The aim of this study was to investigate the potential significance of the central macular thickness (foveal thickness-FT) and choroidal thickness (CT) in the eyes of patients with iron-deficiency anemia, the most common form of the anemia, via enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). We also investigated whether such changes might serve as an early indicator of underlying hematological disease. This prospective clinical study compared 96 female patients with iron-deficiency anemia and 60 healthy female control subjects. The macular and choroidal thicknesses in the temporal and nasal subfoveal areas were measured using enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) at 500 and 1500 microns and in five different regions (FCT, T1500, T500, N500, and N1500). The mean ages of the patients and healthy controls were 34.08 ± 10.39 years and 32.29 ± 8.28 years, respectively (P =0.232). There were no significant changes in macular thickness between the groups (225.58 ± 19.76 vs. 222.45 ± 13.51, P =0.2). The choroidal thickness was significantly reduced in the patient group relative to the controls at all measured points (foveal choroidal thickness, P = 0.042; nasal–500 microns, P = 0.033; temporal–500 microns, P = 0.033; and temporal–1500 microns, P = 0.019). At some points, the choroidal thickness findings correlated with the hemoglobin values (temporal–500 microns, r = −0.287, P = 0.001; nasal–500 microns, r = −0.287, P = 0.005; nasal–1500 microns, r = −0.245, P = 0.016; and temporal–1500 microns, r = −0.280, P = 0.06). Patients with iron-deficiency anemia had a significantly reduced choroidal thickness.

International peer-review E-Journal.

A new inflammatory marker in overweight patients: triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1

Amaç: Hemodiyaliz hastaları kan, kan ürünleri, perkütan yaralanma veya fekal-oral yolla bulaşabilen hepatit virüsleri açısından risk grubunda yer alır. Bu çalışmada, hemodiyaliz hastalarında Hepatit E, Hepatit G ve TTV seropozitifliğinin belirlenmesi amaçlandı. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Çalışmaya 66 hemodiyaliz hastası (30 kadın, 36 erkek) ve 66 kontrol (43 kadın, 23 erkek) olmak üzere toplam 132 kişi dahil edildi. Çalışmada anti-HEV, anti HGV ve anti-TTV IgG düzeyleri ELISA yöntemi ile çalışıldı. İstatistiksel analizler SPSS programı ile yapıldı. Elde edilen sonuçların istatistiksel değerlendirilmesinde Students t testi, Fischer exact testi ve Mann Whitney-U testleri kullanıldı. P < 0.05 değeri istatistiksel olarak anlamlı kabul edildi. Bulgular: Çalışmaya alınan 66 hasta ve 66 sağlıklı kontrol grubunun yaş ortalaması sırasıyla; 54,9 ve 47,2 idi. Hasta ve kontrol grubunun yaş ortalaması karşılaştırıldığında hasta grubunun yaş ortalaması daha yüksekti. Anti-TTV IgG ve anti-HEV IgG pozitifliği hemodiyaliz hastalarında kontrol grubuna göre daha yüksek bulundu. Hasta ve kontrol grubunda anti-HGV IgG pozitifliği tespit edilmedi. Hemodiyaliz hasta grubunda anti-TTV IgG ve anti-HEV IgG pozitifliği ile hemodiyaliz süresi, yaş ve cinsiyet arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir ilişki saptanmadı. Sonuç: Hemodiyaliz hastaları, TTV, hepatit E virüsü ve diğer hepatit virüslerinin bulaşı açısından yüksek risk taşırlar. Bu nedenle, hemodiyaliz ünitelerde temizlik ve dezenfeksiyon kurallarına uyulması HEV ve TTV gibi hepatit virüslerinin bulaşını önlemek için gereklidir.

Background/aim: To compare pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) IgG antibody levels between healthcare workers who were vaccinated with the pH1N1 influenza vaccine and the unvaccinated healthcare workers who were selected as the control group. Materials and methods: A total of 68 healthcare workers were included in this study. Of those, 53 were adults vaccinated with the H1N1 influenza vaccine and 15 were unvaccinated. Serum samples were parsed and stored at -40 degrees C until they were examined. Results: Of the total 53 vaccinated healthcare workers, 16 (30.1%) were positive for IgG antibodies (titer > 11), 17 (32.0%) were negative for IgG antibodies (titer < 9), and 20 (37.7%) were borderline (titer: 9-11). Of the 15 unvaccinated healthcare workers, 1 (6.6%) was positive for IgG antibodies, 11 (73.3%) were negative for IgG antibodies, and the remaining 3 (20.0%) had borderline values (P = 0.014, P < 0.05). In both groups, there was no statistically significant difference between IgG-negative, IgG-positive, and borderline subjects in terms of age or sex. Conclusion: The IgG antibody level was higher in the vaccinated healthcare workers than among the unvaccinated healthcare workers.