OBJECTIVES: Earthquakes are one of the most studied uncontrollable natural conditions that cause negative psychological consequences. Although health-care workers (HCWs) are trained to manage trauma in the out-of-hospital area, uncontrollable tragic events in the earthquake field and exposure to life-threatening situations may cause psychological disorders. This study aimed to investigate the risk of the development of probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the factors affecting it in HCWs working in the region during major earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaras. METHODS: The questionnaire, which consists of the Turkish version of the 20-item PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5) self-report measure assessing DSM-5 symptoms of PTSD, was applied to HCWs. The Turkish version of the PCL-5 proved validity and reliability, with a cutoff point of ≥47 to diagnose probable PTSD. RESULTS: In this study, of the 79 HCWs, 62.7% were male. The overall probable PTSD rate was 37.9% (n = 30). Female participants had a significantly higher probable PTSD rate than males (P < 0.001). The nurses met probable PTSD criteria statistically significantly more than the doctors (P = 0.026). The multiple regression analysis for predictors of probable PTSD revealed that female gender, previously working in a level 1 hospital, and being a nurse were among the independent risk factors. CONCLUSION: This study showed that the probable PTSD rate was high among HCWs and that female HCWs were at higher risk for PTSD. HCWs, especially females working in the disaster area, should be closely monitored, and more mental health services should be provided to ensure that HCWs receive the necessary support in the postdisaster period.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) disease leads to a hypercoagulable state and associated with thrombotic events that can cause mortality and morbidity. Thrombotic events include both venous and arterial thrombosis. In this case report, we present a 68-year-old COVID-19 patient with multisystemic infarction who was admitted to the hospital by splenic infarction and later pulmonary embolism diagnosed during the stay in hospital despite anticoagulant use. It is important for emergency physicians to know that patients who had COVID-19 infection but not confirmed or not tested can visit the emergency department due to complications of COVID-19 infection such as thromboembolic events primarily.

Objective: Despite vaccine and drug studies, convalescent plasma (CP) therapy remains an alternative treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this study, we aimed to reveal the efficacy of CP therapy on mortality and the factors affecting it for the patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) which were followed in our intensive care unit (ICU). Material and Method: The data (demographic characteristics, the amount of CP used, PaO2/FiO2, leukocyte, neutrophil, lymphocyte, D-Dimer, C-reactive protein (CRP), procalcitonin, ferritin values, and the clinical findings) of the patients who were hospitalized in the ICU with the diagnosis of COVID-19 and received CP treatment between 20 March and 20 October 2020 were analyzed retrospectively. Data of deceased patients (n=29) and survivors (n=50) were compared with each other and logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the relationship with mortality. Results: 79 patients who received 166 units of CP therapy after a mean of 13.45±3.6 days symptom onset, were identified. 96.2% of the patients had at least one concomitant disease. Mortality was observed in 29 (36.7%) of the patients. Mortality (5.1%) was less common in those receiving CP therapy within the first 14 days after the onset of symptoms. Patient age (p=0.041), neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (p=0.004), CRP values (p=0.002), the number of comorbidities (p

Background/aim: Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients may be protected against cancer because of increased immune surveillance. However, aberrant T/B cell functioning in MS may increase the risk of cancer. We aimed to compare the frequency of cancer among patients with MS with an appropriate control group matched by the variables such as age, gender, tobacco smoking history, body mass index (BMI), and family history of cancer. Materials and methods: The MS patients who were registered and followed up at the MS Center in Hacettepe University Hospitals and appropriately matched with controls were included. A self-administered questionnaire with links to the online survey was delivered. Results: Overall, 1037 responses out of 2074 in MS patients and 506 responses out of 1500 control group were included. Fourteen (1.35%) of MS patients and 18 (3.6%) of the controls were diagnosed with cancer. The odds ratio of having cancer in patients with MS compared to the control group was 0.389 (95% CI = 0.161-0.940, p < 0.05). Conclusion: There was no statistically significant difference in age, gender, tobacco smoking, and BMI between the groups after propensity score matching. The odds of having cancer were lower in our MS patients compared to the controls. The autoimmune changes responsible for the pathogenesis of MS may be responsible for the decrease in cancer risk.