Hüseyin Demir

A comparative study of the effects of electrical stimulation and laser treatment on experimental wound healing in rats.

We investigated the effects of electrical stimulation (ES) and laser treatment on wound healing in rats. A randomized-controlled trial, conducted at the Experimental and Clinical Research Centre of Erciyes University (Kayseri, Turkey), divided 124 healthy female Swiss-Albino rats into four groups. A 6 cm linear incision was made at the dorsal skin of all rats. Group 1 was given a constant direct current of 300 microA for 30 min per day. The current was applied in negative polarity for the first 3 days and in positive polarity for the next 7 days. Group 3 received a full-contact, continuous gallium-arsenide (GaAs) laser therapy, with a wavelength of 904 nm, an energy density of 1 J/cm2, and an average power of 6 mW for 10 min per day. The remaining two groups (Groups 2 and 4) were considered the control groups and received sham treatment. All groups were treated for 10 days. Histopathologic and biochemical evaluations were conducted on 10 rats from each group on the 4th and 10th days, and wound breaking strength was measured for biomechanical evaluation on the 25th day of the study. Both ES and laser treatment proved significantly effective in the inflammatory phase compared with control groups (p < 0.05); however, the ES was even more effective than laser treatment, with more significant results (p < 0.05). In the proliferation and maturation phases, while ES and laser treatment were both found to be significantly effective treatment methods compared with the control groups, no statistically significant difference was observed between the two treatment groups (p > 0.05). Although ES and laser treatment both were effective in the maturation phase, increasing wound breaking strength compared with their control groups (p < 0.05), there was no statistically significant difference between the two treatment groups (p > 0.05). We conclude that ES and laser treatment both have beneficial effects during the inflammatory, proliferation, and maturation phases of a wound. Both ES and laser treatment can be used successfully in decubitis ulcers and chronic wounds, in combination with conventional therapies such as daily care and debridement of wounds; however, ES has more beneficial effects during the inflammatory phase in some parameters than laser treatment.

Comparison of the effects of laser and ultrasound treatments on experimental wound healing in rats.

A randomized controlled study investigated the effects of ultrasound and laser treatments on wound healing in rats. The duration of the inflammatory phase decreased with both laser and ultrasound treatments; however, laser was more effective than ultrasound, with more significant results. The proliferation phase showed, for both treatments, an increase in the level of hydroxyproline and the number of fibroblasts, as well as stimulation of the collagen synthesis and the composition. Laser treatment was again more effective than ultrasound. The wound breaking strength was significantly higher with both treatments, and no statistically significant difference emerged between the laser and ultrasound groups, although laser treatment provided a much greater increase in the wound breaking strength than ultrasound. Both treatments have beneficial effects on the inflammatory, proliferation, and maturation phases of wound healing. Both can be used successfully for decubitis ulcers and chronic wounds, in conjunction with conventional therapies such as debridement and daily wound caring. However, laser treatment was more effective than ultrasound in the first two phases of wound healing.

Prevalence of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Spondyloarthritis in Turkey: A Nationwide Study

Objectives This study aims to estimate the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) in Turkey using the same telephone questionnaire developed for screening RA and SpA in France and used in Serbia and Lithuania. Material and methods The study was performed in two steps. In step I, the French questionnaire was translated into Turkish and validated through a group of 200 patients (80 males, 120 females; mean age 44.0±13.1 years; range 19 to 75 years) followed up at the rheumatology departments of University Hospitals in Antalya and Ankara. In step II, the validated Turkish questionnaire was administered face-to-face to randomly selected 4,012 subjects (1,670 males, 2,342 females; mean age 41.5±16.8 years; range 16 to 97 years) by trained general practitioners across the country, in 25 prov- inces for case detection. The subjects who were suspected of having RA or SpA in accordance with the questionnaire were invited to the nearest university hospital for rheumatologic examination in order to confirm the diagnosis. Results In step II, a total of 25 subjects (2 males, 23 females) were diagnosed as RA. The standardized RA prevalence for the general population of Turkey was calculated as 0.56% (95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.33-0.79), 0.10% (95% CI; -0.05-0.25) for males and 0.89% (95% CI; 0.51-1.27) for females. A total of 18 subjects (3 males, 15 females) were diagnosed as SpA. The standardized SpA prevalence for the general population of Turkey was 0.46% (95% CI; 0.25-0.67), 0.17% (95% CI; -0.03-0.37) for males and 0.65% (95% CI; 0.32-0.98) for females. The prevalence of RA was highest in the Northern region (2.00%) and the prevalence of SpA was highest in the Central region (1.49%). Conclusion The prevalences of RA and SpA in Turkey are close to each other and there are significant inter-regional variations in prevalences of both RA and SpA.