Dilaver Tas

Evaluation of quality of life with the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment test in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and the effect of dyspnea on disease-specific quality of life in these patients.

Purpose The chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) assessment test (CAT) was recently introduced for use in assessing disease-specific quality of life and follow-up of patients with COPD. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the dyspnea on disease-specific quality of life detected by CAT score in patients with COPD. Materials and Methods In this study, 90 stable patients with COPD as defined by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria were included. The level of dyspnea was assessed with the Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnea scale, and disease-specific quality of life was assessed with CAT score. Results The mean±SD age was 68.5±10.9 (range 41-97) years. A significant relationship was established between CAT score, MRC dyspnea scale score and GOLD stage in patients with COPD. There was also a positive correlation between dyspnea scale scores and GOLD stage in the patients (p<0.001), as well as positive correlation between CAT score and dyspnea scale score (p<0.001). CAT score showed a significant correlation with hospitalization and exacerbations (p<0.05). Conclusion Dyspnea is an important symptom that may impact quality of life in patients with COPD. CAT was shown to be a simple, fast and intelligible measurement of disease-specific quality of life, and was correlated with levels of dyspnea in patients with COPD.

Relation between inflammatory cytokine levels in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and gene polymorphism in young adult patients with bronchiectasis.

AIM Bronchiectasis develops as a result of genetic and environmental factors and its etiopathogenesis is not still clear. Recent studies have revealed that inflammatory cytokines, which are formed as a result of chronic infection and inflammation, play a role in the pathogenesis of bronchiectasis. For this purpose, the level of inflammatory cytokines in bronchiectasis and the presence or absence of a genetic predisposition with the gene polymorphism of these cytokines was investigated. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 60 patients, 40 study cases and 20 controls, which were monitored with the diagnosis of bronchiectasis were included in the study. In these individuals, cytokine levels [interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α] in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, along with the routine blood tests, were determined. Furthermore, the polymorphism in IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and TNF-α cytokine genes and its frequency were studied in the obtained DNA by the automatic sequence analysis method and the results were compared. FINDINGS It was found that in serum and BAL fluid of the patient group, the IL-8 level was high, whereas the IL-10 level was low (P<0.05). No significant difference was detected in the other cytokines (P>0.05). It was found that in cytokine gene polymorphisms IL-8 -251 A/T, IL-10 -592 A/C, and IL-10 -819 T/C genotypes are associated with increased risk of bronchiectasis. It was detected that the IL-8 -251 A/T genotype increased the risk of having the disease by 4.19 fold. (OR =4.19, 95% CI =1.24-14.17, P=0.021). The IL-10 -592 C/A genotype increased the risk of having the disease by 5.71 fold (OR = 5.71, 95% CI =1.35-24.06, P=0.017) and the IL-10 -819 T/C genotype increased the risk of having the disease by 5.06 fold (OR =5.06, 95% CI =1.20-21.27, P=0.048). No significant correlation was found between the other polymorphisms and bronchiectasis. CONCLUSIONS The IL-8, IL-10 levels and the gene polymorphism of these cytokines differ. In addition to detecting higher levels of pro-inflammatory IL-8 and lower levels of anti-inflammatory IL-10, detection of gene polymorphism related to these two cytokines in bronchiectasis gives rise to the thought that cytokines may have role in a predisposition to bronchiectasis. However, as the number of patients is small, precise remarks could not be made on this subject. There is need for further studies include a larger number of patients.

Serum prohepcidin in pulmonary tuberculosis.

Abstract Aim: Anemia of chronic disease is the second most encountered anemia following iron deficiency in patients who develop acute or chronic immune activation. Pulmonary tuberculosis is an infectious disease which results in an inflammatory response frequently causing anemia. We investigated whether prohepcidin can be used successfully to disclose the cause of anemia and to monitor the result of the therapy in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis. Material and methods: The study was performed in 40 male patients and 15 healthy controls that had a diagnosis of tuberculosis with a positive sputum smear and did not receive any previous treatment. They were treated for 6 months. Results: The study revealed a significant elevation of prohepcidin in patients with tuberculosis in comparison to those of healthy control subjects. Additionally, prohepcidin levels significantly decreased after treatment in the patient group but remained high in comparison to control group. Conclusion: We conclude that prohepcidin is high in pulmonary tuberculosis and might be a marker for monitoring the response to treatment.

Angiopoietin 2 levels in serum and bronchial lavage fluids and their relationship with cancer stages in lung cancer patients

Background:  Angiopoietin 2 (Ang‐2) has an important role in tumor angiogenesis. In this study, Ang‐2 levels of serum and bronchioloalveolar lavage fluids (BALF) in patients with lung cancer were measured and correlated with clinical and biochemical parameters.

The tuberculosis case fatality rate and the treatment results of the young adult male patients of the last 9 years (2002-2010)

Tuberculosis (TB) remains as the second leading infectious disease causing death following human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) worldwide (1). In 2010, 8.8 million (range, 8.5-9.2 million) new TB cases have been defined. According to the 2011 Global Tuberculosis Control Report of the World Health Organization (WHO), the incidence and prevalence of TB were 128/100,000 and 178/100,000, respectively, and the mortality associated with TB was 20/100,000 worldwide (1). In 2010, TB-related death was determined in 1.1 million (range, 0.9-1.2 million) HIV-negative patients and in 0.35 million (range, 0.32-0.39 million) HIV-positive patients worldwide (1). The incidence of TB has been decreasing since 2002 and the number of definite TB cases has been decreasing since 2006. Within the frame of global TB control strategy of WHO, namely “The Stop TB Strategy”, one of the aims is to reduce the prevalence and mortality rates of TB in 1990 by 50% until 2015 (2). This goal was achieved in America and was nearly achieved in the Western Pacific Region.

Obstructive Sleep Syndrom in Patient with Plonjon Guatr: Case Report

A large number of predisposing factors (obesity, nasal obstruction, adenoid hypertrophy, macroglossia, etc.) are reported to be associated with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OUAS). In addition to these factors, the large goiter and hypothyroidism were reported to be associated with OSAS as well. However, this relationship could not yet be fully demonstrated. In our case related to plonjon goiter, we wanted to show the effect of hyroidectomy to OSAS –if there is- and the relationship between pressure and OSAS. Two years ago, a 72-year-old female with BMI: 26.8 kg/m2 patient was admitted to our clinic with complaints of respiratory standstill during sleep, snoring, morning headaches and drowsiness during daylight. In the chest X-ray, chest computed tomography and ultrasonography applied to the patient, it was detected that the trachea was deviated to the left due to euthyroid plonjon goiter and severe OSAS and polisomnografisi (PSG) was diagnosed for the patient. The patients apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) was measured 63.1/h. With the aim of treatment, in 7cm H2O pressure, nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) was applied to the patient and AHI decreased to the level of 11.4/h. Thyroidectomy was performed one month after the diagnosis. AHI was found 34.8 /h on the PSG applied for the purpose of 8 week-postoperative control. There were recovery on the levels of total sleep time, AHI, obstructive apnea index, hypopnea index, average desaturation index, stage 3 and REM as 16%, 44.8%, 84.7%, 19%, 38.3%, 52.4% and 28% respectively when compared the preoperative term with and postoperative term. It was demonstrated that there was no change of the in the degree of OSAS after thyroidectomy but only some partial improvement in the OSAS. The conclusion that there may be some improvements in nCPAP pressures after thyroidectomy and nCPAP treatment should not be stopped was reached. Also, it should be kept in mind that patients who apply to the primary care centers with the complaints of drowsiness, snorring and fatigue may be diagnosed as OSAS.