The cognitive aspect of formal thought disorder and its relationship with global social functioning and the quality of life in schizophrenia

Purpose

It was expected that using a comprehensive scale like the Thought and Language Disorder Scale (TALD) for measurement of FTD would enable assessing its heterogeneity and its associations with cognitive impairment and functionality. This study has aimed to analyze the relationship between formal thought disorder (FTD) and cognitive functions, functionality, and quality of life in schizophrenia.

Methods

This cross-sectional exploratory study included 46 clinical participants meeting the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia and 35 healthy individuals as the control groups. Data were acquired by means of the Turkish language version of the TALD, the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, the Clinical Global Impression Scale, the Functioning Assessment Short Test, the Social Functioning Scale, the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument-Short Form, and a neuropsychological test battery on executive functions, working memory, verbal fluency, abstract thinking, and response inhibition. Correlation analyses were conducted to detect significant relationships.

Results

The clinical group scored failures in all cognitive tests. The objective positive FTD was associated with deficits in executive functions and social functioning. The objective negative FTD was associated with poor performance in all cognitive domains, physical quality of life, and social and global functioning. The subjective negative FTD was negatively correlated with psychological quality of life.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated that objective FTD factors reflect different underlying cognitive deficits and correlate with different functioning domains. Significant correlation was determined between subjective negative FTD and psychological quality of life. Given the close relationship of FTD with functioning and quality of life, the FTD-related cognitive deficits should be the key treatment goal in schizophrenia.

     

Effects of Cardiopulmonary Bypass on Mediastinal Drainage and the Use of Blood Products in the Intensive Care Unit in 60- to 80-Year-Old Patients Who Have Undergone Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

OBJECTIVE

The present study consisted of patients who underwent on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and off-pump CABG and investigated effect of using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) on the amount of postoperative drainage and blood products, red blood cell (RBC), free frozen plasma (FFP) given in the intensive care unit in 60-80-year-old patients who underwent CABG.

METHODS

The present study comprises a total of 174 patients who have undergone coronary artery bypass graft (off-pump or on-pump CABG) surgery in our clinic in between 2012-2015 year.

RESULTS

It was observed that the amount of drainage in the first 24 postoperative hours was lower in the on-pump CABG group (Group 1) when compared to off-pump group (Group 2) (Group 1 vs. Group 2; 703.5±253.8 ml vs. 719.6±209.4 ml; P =0.716). However, the amount of drainage in the second 24 hours was statistically significantly lower in the off-pump CABG group (Group 1 vs. Group 2; 259.8±170.6 ml vs. 190.1±129.1 ml; P =0.016). With regard to the amount of overall drainage, no statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups. Group 1 needed RBC transfusion higher than Group 2 (Group 1 vs. Group 2; 2.2±1.3 bag vs. 1.2±0.9 bag; P <0.001).

CONCLUSION

We can say that CPB influences the amount of second 24-hour drainage which indexed body surface area. In addition, CPB decreases hct, hb, thrombocyte count in ICU arrived, after 24 hours in postoperative period. Reduced thrombocyte counting effect can be appeared after 48 hours in the postoperative period of CPB.     

The effect of local corticosteroid injection on F-wave conduction velocity and sympathetic skin response in carpal tunnel syndrome

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of steroid injection for the treatment of the carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), with F-wave parameters and sympathetic skin response (SSR). Seventeen hands of 10 women patients were treated with local steroid injection with 2-month follow-up. All patients underwent single injection into the carpal tunnel. Response to injection was measured nerve conduction studies (NCSs), median nerve F waves, and SSR before and after treatment. To determine the normal values, 42 hands of 21 healthy women were also studied. There was a significant improvement of sensory and motor nerve conduction values when compared to baseline values (P < 0.01). At the end of follow-up period, the median sensory distal latency and the sensory latency differences between the median and the ulnar nerve were improved 35 and 65%, respectively. The maximum, mean F-wave amplitudes and chronodispersion showed a slight improvement with respect to baseline values and controls, but statistical significance was not achieved after treatment. Although no statistically significant improvements were observed in SSR parameters, slightly decreased amplitudes and increased habituation of SSR were noted at the end of the treatment. The present study shows that the local steroid injection results in improvement in NCSs values, but the F-wave parameters were not effectual in short-term outcome of CTS treatment. These findings suggest that the sensory latency differences between the median and the ulnar wrist-to-digit 4 are better parameters in the median nerve recovery after treatment than the median sensory distal latency. Furthermore, the SSR does not seem to be a sensitive method in follow-up of CTS treatment.     

Infliximab attenuates activated charcoal and polyethylene glycol aspiration-induced lung injury in rats

Aspiration is a serious complication of gastrointestinal (GI) decontamination procedure. Studies have shown that tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) blockers have beneficial effects on lung injury. Therefore, the authors investigated the attenuation by infliximab (INF) on activated charcoal (AC)- and polyethylene glycol (PEG)-induced lung injury in rat model. Forty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were allotted into 1 of 6 groups: saline (NS), activated charcoal (AC), polyethylene glycol (PEG), NS+INF treated, AC+INF treated, and PEG+INF treated. All materials were aspirated into the lungs at a volume of 1 mL/kg. Before aspiration, the rats were injected subcutaneously with INF. Seven days later, both lungs and serum specimens in all groups were evaluated histopathologically, immunohistochemically, and biochemically. Following aspiration of AC and PEG, evident histopathological changes were assigned in the lung tissue that were associated with increased expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), increased serum levels of oxidative stress markers (malondialdehyde [MDA], surfactant protein-D [SP-D], TNF-α), and decreased antioxidant enzyme (glutathione peroxidase [GSH-Px]) activities. INF treatment significantly decreased the elevated serum MDA and TNF-α levels and increased serum GSH-Px levels. Furthermore, the current results show that there is a significant reduction in the activity of iNOS in lung tissue and increased serum SP-D levels of AC and PEG aspiration-induced lung injury with INF treatment. These findings suggest that INF attenuates lung inflammation and prevents GI decontamination agent-induced lung injury in rats.     

Trends in the Frequency of HLA DR-DQ Haplotypes Among Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus in the Southeast Region of Turkey

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of HLA DR-DQ haplotypes in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in the Southeast Region of Turkey.Methods: Eighty children and adolescents with T1DM and eighty control subjects participated in the study. HLA-DR, DQ was typed using polymerase chain reaction and sequence-specific priming technique.Results: HLA DRB1*03 allele was significantly more common in patients than in control subjects. HLA DRB1*11, HLA DRB1*13 and HLA DRB1*14 allele frequencies were significantly lower in patients than in controls. DQB1*02 allele was more common in patients, whereas DQB1*03 allele was more frequent in control subjects. HLA DRB1*03-DQB1*02 haplotype was more frequently observed among patients.Conclusion: These results confirm the similar potential trends in the frequency distribution of HLA susceptibility genes with T1DM previously observed in Turkey and in other Caucasian populations. Conflict of interest:None declared.     

Wolman's disease: Ultrasonographic and computed tomographic findings

Acid lipase deficiency which is an inborn error of lipid metabolism leads to an abnormal accumulation of cholesteryl esters and triglycerides in many tissues. It is manifested in two clinical forms: Wolman's disease (WD) which is fatal in infancy and cholesteryl ester storage disease (CESD) which is a milder form and usually presented in adulthood. An infant with a clinical diagnosis of WD was examined with CT and ultrasound. Where as CT showed an enlarged liver with decreased density and heavily calcified adrenal glands, ultrasound revealed an enlarged liver with normal echogenicity, adrenal calcification and thickening of bowel loops. Bowel wall thickening in WD was not demonstrated in the literature before with any imaging modality.     

Serratia marcescens: an emerging microorganism in the neonatal intensive care unit

As smaller babies survive in neonatal intensive care units, late-onset septicemia with unusual pathogens appears. Between 1 January and 31 December 1998, in Hacettepe University Ihsan Dogramaci Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, seven infants had S. marcescens isolates. Four babies had septicemia with the microorganism. The case fatality rate was 50 percent in infants with S. marcescens septicemia. The combination of ceftazidime or imipenem with amikacin appears appropriate for the treatment of newborns with Serratia infection.