Evaluation of parafoveal vascular density using optical coherence tomography angiography in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy

Lasers in Medical Science - Using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), we sought to evaluate parafoveal vascular density (VD) in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR)....     

Aromatic L-Amino acid decarboxylase deficiency: A new case from Turkey with a novel mutation

Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC), a vitamin B6-requiring enzyme that converts L-dopa to dopamine and 5-hydroxytryptophan to serotonin. Deficiency of this enzyme results in developmental delay, muscular hypotonia, dystonia, involuntary movements, autonomic dysfunction, and oculogyric crises. We now report a 2-year-old Turkish boy with AADC deficiency confirmed by greatly reduced AADC activity in the plasma and by genetic studies. Mutation analysis revealed a homozygous mutation c.208C > T (p. His70Tyr) in exon 3 of the AADC gene which has not been described to date.     

The efficiency of Gd‐EOB‐DTPA‐enhanced magnetic resonance cholangiography in living donor liver transplantation: a preliminary study

The aim of this study was to evaluate utility of gadoxetic acid disodium (Gd‐EOB‐DTPA)‐enhanced magnetic resonance cholangiography (MRC) for the detection of biliary complications after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). A total of 18 patients with suspected biliary complications underwent MRC. T2‐weighted MRC and contrast‐enhanced MRC (CE‐MRC) were used to identify the biliary complications. MRC included routine breath‐hold T2‐weighted MRC using half‐Fourier acquisition single‐shot turbo spin‐echo (HASTE) sequences and Gd‐EOB‐DTPA‐enhanced MRC T1‐weighted volumetric interpolated breath‐hold examination (VIBE) sequences. Before confirming the biliary complications, one observer reviewed the MRC images and the CE‐MRC images separately. The verification procedures and MRC findings were compared, and the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of both techniques were calculated for the identification of biliary complications. The observer found six of seven biliary complications using CE‐MRC. The sensitivity was 85.7% and the accuracy was 94.4%. Using MRC alone, sensitivity was 57.1% and accuracy was 55.5%. The accuracy of Gd‐EOB‐DTPA‐enhanced MRC was superior to MRC in locating biliary leaks (p < 0.05). The usage of Gd‐EOB‐DTPA‐enhanced MRC yields information that complements the MRC findings that improve the identification of biliary complications. We recommend the use of MRC in addition to Gd‐EOB‐DTPA‐enhanced MRC to increase the preoperative accuracy when assessing the biliary complications after LDLT.     

Synapse restructuring associated with the maintenance phase of hippocampal long-term potentiation

Synapses in the middle molecular layer of the rat dentate gyrus were analyzed by electron microscopy during the maintenance phase of long-term potentiation (LTP). LTP was induced by high-frequency stimulation of the medial perforant path carried out on each of 4 consecutive days. The dentate gyrus was examined electron microscopically 13 days following the fourth stimulation. At this time point, synaptic responses were still significantly enhanced relative to baseline, although the extent of their potentiation was lower than 1 hour after the last high-frequency stimulation. Stimulated, but not potentiated, rats served as controls. Using the stereological double disector method, estimates of the number of different morphological types of synapses per postsynaptic neuron were obtained. The number of asymmetrical axodendritic synapses increased (by 28%) during LTP maintenance, whereas the number of other synaptic types was not significantly altered. Our previous work demonstrated that the induction of LTP is followed by a selective increase in the number of axospinous perforated synapses with multiple, completely partitioned, transmission zones. Thus, the induction and maintenance phases of LTP are characterized by different structural synaptic alterations. These alterations may be related to each other as indicated by another finding of the present study regarding the existence of perforated synapses that appear to be transitional between axospinous and axodendritic junctions. This suggests a model of structural synaptic plasticity associated with LTP in which some axospinous perforated synapses increase in numbers shortly after the induction of LTP and are then converted into axodendritic ones during LTP maintenance. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Traumatic growth and psychological resilience status of female victims of violence inpatients in a district psychiatric hospital

The aim of this study was to examine the traumatic mental growth and psychological resilience status of females who were receiving inpatient treatment at a district mental health hospital and had a history of being subjected to violence. One hundred-twenty female patients with a history of exposure to violence participated in the study. An introductory information form, the Traumatic Growth Inventory (TGI) and the Psychological Resilience Scale for Adults (PRSA) were used for data collection. This study found that all the participants were subjected to emotional violence, 65.8% to physical violence, 30.8% to sexual violence, and 94.2% to verbal violence at some point in their lives. Their TGI mean score (60.96?±?11.91) was above average, while their PRSA mean score (97.90?±?9.18) was below average. The participants' mean scores on the TGI and PRSA did not vary significantly by the type of violence (p?>?0.05) to which the women were exposed. Moreover, no statistically significant relationship was found between the TGI and the PRSA total scale and subscale mean scores (p?>?0.05). This study found that the posttraumatic growth of females who had a history of physical or emotional or sexual abuse was positive, and that their psychological resilience levels were inadequate.     

Serum IL-18 levels in tuberculosis: comparison with pneumonia, lung cancer and healthy controls

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to document the serum IL-18 levels in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (P-TB), extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EP-TB), pneumonia, lung cancer and in healthy controls, and to investigate whether it may assist in the differential diagnosis of P-TB. METHODOLOGY: A total of 116 patients were included in the study. The study population consisted of patients with P-TB, EP-TB, pneumonia and lung cancer and controls. P-TB patients were graded according to sputum positivity and extent of disease. Serum levels of IL-18 (ELISA) were compared between groups and with other clinical measures of disease. RESULTS: Compared with the controls, all groups of patients had increased serum levels of IL-18. The highest mean concentration of IL-18 was observed in P-TB. Serum levels of IL-18 in the patients with P-TB correlated well with the extent of disease. CONCLUSIONS: Although increased serum levels of IL-18 were not specific for TB, the increased levels may favour active TB in radiologically advanced disease where CXR findings are difficult to interpret, and sputum smears or cultures are not helpful.