Effects of depression and anxiety on quality of life of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, knee osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia syndrome.

Objective: To measure the effects of depression and anxiety on quality of life (QoL) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), knee osteoarthritis (OA) and fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS).

Methods: One hundred and fifty-four patients with RA, knee OA, and FMS who presented to the physical medicine and rehabilitation department were studied. For evaluation of the patients, Beck depression scale, Beck anxiety scale, and Short Form-36 were used.

Correlation of plasma B-type natriuretic peptide with shunt severity in patients with atrial or ventricular septal defect.

The goal of this study was to test the utility of bedside plasma concentration of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) assay as a screen for large shunts in pediatric patients with atrial septal defects (ASDs) and ventricular septal defects (VSDs). Thirty-five children at a mean age of 70+/-129 weeks with ASD or VSD were included in the study. Nine patients had VSD and 26 had ASD.

Topical cyclosporine-a combined with mitomycin C for conjunctival and corneal squamous cell carcinoma.

Purpose: To determine the efficiency of topical cyclosporine-A (CSA) combined with mitomycin C (MMC) as an adjunctive treatment in diffuse conjunctival and corneal squamous cell carcinoma (CCSC).

Design: Interventional case reports.

Methods: Two patients who had positive margins following surgical excision of CCSC were treated by topical CSA (0.

Ochrobactrum anthropi endocarditis and septic shock in a patient with no prosthetic valve or rheumatic heart disease: case report and review of the literature.

Although Ochrobactrum anthropi is an opportunistic pathogen in immunocompromised patients, it is increasingly being recognized to be a causative agent in healthy hosts. In this paper, we report a case of O. anthropi endocarditis and septic shock in a patient who had no prosthetic valve or rheumatic heart disease, in contrast to previous reports.

A case of myocardial infarction with sumatriptan use.

Sumatriptan is widely used in the treatment of acute attacks of cluster headache. It is a serotonin-1 (5HT-1) agonist. Several studies have reported an association between sumatriptan use and myocardial infarction, possibly due to the generalized vasoconstrictive nature of this agent.

Prevalance and risk factors for yeast colonization in adult diabetic patients.

The aim of this study is to describe the associations between various host characteristics and yeast colonization; biofilm and phospholipase production in diabetic patients. The study was conducted between January 2003 and June 2003 in Abant Izzet Baysal University, Duzce, Turkey. One hundred and fourty five diabetic patients were included to the study.

Ofloxacin induced Sweet's syndrome in a patient with Crohn's disease.

Sweet's syndrome is an acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis. This syndrome can be idiopathic, para-inflammatory, paraneoplastic, drug-induced, or pregnancy-related. In this paper, a case of Sweet's syndrome associated with ofloxacin therapy in a patient with Crohn's disease is reported.

Posterior sub-Tenon's capsule triamcinolone injection combined with focal laser photocoagulation for diabetic macular edema.

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy of posterior sub-Tenon's capsule triamcinolone injection (PSTI) combined with focal laser (FL) photocoagulation in treatment of diffuse clinically significant diabetic macular edema (CSME).

Design: Prospective randomized clinical study.

Participants: Sixty patients with diffuse CSME.

HLA-DR B1 and DQ B1 polymorphisms in patients with coronary artery ectasia.

Objectives: The purpose of our study was to evaluate the significance of polymorphisms in HLA class II genes in coronary artery ectasia (CAE) patients.

Methods And Results: Twenty-six patients with CAE without associated cardiac defects were enrolled in the study. CAE was defined as luminal dilation of 1.

Constrictive pericarditis associated with right atrial and major venous thrombosis.

Right atrial thrombi are very rare. Existence of right atrial thrombus with constrictive pericarditis is even rarer. Only few cases have been reported in the English literature.

Histopathological and immunohistochemical detection of protective effects of University of Wisconsin solution supplemented with iloprost on donor lung damage.

Objective: Histopathological evaluation and immunohistochemical markers of surfactant B and CD34 were used to detect alveolar type II cell and pulmonary endothelial cell damage in order to assess the efficacy on donor lung protection of University of Wisconsin (UW) solution supplementation with iloprost.

Methods: Twelve rats were divided into two groups: UW solution was used alone in group I, and UW iloprost solution in group II. Lung samples were taken at regular intervals for pathological examination to evaluate alveolar cell integrity with hematoxylin and eosin staining.

The effect of extracorporeal shock waves on a rat model of injury to tendo Achillis. A histological and biomechanical study.

The effects of extracorporeal shock waves (ESWT) on tendon healing were assessed by observing histological and biomechanical parameters in a rat model of injury to the tendo Achillis. The injury was created by inserting an 18-G needle through tendo Achillis in 48 adult Wistar albino rats. The animals were divided into three groups.

[BCG vaccination: where are we now?].

The bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine is administered and recommended for the prevention and control of tuberculosis in developing countries with high-risk settings. A new general BCG vaccination programme against tuberculosis has been introduced since 1997 in Turkey. The aim of this study was to evaluate the BCG vaccination status in Düzce and to analyze contributing factors for the vaccination programme.

Massive gastrointestinal tuberculosis in a young patient without immunosuppression.

Although the lung is the major site for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, gastrointestinal involvement can be present as part of multiorgan disease process or, less commonly, can be seen as primary gastrointestinal tuberculosis. In the cases where the culture is negative, it can be difficult to differentiate tuberculosis from Crohn's disease based on both the clinical and histological features. When side effects of classic antimycobacteria are encountered, we can initially add ciprofloxacin to the treatment of tuberculosis.

Calcium antagonists in N-methyl d-aspartate-induced retinal injury.

Purpose: To detect the neuroprotective role of nimodipine and dantrolene in N-methyl- d-aspartate (NMDA)-induced retinal injury.

Methods: In this study we used two calcium antagonists which have two different modes of action, nimodipine and dantrolene, to prevent NMDA-induced retinal ischemia in guinea pigs. In 40 animals we injected nimodipine (n=10), dantrolene (n=10), a combination of both (n=10) or sterile 0.

A new mutation of the fukutin gene in a non-Japanese patient.

Fukuyama-type congenital muscular dystrophy (FCMD), Walker-Warburg syndrome, and muscle-eye-brain disease are clinically similar autosomal recessive disorders characterized by congenital muscular dystrophy, cobblestone lissencephaly, and eye anomalies. FCMD is frequent in Japan, but no FCMD patient with confirmed fukutin gene mutations has been identified in a non-Japanese population. Here, we describe a Turkish CMD patient with severe brain and eye anomalies.