ABSTRACT.Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of the exfoliation syndrome and its relationship with ocular and cardiovascular diseases in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey. Methods: This cross-sectional and population-based study was conducted at the Sivas Province among the population aged 40 years and over. The diagnosis of XFS was made when exfoliative material was found on the anterior lens capsule or iris on slit-lamp examination. The subjects were divided into an XFS group and a non-XFS group according to the presence of exfoliative material, and the groups were compared for the presence of glaucoma, cataract, age-related macular degeneration, phacodonesis, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, smoking and alcohol-use frequency. Results: XFS was present in 63 subjects consisting of 42 males (8.0%) and 21 females (3.6%) for an overall rate of 5.7% (95% CI: 0.054-0.060). Once we adjusted the values for age, we found a statistically significant relationship of increased age and male gender with the presence of XFS (p = 0.001, p = 0.027, respectively). The relationship between XFS and glaucoma, cataract and phacodonesis was found to be statistically significant (p = 0.001). No relationship was found between exfoliation syndrome and hypertension, diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease. Conclusion: The prevalence of exfoliation syndrome was 5.7% in this population-based study. There was a statistically significant relationship between XFS and advancing age and male gender.

Aim. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of exfoliation syndrome in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey and to evaluate its relationship with cardiovascular and ocular diseases. Methods. Patients over the age of 45 years who presented to the clinic were included in the study. All cases underwent a comprehensive ophthalmology examination. Exfoliation syndrome was diagnosed with the presence of exfoliative material on the lens anterior capsule or iris on slit lamp examination. The patients were divided into two groups as the exfoliation syndrome group and nonexfoliation syndrome group according to the presence of exfoliative material. Results. Exfoliative material was found in one or both eyes of 212 of the 2103 patients (10.1%) evaluated within the scope of the study. A significant relationship was found between exfoliation syndrome and increasing age and male gender. A significant relationship was found between exfoliation syndrome and glaucoma, cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, and phacodonesis. While no relationship was found between exfoliation syndrome and hypertension or diabetes mellitus, a significant relationship was found with coronary artery disease. Conclusion. The unilateral or bilateral exfoliation syndrome frequency was 10.1% in this hospital-based study. A statistically significant relationship was found between exfoliation syndrome and advancing age, gender, and coronary artery disease.

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Objectives:To evaluate the serum homocysteine (Hcy) and leptin levels in patients with uveitis.Ma­te­ri­als and Met­hods:The 70 cases included in the study comprised 3 groups: patients with Behçet’s uveitis (BU), patients with non-Behçet’s uveitis (NBU) and healthy controls. Body mass index was calculated for each subject. Serum Hcy and leptin levels were measured. Furthermore, acute-phase reactants including erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein and neutrophil count were measured.Re­sults:Serum Hcy levels were 15.04±4.59 µmol/L in the BU group, 15.4±6.87 µmol/L in the NBU group and 13.64±4.72 µmol/L in the control group (p>0.05). The serum leptin levels of male patients in the BU group, NBU group and control group were 4.76±3.54 ng/ml, 6.33±3.74 ng/ml and 5.47±6.33 ng/ml, respectively (p>0.05). When we compared serum leptin levels in female patients and controls, the mean serum leptin concentrations were significantly higher in female BU and NBU patients (24.83±17.62 ng/ml and 28.46±13.90 ng/ml, respectively) than in healthy control volunteers (9.62±6.36 ng/ml, p<0.05). In addition, the ESR value differences between groups were statistically significant (p<0.05).Conclusion:A larger case series is necessary to investigate serum Hcy and leptin concentrations in uveitis patients.

Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) criteria into four groups were enrolled in our study. Each group included 20 patients. Total of 63 healthy people selected randomly were accepted as control group. Peak systolic velocity (PSV), end diastolic velocity (EDV) and resistive index (RI) were calculated in the central retinal artery (CRA) and the ophthalmic artery (OA) respectively. The flow velocity of central retinal vein (CRV) was also measured. All of measurements were obtained for patients and control groups. Results. PSV and RI values of CRA and OA were significantly higher in the patient groups (p<0.05). But there was no statistically significance in EDV values (p>0.05). Furthermore significant increase of CRV measurements was detected (p<0.05). Conclusion. We thought that the changes of PSV and RI parameter in CRA and OA depend on hypoxia with COPD causes systemic and local inflammatory metabolites due to distortion of retinal auto regulatory mechanism. The elevation increase CRV is attributed to amount of blood return to the ophthalmic vein by means of ocular blood flow increase, and to the increased central venous blood pressure related to COPD.