Introduction COVID-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 continues to spread rapidly across the world. In our study, we aim to investigate the relationship between the liver enzymes on admission (AST, ALT, ALP, GGT) and severity of COVID-19. We evaluated course of disease, hospital stay, liver damage and mortality. Materials and methods Our study included 614 patients who were hospitalized with the diagnosis of COVID-19 between 03.16.20 and 05.12.20. Patients with liver disease, hematological and solid organ malignancy with liver metastases were excluded, resulting in 554 patients who met our inclusion criteria. We retrospectively evaluated liver transaminase levels, AST/ALT ratio, cholestatic enzyme levels and R ratio during hospital admission and these were compared in terms of morbidity, mortality and clinical course. Results Mean age of 554 subjects were 66.21 ± 15.45 years, 328 (59.2%) were men. The mean values of liver enzymes on admission were AST (36.2 ± 33.6 U/L), ALT (34.01 ± 49.34 U/L), ALP (78.8 ± 46.86 U/L), GGT (46.25 ± 60.05 U/L). Mortality rate and need for intensive care unit were statistically significant in subjects that had high ALT–AST levels during their admission to the hospital ( p = 0.001). According to the ROC analysis AST/ALT ratio was a good marker of mortality risk (AUC = 0.713: p = 0.001) and expected probability of intensive care unit admission (AUC = 0.636: p = 0.001). R ratio, which was used to evaluate prognosis, showed a poor prognosis rate of 26.5% in the cholestatic injury group, 36.1% in the mixed pattern group and 30% in the hepato-cellular injury group ( p 0.001). Conclusions ALT–AST elevation and AST/ALT ratio >1 was associated with more severe course and increased mortality in COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE:Cigarette smoking carries higher risks for most of the chronic diseases. It also has chronic and acute effects on the hematologic system. This study explores the effects of cigarette smoking on some blood values of the healthy young male smokers.METHODS:In this study, cigarette smoking and usage of substance, additional diseases, birth places, and education levels of 171 healthy male subjects between the ages of 20 and 30 years were investigated. Anthropometric measurements of the cases were obtained. Thyroid function tests, vitamin B12, folic acid, ferritin, ferrous/ıron, total ıron binding capacity, leucocytes, platelets, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean platelet volume (MPV), HBs AG, Anti-HBs and Anti-HIV were evaluated. Groups of smokers and nonsmokers were compared. The group of smokers was also sorted into subgroups of “2 year-smokers”, “5 year-smokers” and “10 year-smokers” according to their pack-years of smoking. The effects of pack-years of smoking on the blood values were also investigated.RESULTS:The MCV values of the group of smokers were higher than the values of nonsmokers, which were statistically significant (p<0.05). As a result of the subgroup analyses of smokers, the white blood cell (WBC) counts of the individuals smoking for 5 or more years were significantly higher than those with a history of smoking less than 5 years, (p<0.05).CONCLUSION:This study supports the idea that cigarette smoking and especially longer durations of smoking have adverse effects on the hematologic parameters.

The frequency of hyperplastic polyps was increased, whereas colonic malignancy was not observed in Turkish patients with active acromegaly.

Raim Iliaz 5 | Hayrettin Koklu 6 | Yilmaz Cakaloglu 7 | Memduh Sahin 8 | Galip Ersoz 9 | İftihar Koksal 10 | Zeki Karasu 9 | Meric Ozgenel 11 | İlker Turan 9 | Feyza Gunduz 12 | Huseyin Ataseven 13 | Meral Akdogan 14 | Murat Kiyici 15 | Aydın Seref Koksal 16 | Sila Akhan 17 | Fulya Gunsar 9 | Fehmi Tabak 18 | Sabahattin Kaymakoglu 5 | Ulus S Akarca 9 | Early Access Program (EAP) Study Group a 1 How to cite this article: Idilman R, Demir M, Aladag M, et al.; Early Access Program Study Group. Low recurrence rate of hepatocellular carcinoma following ledipasvir and sofosbuvir treatment in a real-world chronic hepatitis C patients cohort. J Viral Hepat. 2019;26:666-674. https://doi.

Introduction Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is more frequent in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM).The aim of the present study was to evaluate gastroesophageal reflux (GER) in asymptomatic patients with DM using 24-h pH impedance. Materials and Methods 19 healthy controls and 35 patients with DM without typical GERD symptoms were enrolled in the study. A 24-h pH-impedance study, esophageal manometry and gastroscopy were performed on all patients with DM. In the control group, an impedance study was performed on all subjects, and gastroscopy and esophageal manometry were performed on those who consented to the procedures. Patients with diabetes were categorized as obese [body mass index (BMI)>30 kg/m2] or non-obese (BMI<30 kg/m2) and both groups were compared with healthy controls. Results The mean BMI was similar in the control group (27.3±2.6 kg/m2) and the diabetic group (28.7±5 kg/m2) (p>0.05).Erosive esophagitis was found in 7.5% of the DM group. Esophageal dysmotility was higher in diabetics compared to the control group (45.5 vs. 11%, p=0.04). Neuropathy was found to be an independent risk factor for dysmotility. The mean DeMeester score (DMS) (25.6±32.5 vs. 11.2±17, p=0.01) and bolus exposure time (2.1±1.3 vs.1.3±1.3 min, p=0.009) were higher in the DM group compared with the control group.The difference was mainly observed between obese diabetics and the control group (p<0.05). The mean DMS, pathologic acid reflux, and esophageal dysmotility rate were higher in patients without complications of DM (p<0.05). BMI was higher in these patients than in patients with complications. Conclusion Acid reflux is common in patients with diabetes.GER is associated with the existence of obesity rather than hyperglycemia.