Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in congenital color vision deficiency

PURPOSE: To evaluate the thickness of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) in subjects with congenital red-green color vision deficiency (CVD). METHODS: This study included 20 healthy subjects with congenital red-green CVD and 22 healthy subjects with normal color vision. After Ishihara test and examinations visual field by automated perimetry, all individuals underwent scanning laser polarimetry to measure the thickness of the RNFL. RESULTS: All scanning laser polarimetry parameters related to RNFL thickness were found to be similar in subjects with congenital CVD and normal color vision (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report suggesting normal thickness of the RNFL in subjects with congenital red-green CVD.     

Short-term effect of topical brinzolamide on human central corneal thickness

PURPOSE. To investigate the effect of short-term brinzolamide application on human central corneal thickness (CCT). METHODS. Seventeen eyes of 16 patients who underwent neodymium:YAG laser posterior capsulotomy were included in the study group. Twenty-two subjects served as controls. Brinzolamide twice daily and fluorometholone four times daily were initiated after the procedure. Corneal thickness was evaluated with an ultrasound pachymetry from the central region. CCT measurements were performed before the procedure, at first day, and at the end of first week. RESULTS. The mean baseline CCT value was 535.1+/-37.8 micronm. In comparison to the control group (546.4+/-22.2 micronm), there was no statistically significant difference (p=0.248). After brinzolamide instillation, the mean CCT values at first day and at first week was measured as 545.1+/-40.1 micronm and 538.8+/-39.4 micronm, respectively. The difference at first day was statistically significant when compared to the baseline values (p=0.00017). When compared to the control group, no statistically significant difference was observed for the mean CCT values of the first day and first week (p=0.906 and p=0.484, respectively). In the fellow eyes, mean CCT values increased following the dorzolamide instillation (529.3+/-42.6 micronm, 534+/-41.7 micronm, and 533+/-41.9 micronm, respectively). No statistically significant difference was observed between the control group and fellow eye group when compared (p=0.162, p=0.247, p=0.270, respectively). CONCLUSIONS. Brinzolamide may cause a short-term increase in the human CCT, particularly on the first day.     

Angiographic documentation of coronary artery spasm induced by anesthesia

Many cases of coronary artery spasm during regional or general anesthesia have been reported. To our knowledge, for the first time we report a case of coronary artery spasm induced by general anesthesia that was documented by immediate angiography and treated with intracoronary nitroglycerine. A 68-year-old female was to undergo elective cholecystectomy. General anesthesia was induced by propofol 140?mg, fentanyl 50???g, and vecuronium bromide 7?mg. Immediately after intubation sudden hypotension (60/40?mmHg) and marked ST-segment elevation on the monitor were noticed. A 12-lead electrocardiogram demonstrated marked ST-segment elevations in inferior leads with reciprocal changes. An immediate diagnostic coronary angiography showed diffuse severe narrowing of the right coronary artery with a non-critical plaque in the midportion. After intracoronary administration of nitroglycerine 0.2?mg into the right coronary artery, there was marked diffuse vasodilatation. A diagnosis of variant angina was made and 2?days of hospital course was uneventful. The patient was discharged taking diltiazem 120?mg two times daily, aspirin 100?mg daily and isosorbidemononitrate 60?mg daily.     

Retinal toxicity related to hydroxychloroquine in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis

Purpose

To compare the retinal toxicity due to hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) use in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) using multifocal electroretinography (mfERG), fundus autofluorescence (FAF) and optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Methods

Patients who were using HCQ due to SLE and RA, and healthy subjects evaluated in this study. Central foveal thickness (CFT), inner–outer segment (IS–OS) junction irregularity, retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, mfERG and FAF measurements were performed to evaluate retinal toxicity.

Results

Study included 35 eyes of 35 SLE patients, 40 eyes of 40 RA patients and 20 eyes of 20 healthy subjects. In SLE group, retinal abnormality was found in three eyes with mfERG, in one eye with FAF and in four eyes with OCT. In RA group, retinal abnormality was found in 10 eyes with mfERG, in five eyes with FAF and in nine eyes with OCT. A statistically significant difference was found with respect to mfERG between “eyes with abnormal responses and without abnormal responses” and “eyes with abnormal responses and controls” (p < 0.05). A statistically significant difference was found with respect to CFT between “eyes with IS–OS junction irregularities and without IS–OS junction irregularities” and “eyes with/without IS–OS junction irregularities and controls” (p < 0.05).

Conclusions

The use of HCQ seems to cause retinal toxicity more often in RA patients compared to SLE patients. For the early detection of retinal changes, OCT and mfERG can be used as screening tools due to their higher sensitivity rates compared to other tests.

     

Prevalence of major obstructive sleep apnea syndrome symptoms in coal miners and healthy adults

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is associated with symptoms including habitual snoring, witness apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness. Also obstructive sleep apnea syndrome is related to some occupations which are needed attention for work accident. We aimed to determine the prevalence of snoring, witnessed apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness in coal workers and healthy adults in Zonguldak city center, and also evaluate the differences between these groups. This study consisted of 423 underground coal workers and 355 individuals living in centre of Zonguldak. Study and comparison group were chosen by nonstratified randomized sampling method. Data were collected by a questionnaire that included information regarding snoring, witnessed apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness. Mean age was 43.3 ± 6.05 years in miners and 44.3 ± 11.8 years in comparison group. In miners, snoring frequency was determined as 42.6%, witnessed apneas were 4.0%, and daytime sleepiness were 4.7%. In comparison group, these symptoms were 38.6%, 4.8% and 2.8% respectively. There were no statistical differences between coal workers and comparison group in these symptoms. Also snoring prevalence was higher in smoker miners. We found that major symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome in coal workers are similar to general population in Zonguldak. Further studies that constucted higher populations and with polysomnography are needed to evaluate these findings.     

Statutory disclosure in article 280 of the Turkish Penal Code

A new Turkish Penal Code came into effect on 1 June 2005. Article 280 concerns health care workers' failure to report a crime. This article removes the responsibility from health care workers to maintain confidentiality, but also removes patients' right to confidentiality. It provides for up to one year of imprisonment for a health care worker who, while on duty, finds an indication that a crime might have been committed by a patient and who does not inform the responsible authorities about it. This forces the health care worker to divulge the patient's confidential information. A patient who thinks he or she may be accused of a crime may therefore not seek medical help, which is the universal right of every person. The article is therefore contrary to medical ethics, oaths taken by physicians and nurses, and the understanding of patient confidentiality.     

Smoking prevalence, behaviour and nicotine addiction among coal workers in Zonguldak, Turkey

To assess the smoking status of coal workers, as coal dust exposure and concomitant cigarette smoking contribute to the increased prevalence of pulmonary interstitial fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other pulmonary diseases. A survey was conducted to determine the smoking prevalence, behaviour and nicotine addiction in coal workers. The target population consisted of 475 underground coal workers who lived in Zonguldak city of Turkey, and we reached 389 of them. Each subject completed a detailed smoking history questionnaire (included 56 question). Chest X-rays and pulmonary function tests were performed to evaluate patients' related diseases and complications. Smoking status of the workers was as follows; Sixty-nine never smokers (17.7%), 62 ex-smokers (15.9%) and 258 current smokers (66.3%). The mean age of starting smoking was similar among ex and current smokers (15.9 +/- 4.2 versus 15.0 +/- 4.0). The most common reason for starting smoking was smoking interest (50%) and friends' influence (15.5%). The most frequent reason stated for successful smoking cessation was experience of smoking-related symptoms or development of a medical condition (51%). The most important reason given by current smokers for smoking cessation attempts was increased chance of developing lung cancer, pneumoconiosis and other diseases (22.9%). Nicotine addiction was assessed by the Fagerstroem test. Mild (0-3 points), moderate (4-6) and severe (7 or more) addiction ratios were found to be 39.1%, 44.2% and 16.7% respectively. Ex-smokers had the highest prevalence of large and small airway obstruction on spirometry. Smoking prevalence is high in coal workers living in Zonguldak city of Turkey. Most of the smokers know that smoking is dangerous and want to quit smoking. A detailed smoking history during medical surveillance may help the occupational physician to develop a system in which such individuals can be referred to comprehensive smoking cessation programs.     

Diphtheria immunization rates and the effect of several sociodemographic factors on immunization of children in eastern Turkey

BACKGROUND: One of the aims of the World Health Organization is to eliminate diphtheria in all countries. Thus, it is important to achieve a high level of childhood immunization. The present study was performed to determine the level of child immunization against diphtheria and the effect of several sociodemographic factors on immunization of children aged 0-6 years. METHODS: Using the cluster-sampling method, 767 healthy children were selected at random from three provinces in eastern Turkey. Children were categorized as completely vaccinated, incompletely vaccinated, unvaccinated or vaccination status unknown. If the child had no immunization card, he/she was categorized as vaccination status unknown. RESULTS: Of the 767 children, 72.3% were completely vaccinated, 18.3% were incompletely vaccinated and 5.7% were not vaccinated. Vaccination status was unknown for 3.7% of children. As the age of the children increased, the proportion of completely vaccinated children increased and the proportion of non-vaccinated and incompletely vaccinated children decreased. The vaccination rates increased in parallel with the education level of the parents. While the vaccination rate was significantly correlated with the socioeconomic level of the families, it was inversely correlated with sibling number. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study show that the immunization status necessary for the elimination of diphtheria has not yet been reached in eastern Turkey. In immunization programs for children in eastern Turkey, priority should be given to increasing primary immunization levels to 90-95% with three or more doses of diphtheria toxoid.     

Outcome at second-look laparotomy: anaesthesia related risk factors

PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION: To identify anaesthesia related risk factors associated with positive second-look laparotomy (SLL) findings in patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma who had previous optimal cytoreduction surgery under general anaesthesia. METHODS: A retrospective review of the anaesthesia and medical records of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer who underwent SLL at our institution and analysis of patient related (age, haemoglobin, albumin), anaesthesia related (duration of anaesthesia, anaesthetics and dosages, transfusion of blood products), tumour related (stage, grade, presence of ascites, adhesion, histological type, capsule penetration and CA-125) data and outcome of SLL was undertaken. RESULTS: The patients had SLL 305 +/- 215 days after the first operation. Of the 83 patients 28 (33.7%) were SLL (+). SLL (+) patients were significantly more likely to have a mucinous histological subtype, required intraoperative packed red blood cell (PRBC) transfusion and longer anaesthesia duration (p < 0.05). Type of induction agent, whether narcotics were used or not, type of volatile agent used, dosages of induction agents and dosages of narcotic and muscle relaxants did not vary significantly between the patients with and without cancer recurrence (p > 0.05). Duration of anaesthesia (OR, 1.03; CI, 1-1.05, p = 0.031) and histological subtype (OR, 16.1; CI, 1.8-141.7, p = 0.012), were the independent variables predicting cancer recurrence in the multivariate logistic regression. CONCLUSION: We emphasize that duration of anaesthesia and histological subtype are risk factors for cancer recurrence in early stage ovarian carcinoma. From our data it seems that interventions to shorten the duration of general anaesthesia or reversing immunosuppression induced by anaesthesia and surgery must be carefully considered.     

The use of ketamine or ketamine-midazolam for adenotonsillectomy

BACKGROUND: Ketamine's role in clinical anaesthesia is developing as a result of the evolving concepts of its mechanism of action and the advantages of its alternative routes of administration. In this study, we aimed to investigate the frequency and severity of adverse effects, specifically emergence phenomena and vomiting, when ketamine with or without midazolam used as a sole anaesthetic. METHODS: One hundred children, aged between 3 and 10 years, scheduled for adenotonsillectomy were studied. Fifty ASA physical status I-II patients were administered ketamine and atropine intramuscularly (group K, n=50). The remaining 50 children were given ketamine, atropine and midazolam by as the same route (group KM, n=50). Noninvasive hemodynamic and oxygenation variables were monitored. Operative conditions and recovery profiles such as hallucinations, nightmares, awakening by crying agitation and retching-vomiting were investigated in 1st, 2nd, 15th, 30th and 60th days after the operation. RESULTS: A significant reduction in emergence reactions was demonstrated especially in group KM during the early postoperative period (p<0.05). Retching-vomiting also reduced significantly in the group KM during the same time (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: As a sole anaesthetic ketamine with or without midazolam provided a calm and safe anaesthesia for paediatric patients in short term procedures. In addition, it must be noted that, a better postoperative early period was achieved by ketamine with midazolam.