In each child, it was performed in a cyclic manner (three consecutive cycles) without using fluoroscopic monitoring and one radiograph was taken in each cycle of the examination.

Radiologic and histologic assessment of diced cartilage grafts for cranial bone defects of rabbits: an experimental study.

This study was performed to experimentally evaluate the viability and coverage of diced cartilage grafts for cranial defects. Biparietal bone defects were prepared in each of 20 rabbits. Otogenous bone grafts were fixed to one side, whereas cartilage grafts taken from the right ear, diced, and wrapped with oxidized regenerated cellulose (Surgicel) were placed on other side.

Association between interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) gene polymorphism and outcome after head injury: an early report.

Background: Recent studies focusing on the genetic influences on outcome after head injury (HI) have suggested that different alleles of certain genes are associated with different outcomes. Interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) gene, especially beta2 polymorphism, is frequently observed in Alzheimer's disease, a remarkable degenerative state in which HI is among the known risk factors. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to search for the possible association between the outcome and IL-1beta gene polymorphism in human HI.

Effect of diffuse fatty infiltration of the liver on hepatic artery resistance index.

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of various degrees of diffuse fatty infiltration of the liver on the hepatic artery resistance index.

Methods: One-hundred forty subjects were examined using standard color and spectral Doppler sonography protocols. Fatty infiltration of the liver was identified and graded sonographically.

Sleep and sleepiness in patients with Parkinson's disease before and after dopaminergic treatment.

Sleep disturbances and daytime sleepiness are well-known phenomena in Parkinson's disease (PD). Fifteen previously untreated PD patients underwent clinical evaluation, subjective sleep evaluation and polysomnographic evaluation (PSG) before and after a treatment period of mean 8+/-3.1 months with dopaminergic drugs.

Testicular size and vascular resistance before and after hydrocelectomy.

Objective: We sought to determine whether there is an association between hydroceles and testicular size and vascular resistance.

Subjects And Methods: Twenty-three patients with a mean age of 42.8 years who had a unilateral idiopathic hydrocele and who underwent unilateral hydrocelectomy were included in the study.

Effects of ACE inhibition on the expression of type IV collagen and laminin in renal glomeruli in experimental diabetes.

In the present study, we examined electron microscopically and immunohistochemically the effects of perindopril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, on renal microangiopathy in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats. To investigate changes in glomerular basement membrane (GBM) and tubular basement membrane components, we immunohistochemically localized type IV collagen and laminin. Animals have been divided into three groups of eight adult male rats each.

Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence: reliability in a Turkish sample and factor analysis.

Fagerstom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) has often been used as a measure of physical dependence on nicotine. In this study, we aimed to verify the usefulness of FTND and Heaviness of Smoking Index (HSI) in a sample of Turkish smokers and present relationship among interrelated items in our Turkish version of FTND by factor analysis. One hundred sixty nine smokers, 104 (61.

Violent behaviour among Turkish high school students and correlates of physical fighting.

Background: The purpose of this study was to provide data about the prevalence of violent behaviour among high school students living in Istanbul and to determine the correlates of physical fighting.

Method: This study involved the completion of a modified version of 'Health Behaviour in School Age Children (HBSC) 1997/1998' survey questionnaire by 4153 grade 9-11 students. Chi square tests and forward stepwise multiple logistic regression models were used for statistical analyses.

Iron, nitric oxide, and myeloperoxidase in asthmatic patients.

Plasma nitric oxide (NO), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and iron (Fe) levels were determined in bronchial asthma. The relations among these parameters in different stages of asthma were interpreted. Their association with airway inflammation observed in patients with bronchial asthma as well as the roles and the contributions to the pathological processes were evaluated.

Perceived health status in a Turkish adolescent sample: risk and protective factors.

Unlabelled: The objective of this study was to investigate health status of Turkish adolescents and to determine the factors affecting their self perceptions of health. The subjects of the study were 4,153 grade 9-11 students from 26 randomly selected high schools in Istanbul. In total, 78% (n = 3231) and 62% (n = 2537) of the students reported that they were feeling healthy and happy, respectively.

The quantitative evaluation of palatal elongation after Furlow palatoplasty.

Purpose: Furlow "double-opposing Z-palatoplasty" (FP) operation lengthens the soft palate by using only soft palate tissues. It is used in cleft palate repair and velopharyngeal incompetence. The aim of this study was to define the importance of the length and ratio of the soft palate elongation after FP.

Alcohol drinking behaviors among Turkish high school students.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, behavioral patterns and correlates of regular alcohol drinking in high school students. This cross-sectional study involved the completion of a modified version of "Health Behavior in School Age Children" (HBSC 1997/1998) questionnaire by 4,153 grade 9-11 students from 26 randomly selected high schools in Istanbul. Chi-square test, Spearman correlation test and forward stepwise multiple logistic regression model were used for statistical analyses as appropriate.

Enhancement of nerve regeneration and orientation across a gap with a nerve graft within a vein conduit graft: a functional, stereological, and electrophysiological study.

In this study, the right sciatic nerves of 40 rats were used to determine whether a nerve graft within a vein graft might accelerate and facilitate axonal regeneration, compared with a nerve graft alone. The animals were separated into four groups, as follows: group 1, sham control; group 2 (control), segmental nerve resection and no repair; group 3, segmental nerve resection and nerve grafting; group 4, segmental nerve resection and reconstruction with a nerve graft within a vein conduit graft. For all groups, sciatic functional indices were calculated before the operation and on postoperative days 7 and 90.

Normal diaphragmatic motion and the effects of body composition: determination with M-mode sonography.

Objective: To evaluate the quantitative measurement of diaphragmatic motion in healthy subjects and to investigate the effects of different variables such as body mass index and waist circumference on the diaphragmatic motion.

Methods: The study included 164 healthy subjects. The subjects were grouped according to age, sex, body mass index, and waist circumference.

Protective effect of vasoactive intestinal peptide on testicular torsion-detorsion injury: association with heparin-containing mast cells.

Objectives: To elucidate the action of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) on detorsion injury and the heterogeneity of mast cells in the testes of rats.

Methods: Prepubertal male Sprague-Dawley rats were used in six groups. Group 1 was the control group (sham operation); group 2 had 2 hours of torsion; group 3, 2 hours of torsion and 1 hour of detorsion after administration of saline; group 4 had 2 hours of torsion and 4 hours of detorsion after administration of saline; group 5, 2 hours of torsion and 1 hour of detorsion after administration of intraperitoneal VIP (25 ng/kg); and group 6, 2 hours of torsion and 4 hours of detorsion after intraperitoneal VIP.

Natural-looking umbilicus as an important part of abdominoplasty.

The umbilicus is an important and essential aesthetic component of the abdomen. Many surgeons use different methods to relocate umbilicus during abdominoplasties. We prefer to use a simple combination of different well-known principles to form the neo-umbilicus.

Proboscis lateralis: report of two cases.

Proboscis lateralis is a rare congenital anomaly and heminasal aplasia is the most common associated anomaly. The proboscis is an ideal donor structure that has good colour and texture match to reconstruct the heminose and should not be sacrified. We present the staged reconstruction of two patients using a subcutaneous tunnel method.

Systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressures as coronary risk factors in a population with low cholesterol levels: a prospective 10-year evaluation.

Background: Pulse pressure (PP) has recently been found to be predictive of subsequent cardiovascular, particularly coronary, events in some middle-aged and elderly populations.

Hypothesis: The aim of this prospective population-based study was to evaluate the roles of systolic (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and PP in predicting coronary heart disease (CHD) morbidity and mortality in both genders in a population of a wide age span and a setting of low levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

Methods: Of participants in the Turkish Adult Risk Factor Study aged > or = 20 years, those free of CHD at baseline examination in 1990 were followed up for a mean of 9.

Unilateral osteotomies for externally deviated noses.

Despite the many methods described for correction of the deviated nose, it still continues to be one of the most challenging problems in rhinoplasty. It is obvious from the literature that the deformities present in the deviated nose can be quite different from patient to patient and that there is no one method that should be used for every deviated nose. Although unilateral osteotomy technique is not a new concept, so far it has not received the interest of plastic surgeons.

Fournier's gangrene as a complication of varicella in a 15-month-old boy.

An inguinal and perianal localization of Fournier's gangrene (FG) in a 15-month-old boy as a complication of the varicella infection is discussed. This is the first presentation of the disease as a complication of the varicella rashes. There were already 57 pediatric FG cases resulting from other causes that had been presented in the medical literature.