Gul Ergun

Investigation of seroprevalence of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in horses in Nigde province, Turkey.

The prevalence of equine piroplasmosis caused by Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in Nigde, in central Anatolia, Turkey has remained unknown. Serum samples were obtained from a total of 125 horses and were tested for antibodies to T. equi and B. caballi using the Indirect Fluorescence Antibody Test (IFAT). Twenty-three (18.4%) horses were seropositive for equine piroplasmosis. Anti-T. equi was observed in 16 horses (12.8%) while anti-B. caballi was detected in 12 horses (9.6%). In addition, 5 serum samples were positive for both parasites. The prevalence rates of antibodies to T. equi and B. caballi for female and male horses were statistically indifferent (p = 0.19 and 0.90). The difference between the seropositivity rates to T. equi among age groups was statistically insignificant (p = 0.44) while the difference to B. caballi among age groups is statistically significant (p = 0.01). Seropositivity rates ranged from 2.9% to 25.7% for T. equi and 2.9% to 14.3% for B. caballi from the selected districts in Nigde. A statistically significant difference on seropositivity rates for the study sites was observed for only T.equi (p = 0.03). This study indicates that T. equi is higher than B. caballi in Nigde.

The prognostic significance of advanced age in patients with bladder cancer treated with radical cystectomy

To evaluate the association of patient age with pathological and long‐term oncological outcomes after radical cystectomy (RC) for bladder carcinoma, as this disease, like many others, increases in incidence with age.

Topical Cyclosporine A in the Prevention of Pterygium Recurrence

Aims: To investigate the efficacy and safety of postoperative topical cyclosporine A 0.05% (tCsA) (Restasis®, Allergan Pharmaceutical) eye drops in preventing the recurrence of pterygium. Methods: 31 patients with bilateral pterygium were examined between January 2006 and February 2007. During a 1-year follow-up, the right eyes of the patients assigned as the treatment group were treated by tCsA and the left eyes were considered as the control group. Results: The pterygium recurred in 4 (12.9%) of 31 right eyes in the treatment group and in 14 (45.2%) of 31 left eyes in the control group (p = 0.005). The mean follow-up ± SD was 9.39 ± 4.14 months (range, 1 to 12 months). The control group had a 7.37 times higher risk of recurrence in pterygium compared with the treatment group (OR = 0.1357, p = 0.0051). A statistically significant difference in recurrence-free probabilities was found for the treatment and control groups (log-rank test; p = 0.006). A multivariate Cox regression model showed that age (p = 0.0093) and tCsA (p = 0.0103) were independent statistically significant impacts on recurrence-free time for pterygium. Conclusion: This study suggests that primary excision of pterygium with postoperative instillation of 0.05% cyclosporine is both safe and efficient.

Does renal capsular invasion have any prognostic value in localized renal cell carcinoma

PURPOSE We evaluated the impact of renal capsular invasion without perirenal fat invasion in the outcome of patients with localized renal cell cancer treated surgically. MATERIALS AND METHODS We retrospectively reviewed the records of 249 consecutive patients with localized renal cell cancer (pT1-pT2N0M0) who underwent partial or radical nephrectomy between 1995 and 2007. Pathological staging was done according to the 2002 TNM staging system. Association of clinical and pathological parameters with capsular invasion was determined using the chi-square test. Kaplan-Meier estimations of disease specific survival were generated according to capsular invasion and the log rank test was used to compare survival according to the variable. RESULTS Renal capsular invasion was detected in 79 of the 249 patients (31.7%). Of the patients 19 of 96 (19.8%) with pT1a, 26 of 87 (29.9%) with pT1b and 34 of 66 (51.1%) with pT2 had renal capsular invasion. Tumor diameter and high grade were associated with renal capsular invasion (p <0.05). Mean followup was 40.7 months. Five-year disease specific survival in patients with and without capsular invasion was 92.7% and 90.4%, respectively (p >0.05). In pT1a, pT1b and pT2 cases differences in Kaplan-Meier estimations according to renal capsular invasion were statistically insignificant (p >0.05). On multivariate analysis renal capsular invasion was not detected as an independent prognostic factor for disease specific survival (HR 0.6582, p = 0.5373). CONCLUSIONS Tumor diameter and high grade were associated with renal capsular invasion in stage pT1-2 renal cell cancer. However, capsular invasion did not have any independent impact on patient survival.

Prognostic Significance of Hydronephrosis in Bladder Cancer Treated by Radical Cystectomy

Objectives: Hydronephrosis is a common finding in patients with bladder cancer. This study aims at an analysis of the association between hydronephrosis, pathologic characteristics of bladder cancer and cancer-specific survival rate after radical cystectomy. Methods: Clinical data of 241 patients who underwent radical cystectomy between 1990 and 2007 for invasive bladder cancer were analyzed retrospectively. The significance of the relation between the clinical and pathological findings were determined by the χ2 test. The Kaplan-Meier test was used for the estimation of disease-specific survival obtained according to hydronephrosis, and the differences were examined by the log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was performed by the Cox regression model. Results: Of 241 patients, 39 (16.2%) had unilateral and 13 (5.4%) bilateral hydronephrosis. Five-year cancer-specific survival rates were reported as 63.4% in non-hydronephrotic and 11.57% in hydronephrotic patients (log-rank test, p < 0.001). The presence of hydronephrosis was associated with advanced pT stage, higher tumor grade and lymph node metastases (p < 0.001, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that hydronephrosis is an important factor directly affecting cancer-specific survival (0.0264). Conclusions: The presence of hydronephrosis prior to radical cystectomy is a significant prognostic parameter, associated with poor cancer-specific survival and advanced disease stage.

Prediction of earthquake hazard by hidden Markov model (around Bilecik, NW Turkey)

Earthquakes are one of the most important natural hazards to be evaluated carefully in engineering projects, due to the severely damaging effects on human-life and human-made structures. The hazard of an earthquake is defined by several approaches and consequently earthquake parameters such as peak ground acceleration occurring on the focused area can be determined. In an earthquake prone area, the identification of the seismicity patterns is an important task to assess the seismic activities and evaluate the risk of damage and loss along with an earthquake occurrence. As a powerful and flexible framework to characterize the temporal seismicity changes and reveal unexpected patterns, Poisson hidden Markov model provides a better understanding of the nature of earthquakes. In this paper, Poisson hidden Markov model is used to predict the earthquake hazard in Bilecik (NW Turkey) as a result of its important geographic location. Bilecik is in close proximity to the North Anatolian Fault Zone and situated between Ankara and Istanbul, the two biggest cites of Turkey. Consequently, there are major highways, railroads and many engineering structures are being constructed in this area. The annual frequencies of earthquakes occurred within a radius of 100 km area centered on Bilecik, from January 1900 to December 2012, with magnitudes (M) at least 4.0 are modeled by using Poisson-HMM. The hazards for the next 35 years from 2013 to 2047 around the area are obtained from the model by forecasting the annual frequencies of M ≥ 4 earthquakes.

Ophthalmologica at a Glance

mediate inflammatory response instead of stromal wound healing. This means that if rapid re-epithelialization preserves the epithelium corneal cytoarchitecture, the replacement of the stroma with minimal cell apoptosis is guaranteed. Cysteine, administered orally in daily doses of 200 mg, has been shown to be effective in reducing the time of corneal re-epithelialization after photoablative keratectomy. Eyes treated with cysteine per os showed a faster healing rate than untreated eyes. Identification of factors that can neutralize oxygen free radical damage in the cornea can optimize surgical outcomes. The authors believe that cysteine breaks the peroxidative chain reaction involving organic and fatty acid hydroperoxidase and prevents propagation of peroxide-dependent chain reactions that can lead to cell membrane lysis.

Contents Vol. 222, 2008

W. Behrens-Baumann, Magdeburg S. Binder, Wien R. Brancato, Milan J. Cunha Vaz, Coimbra S.S. Hayreh, Iowa City, Iowa P.C.P. Ho, Hong Kong Y.-N. Hui, Xian J.B. Jonas, Mannheim A. Kanpolat, Ankara I. Kim, Boston, Mass. T. Kohnen, Frankfurt B. Lorenz, Regensburg A. Negi, Kobe U. Pleyer, Berlin G. Renard, Paris D. Spalton, London P. Wiedemann, Leipzig X. Xu, Shanghai L. Zografos, Lausanne International Journal of Ophthalmology

Analysis of Prognostic Factors in Bladder Carcinoma Treated With Radical Cystectomy

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 241 consecutive patients with invasive bladder carcinoma between 1990 and 2008, all had radical cystectomy. The clinical and pathological data and clinical outcome were evaluated. The Chi-square test was used to determine the significance of the relationship between the clinical and pathological findings. While disease-specific survival and the association between patient`s parameters and survival were analyzed using Kaplan-Meier method and long-rank test respectively.