Amisulpride and olanzapine combination treatment versus each monotherapy in acutely ill patients with schizophrenia in Germany (COMBINE): a double-blind randomised controlled trial.

Background: Combining antipsychotics is common in schizophrenia treatment, despite evidence-based guidelines generally not recommending such practice. Otherwise, evidence remains inconclusive, especially regarding specific combinations. The trial aimed to test whether a combination of amisulpride plus olanzapine is more effective than either intervention as a monotherapy.

Impact of in vivo T-cell depletion in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant: a registry study from the Chronic Malignancies Working Party of the EBMT.

While in vivo T-cell depletion (TCD) is widely used, its benefit in patients with MDS still remains a matter of debate. This study evaluates the impact of TCD on outcomes, and compares ATG and alemtuzumab, in patients with MDS. 1284 patients from the EBMT registry were included in this study with 470 patients in the no-TCD group and 814 in the TCD group (alemtuzumab N = 168; ATG N = 646).

What are the main factors affecting the outcome of tocilizumab therapy in COVID-19-induced cytokine release syndrome?

Objective: Recommendations for the treatment of cytokine release syndrome/macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) associated with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) are still of poor quality. IL-6 is an important therapeutic target as a main mediator of cytokine storm. The aim of our study was to evaluate the tocilizumab (TCZ) efficacy and factors affecting the therapy outcome.

Ultrasound-Guided Pudendal Nerve Block versus Ultrasound-Guided Dorsal Penile Nerve Block for Pediatric Distal Hypospadias Surgery.

Introduction: The primary aim of the study was to use the duration until the first postoperative analgesic requirement after two different block techniques to compare the analgesic effect. The secondary aims were to compare the two methods for postoperative Children's Hospital Eastern Ontario Pain Scale (CHEOPS) scores, complications, and parental satisfaction level.

Materials And Methods: This prospective, observational study was conducted with male patients aged 1-7 years in the ASA I-II group, who were scheduled for hypospadias surgery between November 2019 and April 2020.

Expert Panel Recommendations for Use of Standardized Glucose Reporting System Based on Standardized Glucometrics Plus Visual Ambulatory Glucose Profile (AGP) Data in Clinical Practice.

This expert panel of diabetes specialists aimed to provide guidance to healthcare providers on the best practice in the use of innovative continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) techniques through a practical and implementable document that specifically addresses the rationale for and also analysis and interpretation of the new standardized glucose reporting system based on standardized CGM metrics and visual ambulatory glucose profile (AGP) data. This guidance document presents recommendations and a useful algorithm for the use of a standardized glucose reporting system in the routine diabetes care setting.

Evaluation of Predisposing Metabolic Risk Factors for Portopulmonary Hypertension in Patients with NASH Cirrhosis.

Purpose: Metabolic parameters are important for the development of portopulmonary hypertension (PoPH) during nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)-associated cirrhosis. This study evaluated patients with NASH-associated cirrhosis to determine metabolic risk factors for portopulmonary hypertension.

Patients And Methods: Data on 171 patients (120 men and 51 women) with NASH-associated cirrhosis who were seen in Florence Nightingale Hospital's gastroenterology Clinic from 2009 to 2018 was obtained from the Hospital database.

Persistent Ambient Air Pollution in Turkey: A 4-Year Analysis.

Objective: Ambient air pollution is an important cause of morbidity and mortality for both individual and public health. The major contaminant that creates air pollution in Turkey is particulate matter. This study aims to demonstrate Turkey's air quality in terms of particulatematter in the last 4 years.

Perceptions of Students of a Medical School on Combined Health Warnings in Plain Packs.

Objective: Turkey has recently adopted the regulation of plain and standard packaging for tobacco products and introduced newly designed combined health warnings. In this study, we aimed to reveal how the new combined health warnings are perceived among medical students.

Material And Methods: The study was descriptive and the data were collected by a 3-part questionnaire.

COVID-19 Outbreak in İstanbul.

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated that the social determinants of health play a fundamental role in the course of the pandemic. This article aims to reveal the class dynamics of the COVID-19 epidemic in İstanbul, Turkey.

Material And Methods: Spatial analysis and geographic information system data provided by İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality for March and April 2020 were used.

Symptomatic COVID-19 Reinfection with Pericardial and Pleural Involvement.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious acute respiratory tract infection caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), a beta coronavirus first discovered in Wuhan, China in late 2019. COVID-19 is spreading rapidly globally and has been officially declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) as of March 2020. Most recent studies suggest that immunity can develop after an episode of severe acute respiratory syndrome Infections.

Third-Generation Dual-Source Computed Tomography for Coronary Angiography With Individually Tailored Scan Protocols Can Achieve a Low Radiation Dose With Good Image Quality in Unselected Patients.

Objective: To explore the image quality and radiation exposure associated with coronary angiography obtained with a third-generation dual-source computed tomography, using body mass index (BMI)- and heart rate (HR)-adapted protocols in real-world patients.

Methods: Three scan protocols were implemented with regard to HR: prospective turbo high-pitch spiral, sequential, and retrospective spiral modes. We adapted the reference kilovoltage value according to BMI.

Outcomes of thymoma after multimodal therapy and determinants of survival: A 16-year experience of a tertiary cancer center.

Background: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the factors that contribute to survival outcomes in patients with thymoma treated with multimodal approaches.

Methods: A total of 203 patients (105 males, 98 females; median age: 49 years; range, 17 to 77 years) with Masaoka-Koga Stage II-IV thymoma between January 2002 and December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. Data including diagnosis of myasthenia gravis, diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, disease stage, histological type of tumor, capsule invasion and surgical margin status, lymphadenectomy, adjuvant radiotherapy or chemotherapy, time from surgery to the first day of adjuvant treatment, length of hospital stay, and overall and disease-free survival rates were recorded.

Assessment of COVID-19 trauma responses. Who has been more traumatized during the pandemic?

Background And Objective: To evaluate the effect of cognitive and sociodemographic characteristics of healthcare and non-healthcare workers on their traumatic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Data were collected using an online survey between August-September 2020. The survey included the following scales: Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI), and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R).

Prognostic value of pulmonary artery pulsatility index in chronic heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction.

Background: The co-existence of right ventricular dysfunction (RVD) in heart failure patient with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is an independent maker of poor prognosis. A novel right ventricular hemodynamic composite measure is the pulmonary artery pulsatility index (PAPi), which is the pulmonary artery pressure gradient ratio. It is a strong predictor of RVD in patients with acute inferior myocardial infarction and patients undergoing left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation.

Cholinergic Signaling Attenuates Pro-Inflammatory Interleukin-8 Response in Colonic Epithelial Cells.

Infants affected by Hirschsprung disease (HSCR), a neurodevelopmental congenital disorder, lack ganglia of the intrinsic enteric nervous system (aganglionosis) in a variable length of the colon, and are prone to developing severe Hirschsprung-associated enterocolitis (HAEC). HSCR patients typically show abnormal dense innervation of extrinsic cholinergic nerve fibers throughout the aganglionic rectosigmoid. Cholinergic signaling has been reported to reduce inflammatory response.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Breast Cancer Patients.

Objective: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic causes delays in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients due to fear of contagion and lockdown. This study aims to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on breast cancer patients treated in our breast center.

Materials And Methods: Patients who applied to our clinic with the diagnosis of invasive breast cancer in March 2020 and March 2021 (Study Group) when the COVID-19 pandemic was observed, and in March 2019 and March 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic (Control Group) were compared in terms of demographic, clinical and pathological characteristics.

Acoustic pulse thrombolysis complemented by ECMO improved survival in patients with high-risk pulmonary embolism.

Background: The optimal treatment of high-risk pulmonary embolism (PE) with cardiac arrest is still controversial although various treatment approaches have been developed and improved. Here, we present a serie of patients with high-risk PE showing hemodynamic collapse, who were successfully treated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as an adjunct to EKOS™ acoustic pulse thrombolysis (APT).

Methods: From April 2016 to June 2020, 29 patients with high-risk PE with cardiac arrest were retrospectively included.

Real-World Efficacy of Nintedanib Plus Docetaxel After Progression on Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Results From the Ongoing, Non-interventional VARGADO Study.

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of nintedanib plus docetaxel in patients with advanced adenocarcinoma non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who progressed after chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy.

Materials And Methods: VARGADO (NCT02392455) is an ongoing, prospective, non-interventional, real-world study of nintedanib plus docetaxel after first-line chemotherapy in the routine clinical treatment of patients with locally advanced, metastatic or locally recurrent adenocarcinoma NSCLC. Data were collected during routine visits.

Diagnosis and Treatment Approaches in Infantile Colic (IC): Results of a Survey Among Paediatricians in Turkey.

Due to limited knowledge on the etiopathogenesis of infantile colic (IC) and the insufficiency of data regarding current treatments, different approaches emerge in terms of diagnosis, and treatment modalities globally and also in Turkey. The objective of this study was to observe how infantile colic is diagnosed and treated by paediatricians in Turkey. An anonymous electronic questionnaire was used to collect the respondents' opinions.

Effects of demographic and clinical character on differences in self-care behavior levels with arteriovenous fistula by hemodialysis patients: An ordinal logistic regression approach.

Introduction: Hemodialysis (HD) patients should be trained to develop self-care behaviors in order to prevent and preserve their arteriovenous fistula (AVF). The aim of this study was identifying the factors that affect the levels of self-care behavior with AVF by HD patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted involving 89 patients.

Opportunities and Limitations of Pelvic Exenteration Surgery.

Purpose: The practice of exenterative surgery is sometimes controversial and has garnered a certain scepticism. Surgical studies are difficult to conduct due to insufficient data. The aim of this review is to present the current standing of pelvic exenteration from a surgical, gynaecological and urological point of view.

Tourniquet Use Does Not Affect Pain and Function after Total Knee Arthroplasty: Patient Evaluation According to Pain Threshold.

We evaluated the effect of using a tourniquet on early-stage pain and 1-year postoperative functional outcomes when patients were divided into two groups according to the pain threshold (PT). Overall, 120 patients who were assessed preoperatively with an algometer were recruited for this prospective, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Patients were randomized to undergo total knee arthroplasty (TKA) with a tourniquet (group 1, 60 patients) and without tourniquet (group 2, 60 patients).

Impact of COVID-19 on Continuing Medical Education-Results of an Online Survey Among Users of a Non-profit Multi-Specialty Live Online Education Platform.

The Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic accelerated digitalization in medical education. Continuing medical education (CME) as a substantial component of this system was relevantly affected. Here, we present the results of an online survey highlighting the impact on and the role of online CME.