Background: This study aimed to investigate serum 25[OH]D levels between patients with vasovagal syncope (VVS) diagnosed with head‐up tilt table test (HUTT) and age‐matched healthy people.Methods: The study included 75 consecutive patients (32.3 ± 10.7 years), who presented with syncope and underwent HUTT and 52 healthy controls (32.9 ± 14.1 years). HUTT patients were divided into two groups according to whether there was syncope response to the test. Patients underwent cardiac, psychiatric, and neurological investigation. Serum 25[OH]D levels were measured by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay method.Results: There was no difference between the two groups in terms of age, gender, body mass index (BMI), echocardiographic findings (P > .05). Mean serum 25[OH]D (24.5 ± 6.3 vs 20.1 ± 8.8 ng/mL, P = .003) and vitamin B12 levels (436.4 ± 199.2 vs 363.1 ± 107.6 pg/mL, P = .009) was lower in syncope patients when compared to the control group. In correlation analyses, syncope was shown as correlated with the vitamin D (r = −264, P = .003) and vitamin B12 levels (r = −233, P = .009). But, multivariate regression analyses showed that only vitamin D increased risk of syncope [OR: 0.946, 95% CI (0.901‐0.994)]. There was no difference in terms of age, gender, BMI, echocardiographic findings between the in HUTT positive (n = 45) and negative groups (n = 29). Only vitamin D level was significantly lower in HUTT positive group (17.5 ± 7.7 vs 24.4 ± 9.1 ng/mL, P = .002). There was no difference among in the vasovagal subgroups in terms of vitamin D level and other features.Conclusion: Vitamin D and B12 levels were reasonably low in syncope patients, but especially low Vitamin D levels were associated with VVS diagnosed in HUTT.

Background: The most commonly used chemotherapeutic regimens in the treatment of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) include anthracyclines and taxanes. In our study, we investigated the efficacy and tolerability of cisplatin plus gemcitabine combination chemotherapy regimen in patients with MBC, who exhibited disease progression after anthracycline- and taxane-based chemotherapy. Methods: Thirty-three patients with taxane/anthracycline-resistant MBC have been treated with gemcitabine 1,000 mg/m2 intravenously and cisplatin 30 mg/m2 intravenously on days 1 and 8 of a 3-week treatment cycle. Results: Thirty-one patients were assessable for response. One of the 31 patients (3.2%) showed complete response, while 7 patients (22.6%) showed partial response; the objective response rate was 25.8%. Stable and progressive disease was observed in 6 (19.4%) and 17 patients (54.8%), respectively. The median time to progression was 4 months (95% CI 2.15–5.85). The median survival time of all patients was 9.5 months (95% CI 7.86–11.14). Conclusion: Gemcitabine and cisplatin combination therapy is moderately active and safe in patients with MBC previously treated with anthracycline and taxanes.

Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is associated with coronary artery disease due to its atherogenic and thrombogenic nature. In this study, we aimed to compare the level of Lp(a) in young and middle-aged patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI).

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between mortality and the frontal QRS-T angle (FQRS-TA), obtained by calculating the absolute difference between the QRS and T waves electrocardiographically (ECG), in patients diagnosed with ischemic stroke (IS). This research is a retrospective and cross-sectional study. The diagnosis of IS was confirmed through brain imaging and physical examination. Patients with sinus rhythm were included in the study. The FQRS-TA was measured by calculating the absolute difference between the QRS-axis and the T-axis, as automatically measured on the ECG. Patients were divided into two groups: those who died within five years and those who survived, and the groups were compared. A total of 322 patients with IS were included in the study, of whom 290 survived, and 32 died. Age, creatinine level, PR interval, QRS duration, corrected QT (cQT) value, and FQRS-TA value were found to be higher in the deceased group. Cox regression analyses were performed to examine the association between predictors of stroke-related mortality. Age [hazard ratio (HR): 1.091, 95% (1.045-1.140), P < 0.001], high-density lipoprotein (HDL) [HR: 0.914, 95% (0.875-0.955), P < 0.001], and FQRS-TA [odds ratio (OR): 1.011, 95% (1.003-1.019), P = 0.007] were associated with mortality. A FQRS-TA of 68 degrees or higher was associated with cumulative mortality in the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis (log rank [Mantel-Cox] test: P = 0.001). In this study, increased FQRS-TA was found to be associated with mortality in patients with IS. ECG parameters are simple and time-efficient measurements that can provide important prognostic information. To the best of our knowledge, this research is the first study to examine the relationship between FQRS-TA and mortality in patients with IS.