Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the diagnostic value of Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) imaging in the assessment of salivary gland involvement in primary Sjögren’s syndrome (pSS).Material and methods: Twenty five patients with pSS and 25 healthy volunteers were included. First, echostructures and the thickness of the submandibular and parotid glands were evaluated by B-mode ultrasonography. Then, ARFI imaging with Virtual Touch Quantification® was performed. Ten independent shear wave velocity measurements were taken from each gland. Finally, the mean shear wavevelocity (SWV) values were calculated, and used for further analysis.Results: The mean SWV values of parotid and submandibular glands were significantly higher in the pSS patients than in the healthy control group (p<0.001). The cut-off of SWV values were calculated to be 1.98 m/s for submandibular glands, and 1.93 m/s for parotid glands. In pSS patients, the mean SWV values of parotid glands were higher than those of the submandibular glands (p0.005).Conclusions: Our findings indicate that ARFI imaging may provide a non-invasive, simple and fast means of assessment of glandular impairment as an alternative test when other salivary gland tests are inconclusive or cannot be performed. ARFI may be a valuable adjunct for the clinical diagnosis of pSS.

Background/aim: To investigate the correlation between depressive-anxiety symptoms, mixed features, disease activity, and functional status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the light of the shared underlying etiology in both disorders. Materials and methods: The study included 556 patients with RA. RA disease activity was measured using the Disease Activity Score 28-joint count C reactive protein (DAS28-CRP), and the patients were evaluated by a Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ). The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ), and Modified Hypomania Checklist (mHCL) were used to evaluate the mixed depression and bipolarity status of the patients. Results: Of the patients, 430 (77.3%) were female and 126 (22.7%) were male. The median age was 57 years, the median HAQ score was 0.55 points, and the median DAS28-CRP score was 4.1 points. The evaluation of the patients by DAS28-CRP revealed that 58.5% of the patients had moderate and severe disease activity, while only 23.4% of them were in remission. The group using the combination of synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (sDMARD) and steroid therapy had significantly higher HAD-depression, HAD anxiety, mHCL, DAS28-CRP, HAQ, and MDQ scores than the group using sDMARD alone. The grouping of the patients based on the DAS28-CRP cut-off scores showed that the patients with moderate and severe disease activity had significantly higher HADS, mHCL, MDQ scores than those in remission and those with mild disease activity (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Disease severity and functional status in RA can be affected by comorbid anxiety-depressive and mixed symptoms. Therefore, clinicians should consider screening the depressive-anxiety and mixed mood symptoms of RA patients. Moreover, patients who use steroid therapy are more susceptible to mood symptoms (anxiety, depression, bipolarity), which should also be considered during the follow-up of patients.

Amaç: YouTube, dünya çapında kullanılan en büyük internet platformlarından biridir. Birkaç çalışma, hasta bilgileri için YouTube videolarındaki bilgilerin kalitesinin düşük olduğunu göstermiştir. Bu çalışma, gut hastalığı için hasta bilgi kaynağı olarak YouTube videolarının içeriğini ve kalitesini değerlendirmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Bu kesitsel çalışmada, 'gut hastalığı' anahtar kelimesi ile YouTube araması yapıldı ve ilk 152 video alaka düzeyine göre listelendi. Reklamlar, mükerrer videolar, Türkçe dışındaki dillerdeki videolar ve sessiz videolar çalışma dışı bırakıldı. Video özellikleri ('beğenme' sayısı, 'beğenmeme' sayısı, görüntülenme sayısı, videonun uzunluğu) ve yükleme kaynağı kaydedildi. Kalite analizi için DISCERN ve Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) karşılaştırma kriterleri kullanıldı. Video kalitesi, yükleme kaynağı ve video özelliklerine göre değerlendirildi. Korelasyon analizi video özellikleri, JAMA ve DISCERN puanları arasında yapıldı. Bulgular: Toplam 106 video analiz edildi. En yaygın yükleme kaynağı doktorlardı (%49,1) ve içeriğin çoğunluğu (%30,2) semptomlar ve tedaviyle ilgiliydi. Ortalama DISCERN ve JAMA skorları sırasıyla 44,43 ve 2,54 idi. Bu puanlar doktorlar tarafından yüklenen videolarda en yüksek [sırasıyla 58 (28-74) ve 3 (1-4)] idi. Videonun süresi ile DISCERN ve JAMA puanları arasında pozitif bir korelasyon saptandı. Sonuç: YouTube'da gut hastalığı ile ilgili içeriğin çoğu düşük kalitedir. Sağlık çalışanları, YouTube'da sağlıkla ilgili bilgilerin öneminin farkında olmalı ve yüksek kaliteli, doğru ve güncel içerik sağlamalıdır.

The Effect of Rheumatoid Arthritis on Middle and Inner Ear Functions - Turkish Archives of Otorhinolaryngology

The aim of the study was to compare the hand function (grip strength and grip endurance, manual dexterity, and perceived hand functional disability) of participants with gout, rheumatoid arthritis, and healthy control. Grip strength and grip endurance were assessed using a hand dynamometer, while manual dexterity was evaluated through the Nine-Hole Peg Test. Perceived hand functional disability was measured using the Duruöz Hand Index. The grip strength was similar between gout and healthy control (p>0.05). Dominant and non-dominant grip endurance in gout were lower than healthy control (p=0.008, p=0.001). The dominant placing, removing, and total Nine-Hole Peg Test time of gout compared to healthy control were higher (p=0.001, p<0.001, and p<0.001). The non-dominant placing, removing, and total Nine-Hole Peg Test time of gout were higher than healthy control (p=0.002, p=0.004, and p=0.002). The Duruöz Hand Index in gout was higher than healthy control (p=0.002), but lower than rheumatoid arthritis (p=0.008). Our findings indicate that individuals with gout experience impairments in grip strength, manual dexterity, and perceived hand function. Assessing hand function during clinical examinations of patients with gout should be considered.