Evaluation of urinary inverted papillomas: a report of 13 cases and literature review

Inverted papilloma (IP) of the urothelium accounts for 2.2% of urothelial neoplasms. The aim of this study was to report the results of 13 patients with urinary IP, pointing out the clinical features, presentations, treatment options and outcomes. The mean age and mean follow-up periods of the patients were 60.23 +/- 3.25 (range, 44-81) years and 30 (range, 6-42) months, respectively. There was no coexistence of urothelial carcinoma with IP at presentation. Cystoscopy showed a solitary papillary tumor in the bladders of 11 patients and solid pedunculated tumors in the remaining two patients. The site of development was the bladder in 12 cases (92%) and ureter in one (8%) case. Transurethral bladder tumor resection was performed in 12 cases. For the case with IP in the ureter, nephroureterectomy was performed. Pathologic examination demonstrated that seven of the 13 cases were of the trabecular type and six were of the glandular type. Of the 13 cases, two (7%) had recurrence, at 1 year and 1 month and 1 year and 5 months from initial resection. The male to female ratio was 5.5:1. Initial symptoms included macroscopic hematuria in five cases, microscopic hematuria in four, and dysuria and microscopic hematuria in three; one case was asymptomatic. IPs of the urinary bladder are benign tumors that can be treated successfully by transurethral resection and fulguration of the tumor bed. In addition, these lesions must be followed up closely for recurrence and malignant transformation.     

Mitral clefts and interatrial septum defects: 15-year results

Between 1985 and 2002, 60 patients (58% female) with a mean age of 20.3 +/- 12.1 years (range, 2-55 years) were treated for anterior mitral leaflet cleft. There was a primum atrial septal defect in 52 patients (87%) and a secundum type in 8 (13%). Concomitant cardiac defects were patent foramen ovale in 6 patients, cleft tricuspid valve in 3, ventricular septal defect in 2, cor triatriatum in 1, and persistent left superior vena cava in 1. Mean grade (1-4) of mitral insufficiency was 2.28 +/- 0.74. Atrial septal defects were closed with a pericardial patch in 45 patients, with a prosthetic patch in 11, and primarily in 4. Mitral leaflet clefts were repaired using interrupted sutures. There was no early or late mortality. Two patients (3%) needed a permanent pacemaker. Postoperatively, severe (> or =grade 3) mitral insufficiency developed in 2 patients; valve replacement was performed in one, cleft recurrence and leakage from the patch were treated in the other. Freedom from reoperation was 92.2% +/- 5.6% at 15 years. Surgical intervention can be performed for congenital anterior mitral leaflet cleft and interatrial septal defect with good results in both pediatric and adult age groups.     

Regional chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic carcinoma

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Since 1990, 14 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer were treated by regional chemotherapy. Five patients had locally advanced unresectable cancer and 9 had locally advanced disease with liver metastasis. METHODOLOGY: Fourteen patients underwent laparotomy, splenic artery catheterization and received a mean therapy of 3.8 cycles and 3 patients had completed 6 cycles of chemotherapy. Every cycle given monthly consisted of 5-fluorouracil 600 mg/m2 3 days, mitomycin 10 mg/m2 1 day, and cisplatinum 60 mg/m2 1 day. Tumor response was evaluated on the basis of imaging methods, tumor markers and life quality marker pain relief. RESULTS: Four patients had stabilization, 4 had partial response, 5 had progression and 1 had complete response. Median survival was 8 months for the whole group. Palliation for pain was successful and 71.4% of the patients had pain palliation. One patient had complete, 1 patient had partial, 8 patients had stable pain relief. Four patients had poor response to treatment and had progressive pain. Side effects, mainly leukopenia and thrombocytopenia, occurred in 5 patients and responded to medical measures. Mild to moderate nausea and vomiting was common and they responded well to antiemetic treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Although the objective response rate of regional chemotherapy for overall survival is low, in an individual patient it may produce an adequate response and acceptable toxicity so that the patient experiences overall improvement in symptoms, and rarely as in one case in our group may be cured by this method.     

Contact lens impact on quality of life in keratoconus patients:rigid gas permeable versus soft silicone-hydrogel keratoconus lenses

AIM:To determine the impact of rigid gas permeable (RGP) and silicone-hydrogel keratoconus lenses on the quality of life (QoL) in keratoconus (KCN) patients using the self-reported results from the Contact Lens Impact on Quality of Life (CLIQ) Questionnaire.METHODS:From January 2013 to April 2013, 27 consecutive KCN patients who wore RGP contact lenses (conflexair100 UV KE Zeiss-Wöhlk) or soft silicone-hydrogel contact lenses (SHCLs) for KCN (KeraSoft IC- Bausch&Lomb or Hydrocone Toris K–Swiss lens) completed the CLIQ questionnaire.RESULTS:The mean age of 27 patients was 29.6±8.0y. Fifteen patients were RGP user. The groups were comparable with respect to the mean patient age, sex, and mean K values (P=0.1, P=0.8 and P=0.1, respectively). The mean CLIQperson measure was 42.8±5.5 in RGP group and 39.6±5.5 in SHCLs for KCN group (P=0.06). CLIQperson measure was positively correlated with steep K value (r=0.301, P=0.04). When eyes were stratified by visual acuity with contact lenses, the mean CLIQperson measure was 42.01±5.6 in eyes with a visual acuity of 20/20-20/25 (n=44) and 38.4±5.26 in eyes with a visual acuity of 20/32 or less (n=10; P=0.097).CONCLUSION:RGP lenses and SHCLs for KCN have similar impact on QoL.     

Assessment of Patient Pain Experience during Intravitreal 27-Gauge Bevacizumab and 30-Gauge Ranibizumab Injection

PurposeTo compare pain scores of patients during intravitreal 27-gauge bevacizumab and 30-gauge ranibizumab injection procedures.MethodsSeventy eyes of 70 patients who had not previously undergone intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy were included in this study. Thirty-five patients received ranibizumab and 35 patients received bevacizumab. The diagnoses of the patients were: 27 age related macular degeneration, 15 diabetic macular edema, 9 diabetic vitreous hemorrhage, 6 central retinal vein occlusion, 11 branch retinal vein occlusion and 2 central serous chorioretinopathy. Bevacizumab (1.25 mg/0.05 mL) was injected into the vitreous cavity using a 27-gauge needle, and ranibizumab (0.5 mg/0.05 mL) was injected with 30-gauge needle. Patients were asked just after the injection to rate their perceived pain during the injection using the visual analogue scale (VAS) of 0 (no pain) to 10 (unbearable/worst pain). The average of these scores was used as the primary outcome.ResultsThe VAS pain scores in the ranibizumab and bevacizumab groups were 1.06 ± 0.91 (range, 0 to 3) and 1.94 ± 1.55 (range, 0 to 7), respectively, a significant difference (p = 0.005). Patients <65 and ≥65 years of age in both the ranibizumab and bevacizumab groups were then compared. For patients <65, there was a significant difference in the average VAS pain scores between groups (p = 0.003). However, for patients ≥65 years, there was not a significant difference in the average VAS pain scores between groups (p = 0.238). Female and male patients in both ranibizumab and bevacizumab groups were also compared. For female patients, there was a significant difference in the average VAS pain scores between groups (p = 0.016), although not for male patients (p = 0.078).ConclusionsThirty-gauge intravitreal injection is more comfortable than 27-gauge injection. Injection of bevacizumab with 30-gauge needle syringes may be more tolerable for patients.     

Epidemiological and Diagnostic Features of Blastocystis Infection in Symptomatic Patients in Izmir Province,Turkey

Background

The aims of this study were to identify Blastocystis subtypes (STs) in a cohort of Turkish patients with various gastrointestinal symptoms using a novel Real Time PCR method developed recently for Blastocystis detection and assess the relationship between Blastocystis STs and patient symptoms.

Methods

Totally, 617 stool samples of patients with gastrointestinal symptoms were examined with microscopy and inoculated in Jones medium. Blastocystis-positive samples were further assessed to identify coinfections with other possible pathogens, including bacteria and viruses. Diagnostic efficacies of microscopy, culture and Real-Time PCR were compared. PCR products were sequenced to identify the subtypes of Blastocystis isolates.

Results

Totally 94 (15.24%) samples were positive for Blastocystis after all methods. Among these, 83 of 94 (88.3%) samples were identified with all methods, while 11 were positive only with Real Time PCR. Diarrhea and abdominal pain were the leading symptoms in the patients. The only pathogenic agent identified in 76 of 94 (80.9%) patients was Blastocystis. Subtype 3 was the leading Blastocystis subtype (44.6%), while subtypes 6 and 7 were firstly isolated from symptomatic patients in our region.

Conclusion

Comparison of three diagnostic methods indicated Real Time PCR as the most sensitive and specific method. Blastocystis was the only pathogenic agent among symptomatic patients, with subtype 3 being predominant. Patients with subtypes 6 and 7 need further assessments concerning the zoonotic potential of Blastocystis.     

Comparison of the efficacy of entecavir and tenofovir in chronic hepatitis B

Background/Aims: This study aimed to compare the efficacy of entecavir and tenofovir in nucleos(t)ide-naive chronic hepatitis B patients after 48 weeks of therapy. Methodology: We retrospectively reviewed our data of chronic hepatitis B patients. Nucleos(t)ide-naive patients who had received entecavir or tenofovir for at least 48 weeks were included. We compared entecavir and tenofovir after 48 weeks of therapy with respect to virological, biochemical, serological and histological responses. Results: Of the 44 patients, 24 received entecavir and 20 received tenofovir. Pretreatment characteristics of the patients were similar. After 48 weeks, serum HBV DNA levels decreased by 6.93±1.54log copy/ mL in the entecavir group and 6.89±1.22log copy/mL in the tenofovir group (p=0.65). A similar proportion of patients in entecavir and tenofovir groups achieved undetectable serum HBV DNA (87.5% vs. 95%, p=0.39) and serum ALT normalization (79.2% vs. 85%, p=0.62). The mean histological activity index score improved by 3.83±3.51 points in the entecavir group and 2.20±1.91 points in the tenofovir group (p=0.07), and the mean fibrosis scores improved by 0.38±1.61 points in the entecavir group and 0.70±1.17 points in the tenofovir group after 48 weeks (p=0.44). Conclusions: Entecavir and tenofovir are similarly effective in nucleos(t)ide-naive chronic hepatitis B patients with high viral load and/or high fibrosis scores after 48 weeks of therapy.