The effect of temperament on the treatment adherence of bipolar disorder type I

Background and aims: Treatment adherence is one of the most important factors that may determine treatment response in patients with bipolar disorders (BD). Many factors have been described to be associated with treatment adherence in BD. Temperament that can influence the course of BD will have an impact on treatment adherence. The aim of this study is to investigate temperament effect on treatment adherence in euthymic patients with BD-I. Methods: Eighty patients with BD-I participated in the study. A psychiatrist used the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis-I Disorders to determine the diagnosis and co-morbidities. Hamilton Depression and Young Mania Rating Scale were used to detect the remission. We used the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, San Diego Autoquestionnaire and the 4-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale to evaluate temperament and treatment adherence, respectively. The study group was divided into two groups as “treatment adherent” and “treatment non-adherent”. Results: The cyclothymic and anxious temperament scores of the treatment non-adherent patients with BD-I were significantly higher than those of the treatment adherent group (p < 0.001, p = 0.006, respectively). Multiple linear regression analysis determined that cyclothymic temperament predicted treatment non-adherence (p = 0.009). Conclusion: It should be kept in mind that BD-I patients with cyclothymic temperament may be treatment non-adherent and future studies should explore whether temperament characteristics deteriorate BD-I course by disrupting treatment adherence.     

The Effects of Different Doses of Remifentanil on Intraocular Pressure after Tracheal Intubation: A Randomized,Double-blind and Prospective Study

We investigated the effects of alfentanil and different doses of remifentanil on intraocular pressure (IOP) and hemodynamic responses during laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation in 60 patients. IOP values decreased significantly from 30 seconds before the intubation to 5 minutes after intubation measurements compared to baseline values in all the groups. However, a significant increase in IOP was recorded in the 0.5-μg remifentanil group after tracheal intubation. Drs. Kaygusuz, Kol, Gursoy and Mimaroglu are from the Department of Anesthesiology and Drs. Toker and Erdogan are from the Department of Ophthalmology, Cumhuriyet University School of Medicine, Sivas 58140, Turkey. The authors have stated that they do not have a significant financial interest or other relationship with any product manufacturer or provider of services discussed in this article. The authors also do not discuss the use of off-label products, which includes unlabeled, unapproved, or investigative products or devices. The authors investigated the effects of alfentanil, and different doses of remifentanil on intraocular pressure (IOP) and hemodynamic responses during laryngoscopy and endotracheal intubation.     

Assessment of bone ages: Is the Greulich‐Pyle method sufficient for Turkish boys?

BACKGROUND: The Greulich-Pyle (GP) Atlas of skeletal maturation has been prepared in white children who born between 1917 and 1942 in the USA, and is frequently used for assessment of skeletal maturity. In this study, we investigated whether or not the GP method is sufficient for Turkish children for the determination of the skeletal age. METHODS: Plain radiographies of left hands and wrists of 225 healthy boys between 7 and 17 years of age were taken. Pubic hair (PH) stages of boys were determined by using the Tanner criteria. Mean chronological ages and mean skeletal ages according to GP Atlas were compared for each age groups and each PH stage. RESULTS: Mean skeletal ages were delayed 0.61, 0.72, 0.54, 0.39, 0.25, 0.39, and 0.32 years than the mean chronological ages in the 7-13 years age groups, respectively, and advanced 0.13, 0.01, 0.89, and 0.52 years in the 14-17 years age groups. In PH stages 1, 2, and 3, mean skeletal ages were delayed 0.67, 0.51 and 0.40 years than the mean chronological ages, respectively. In PH stages 4 and 5, mean skeletal ages were advanced 0.66 and 0.76 years than mean chronological ages. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that Turkish boys may have a different tempo of skeletal maturation during pubertal development from that of American children which GP standards were derived. Therefore, GP Atlas is not completely applicable to Turkish boys but can be used with some modification.