Hulya Erbagci

Double Right Coronary Artery: Review of Literature

Anomalies of the coronary artery are often asymptomatic and uncommon. We report an extremely rare coronary artery anomaly, a double right coronary artery. A 50-year-old male patient was hospitalized with the diagnosis of unstable angina pectoris. Right coronary artery (RCA) injection showed filling of two separately originating RCAs, coursing towards the right atrio-ventricular groove. Then they give a marginal branch and a septal artery, terminated by giving off the posterior descending artery (PDA) in posterior interventricular groove. Coronary anomalies should be recognized to avoid problems during coronary intervention and cardiac surgery.

Hippocampal Volume in Schizophrenia and Its Relationship with Risperidone Treatment: A Stereological Study

The purpose of this study was to assess the significance of the hippocampal volume differences and its relation with risperidone treatment in schizophrenia. In schizophrenic patients who were on risperidone treatment (n = 11) and in healthy volunteers (n = 11), volumes of the hippocampi were estimated using magnetic resonance images (MRIs). A detailed systematic series of coronal MRIs of the entire brain (3 mm thickness, T1-weighted, TR/TE 400/10 ms) was obtained for each subject. All estimations were done according to Cavalieri’s method by a modified point-counting grid placed on surface areas of hippocampal slices. The mean right and left hippocampal volumes in schizophrenics and control subjects were 1,059.4 and 1,003.2 mm3, and 1,780.1 and 1,589.1 mm3, respectively. The corresponding coefficients of errors were 0.05 and 0.068, and 0.059 and 0.081, respectively. The volumes of left and right hemispheres were not significantly different in both schizophrenic patients and controls (p > 0.05). However, a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) was found between hippocampal volumes of the schizophrenic patients and controls. In conclusion, the hippocampal volume of the schizophrenic patients is significantly smaller than of the healthy controls. The patients who responded well to risperidone treatment had significantly greater hippocampal volumes than the patients who did not respond properly. Thus, hippocampal volume may be a predictor of the treatment response of schizophrenics to risperidone.

A magnetic resonance imaging study of the adhesio interthalamica in schizophrenia

Several recent studies have found a relationship between midline cerebral malformations (cavum septi pellucidum, absence of the adhesio interthalamica) and schizophrenia. In this study, we investigated whether the adhesio interthalamica is more often absent in patients with schizophrenia than healthy cases and whether the absence of the adhesio interthalamica may be related to the volume of the third ventricle. Twenty-six patients (11 male, 15 female) in the schizophrenia group and twenty-nine (11 male, 18 female) cases in the control group were examined by MRI. The adhesio interthalamica was found to be absent more often among patients with schizophrenia compared with control subjects and patients without adhesio interthalamica did not have significantly larger third ventricle volumes. The absence of the adhesio interthalamica may be important in explaining the association between the abnormalities of brain midline structures and schizophrenia.

Peripapillary choroidal thickness in healthy Turkish subjects.

Aim The objective of the study reported here was to investigate the normal peripapillary choroidal thickness (CT), measured by enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT), in healthy Turkish volunteers. Materials and methods In this prospective cross-sectional study, 57 eyes of 57 healthy Turkish subjects were enrolled. Each participant underwent a comprehensive ophthalmic examination and peripapillary CT measurement using EDI-OCT. Results The mean age of the 25 female and 32 male patients in the study was 30.9±10.6 years (range, 18–56 years). The mean peripapillary CT at the superior, inferior, nasal, and temporal sites was 225±57, 183±47, 220±57, and 233±59 μm, respectively. The inferior peripapillary CT value was significantly lower than the peripapillary CT values (P<0.001 for all), whereas no significant differences were found between the superior, nasal, and temporal peripapillary CT values. Conclusion The findings of the study revealed that Turkish people had significantly lower peripapillary CT values in the inferior quadrant than in the superior, nasal, and temporal quadrants.

Evaluation of the mobile phone electromagnetic radiation on serum iron parameters in rats

BACKGROUND Electromagnetic fields (EMF) created by mobile phones during communication have harmful effects on different organs. OBJECTIVES It was aimed to investigate the effects of an EMF created by a mobile phone on serum iron level, ferritin, unsaturated iron binding capacity and total iron binding capacity within a rat experiment model. METHODS A total of 32 male Wistar albino rats were randomly divided into the control, sham, mobile phone speech (2h/day) and stand by (12 h/day) groups. The speech and stand by groups were subjected to the EMF for a total of 10 weeks. RESULTS No statistically significant difference was observed between the serum iron and ferritin values of the rats in the speech and stand by groups than the control and sham groups (p>0.05). The unsaturated iron binding capacity and total iron capacity values of the rats in the speech and stand by groups were significantly lower in comparison to the control group (p<0.01). CONCLUSION It was found that exposure to EMF created by mobile phones affected unsaturated iron binding capacity and total iron binding capacity negatively.

Post-Natal Growth in the Rat Pineal Gland: A Stereological Study†

The purpose was to observe the changes in a rat pineal gland using stereological techniques during lactation and post‐weaning periods. Thirty Wistar albino rats were studied during different post‐natal periods using light microscopy. Pineal gland volume was estimated using the Cavalieri Method. Additionally, the total number of pinealocytes was estimated using the optical fractionator technique. Pineal gland volume displayed statistically significant changes between lactation and after weaning periods. A significant increase in pineal gland volume was observed from post‐natal day 10 to post‐natal day 90. The numerical density of pinealocytes became stabilized during lactation and decreased rapidly after weaning. However, the total number of pinealocytes continuously increased during post‐natal life of all rats in the study. However, this increment was not statistically significant when comparing the lactation and after weaning periods. The increase in post‐natal pineal gland volume may depend on increment of immunoreactive fibres, capsule thickness or new synaptic bodies.