"The end of good luck'--long-term survival without anticoagulation: a case report and review of the literature

Long-term anticoagulation in patients with metallic prosthetic valve disease is required according to current guidelines. We describe a patient with a functioning mitral mechanical valve without anticoagulation for 27 years. A 46-year-old man admitted to the emergency department with complains of palpitation. The patient had a mitral valve replacement because of severe mitral stenosis. He discontinued warfarin treatment 1 month after surgery because of the unavailability of this drug in Turkey. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed functioning metalic mitral valve with a mean gradient of 9 mm Hg. Fluoroscopy showed normal excursions of the mechanical mitral valve. Transesophageal echocardiography was performed and revealed fresh thrombus formation in the left atrial appendix. Admission international normalized ration (INR) level was 1.79. Due to the higher INR level and long-term survival, genetic analysis of warfarin polymorphism was performed. There was a homozygous mutation in the vitamin K epoxide reductase complex 1 (VKORC1) 1173C>T and 1639G>A genotypes. The possible explanations of long-term survival and baseline higher INR level were linked to the mutation in warfarin metabolism. We also briefly review the literature.     

Patients with Tombstoning Pattern on the Admission Electrocardiography Who Have Undergone Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Anterior Wall ST‐Elevation Myocardial Infarction: In‐Hospital and Midterm Clinical Outcomes

Background: A tombstoning pattern (T‐pattern) is associated with in‐hospital poor outcomes patients with ST‐segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), but no data are available for midterm follow‐up. We sought to determine the prognostic value of a T‐pattern on admission electrocardiography (ECG) for in‐hospital and midterm mortality in patients with anterior wall STEMI treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods: After exclusion, 169 consecutive patients with anterior wall STEMI (mean age: 55 ± 12.9 years; 145 men) undergoing primary PCI were prospectively enrolled in this study. Patients were classified as a T‐pattern (n = 32) or non–T‐pattern (n = 137) based upon the admission ECG. Follow‐up to 6 months was performed. Results: In‐hospital mortality tended to be higher in the T‐pattern group compared with non–T‐pattern group (9.3% vs 2.1% respectively, P = 0.05). All‐cause mortality was higher in the T‐pattern group than non–T‐pattern group for 6 month (P = 0.004). After adjusting the baseline characteristics, the T‐pattern remained an independent predictor of 6‐month all‐cause mortality (odds ratio: 5.18; 95% confidence interval: 1.25–21.47, P = 0.02). Conclusion: A T‐pattern is a strong independent predictor of 6‐month all‐cause mortality in anterior STEMI treated with primary PCI. Therefore, it may be an indicator of high risk among patients with anterior wall STEMI.     

Serum carbohydrate antigen 125 levels in nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy: a useful biomarker for prognosis and functional mitral regurgitation

The authors investigated the prognostic relevance of serum carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) levels in nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NICMP) and assessed whether increased levels relate to the degree of functional mitral regurgitation (FMR). Seventy-seven patients with NICMP were enrolled and followed-up for 10 ± 2 months in this prospective study. Receiver-operating characteristic analysis established a cutoff CA125 value of 25 U/mL for predicting mortality. Patients were divided into two groups according to their CA125 levels (CA125 <25 U/mL [n=58] and CA125 ≥ 25 U/mL [n=19]). Patients with high CA125 values had statistically worse functional status, higher B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) levels, higher left ventricular volumes, lower ejection fraction, higher E/Em ratio, higher pulmonary artery systolic pressure, and more severe FMR. On the multivariate analysis, serum CA125 (P=.002) and severe FMR (P=.04) were identified as the independent predictors of mortality. Serum CA125 levels also correlated with BNP levels and FMR severity (P<.001). Serum CA125 is a powerful prognostic biomarker that is associated with the severity of heart failure, serum BNP levels and several echocardiographic parameters including left ventricular volumes, systolic and diastolic functions, pulmonary artery pressure, and the degree of FMR. Serum CA125 was also shown as an independent predictor of mortality during 10 ± 2 months of follow-up.     

β-Glucan treatment prevents progressive burn ischaemia in the zone of stasis and improves burn healing: An experimental study in rats

Saving the zone of stasis is one of the major goals of burn specialists. Increasing the tissue tolerance to ischaemia and inhibiting inflammation have been proposed to enable salvage of this zone. After a burn, excessive inflammation, including increased vascular permeability, local tissue oedema and neutrophil activation, causes local tissue damage by triggering vascular thrombosis and blocking capillaries, resulting in tissue ischaemia and necrosis. Oxygen radicals also contribute to tissue damage after a burn. However, macrophages play a pivotal role in the response to burn. We studied β-glucan because of its many positive systemic effects that are beneficial to burn healing, including immunomodulatory effects, antioxidant effects (free-radical scavenging activity) and effects associated with the reduction of the inflammatory response.     

Poor outcomes among elderly patients hospitalized for influenza-like illness

Background and objective: Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network is a worldwide initiative that aims to document the burden of influenza infections among acute admissions and vaccine effectiveness in particular countries. As a partner of this platform, we aimed to determine the frequency of influenza infections among acute admissions with influenza-like illness and the outcomes of enrolled patients during the 2015–2016 influenza season in selected hospitals in Turkey.

Patients and methods: The investigators screened the hospital admission registries, chart review or available records, and screened all patients hospitalized in the previous 24–48?hours or overnight in the predefined wards or emergency room. A total of 1351 patients were screened for enrollment in five tertiary care referral hospitals in Ankara and 774 patients (57.3% of the initial screened population) were eligible for swabbing. All of the eligible patients who consented were swabbed and tested for influenza with real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based methods.

Results: Overall, influenza positivity was detected in 142 patients (18.4%). The predominant influenza strain was A H1N1pdm09. Outcomes were worse among elderly patients, regardless of the presence of the influenza virus. Half of the patients over 65 years of age were admitted to the intensive care unit, while one third required any mode of mechanical ventilation and one fourth died in the hospital in that particular episode.

Conclusion: These findings can guide hospitals to plan and prepare for the influenza season. Effective influenza vaccination strategies, particularly aimed at the elderly and adults with chronic diseases, can provide an opportunity for prevention of deaths due to influenza-like illness.     

A case of tularemia presenting as a dental abscess: case report

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this report is to present a tularemia case accompanied by a neck mass that easily may be confounded with dental abscess. SUMMARY: Francisella tularensis is a potential agent of biologic terrorism. Thirty percent of the symptoms seen in tularemia localize in the head and neck region and are sometimes mistaken for complications of a dental abscess. To our knowledge, reports of the differential diagnostic characteristics of tularemia are lacking in the dental literature and, to date, no dental journal articles have focused on the disease. In this present case, a 51-year-old woman arrived at the public health department with high fever and facial swelling. The findings suggested a dental origin and the patient was directed to dentistry. Radiology and a detailed intraoral and extraoral examination failed to reveal a dental problem. Fortunately, the patient was known to come from a tularemia region; with the suspicion of tularemia the patient was referred to the faculty of medicine. Serologic tests showed that the patient had a Francisella tularensis infection.