Maternal mortality rates in the last eight years: A university hospital-based study from Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the cause of changing maternal mortality ratios (MMRs) in a tertiary women's health center in Turkey in the last eight years. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Charts of patients seen between 1998 and 2005 were retrospectively reviewed. Statistical analysis was performed using the Chi-square test. The results were accepted to be significant when the p value was <0.05. RESULTS: During this period, 27 pregnancy-related deaths were identified via hospital death records. The MMR was found to have decreased in rate by approximately 50% from 822.2/100,000 live births in the previous report including the years 1978-1997 to 412.0/100,000 during the last eight years (p < 0.01). Pregnancy-induced hypertension was still the most frequent cause of maternal death. The decrease in MMR was due to the decrease in the ratio of maternal infection (26.4% in 1978-1997 to 7.4% in 1998-2005, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Although treatment in the antenatal care and health service has decreased maternal deaths, it was discovered that the MMR has not reached the optimum levels found in developed countries in the last eight years. Also the percentage of direct obstetric deaths (with the exception of those caused by infection) showed no change and was similar to that found in the previous report (1978-1997).     

Diagnostic accuracy of sonohysterography in the evaluation of uterine cavities in tamoxifen administered asymptomatic postmenopausal breast cancer patients with endometrial thickness ≥5 mm

To evaluate diagnostic efficacy of transvaginal saline infusion sonohysterography (TV-SHG) in the evaluation of uterine cavities in tamoxifen (TAM) administered asymptomatic postmenopausal breast cancer patients with increased endometrial thickness, sixty asymptomatic postmenopausal breast cancer women receiving adjuvant TAM treatment for at least 6 months and with endometrial thickness’ ≥5 mm measured in transvaginal ultrasonography (TVS) were enrolled. Each patient underwent TV-SHG, followed by outpatient hysteroscopy (HYS) with endometrial biopsy. TV-SHG application was accepted as unsuccessful in four cases (6.7%). When office HYS combined biopsy was considered as gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of TV-SHG were estimated as 90%, 100%, 100%, and 95%, respectively. Our findings showed that TV-SHG was a valuable diagnostic tool in the evaluation of uterine cavities of TAM administered asymptomatic postmenopausal patients having an increased endometrial thickness.     

Successful management of a cornual pregnancy with a single high-dose laparoscopic methotrexate injection

Cornual (interstitial) pregnancy, a very rare form of ectopic pregnancy, accounts for 2–4% of all tubal pregnancies in which conception is located in the proximal interstitial portion of the fallopian tube. Cornual resection by laparotomy is generally the preferred method of treatment, although more conservative approaches have also been described. We report a case of cornual pregnancy that was successfully treated with a single dose of 100 mg methotrexate injected into the mass of the ectopic cornual pregnancy. The serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) level decreased to undetectable levels on the 60th post-operative day.     

Neuroimaging findings in infantile GM1 gangliosidosis

GM1 gangliosidosis is an autosomal recessive glycosphingolipid storage disease caused by defects in the enzyme beta-galactosidase. Three clinical forms (infantile-, juvenile-, and adult-onset) of the disease are recognized. Patients with infantile GM1 gangliosidosis present at birth or shortly thereafter with somatic and bony changes, followed by severe neurological deterioration ultimately leading to death within the first 2 years of life. We present the brain CT, MRI and MR spectroscopy (MRS) findings in a 17-month-old Turkish girl with infantile GM1 gangliosidosis. Neuroimaging findings in patients with infantile GM1 gangliosidosis have been reported only in a few cases. In this study, MRS of the thalamus was performed to study the metabolic changes in GM1 gangliosidosis. We showed a a decreased NAA/Cr ration and an increased Cho/Cr ratio. To our knowledge, this is the first report of magnetic resonance spectroscopy findings in type-1 GM1 gangliosidosis.     

Effect of water extract of Turkish propolis on tuberculosis infection in guinea-pigs.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (H(37)R(v))-infected guinea-pig model was used to investigate the effect of water extract of propolis (WEP). After subcutaneous inoculation of tubercle bacilli, each animal received oral WEP (n=9), isoniazid (n=5) or saline (n=6) as placebo and were sacrificed 30 days later. Formation of necrosis was less prominent in the group treated with WEP, but was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The granuloma formation in the same group was more prominent than the placebo and isoniazid groups; however, this finding failed to reach statistical significance by the Kruskal-Wallis test (P>0.05). These findings suggest that Turkish WEP may have a limited effect on the development of tuberculosis infection in this guinea-pig model.     

CLINICAL APPRAISAL AND RETINAL IMAGING IN POSTERIOR MICROPHTHALMOS

Purpose: To report a critical case series of five patients with posterior microphthalmos and the review of their clinical findings with the analyses of retinal imaging. Method: Case series. Complete ophthalmological examinations including optical coherence tomography (OCT) were evaluated. Results: All patients had decreased visual acuity with high hyperopic refraction. Dilated fundus examination demonstrated that elevated papillomacular retinal folds with anterior segment were unremarkable. Total axial lengths measurements showed reduced axial lengths and B-scan ultrasonography revealed sclerochoroidal thickening. Moreover, papillomacular folds were confirmed by OCT. Conclusion: Dilated fundus examination, fundus fluorescein angiography, orbital ultrasonography, and proper OCT evaluation will be helpful to reach a diagnosis.