İt is known that there is a relationship between some diseases and blood groups. The objective of our study is to investigate how often ABO and Rh blood groups are seen in benign thyroid diseases, especially in autoimmune-mediated thyroid diseases, and hence whether there is an association between blood groups and thyroid diseases. A total of 958 patients who were followed due to any benign thyroid disease were included in the study. The study population comprised 958 patients, 550 with Hashimoto's hypothyroidism, 160 with non-Hashimoto's hypothyroidism, 103 with iatrogenic hypothyroidism, 93 with central hypothyroidism, and 28 with Graves' and 24 with non-Graves' hyperthyroidism. Of the patients, 47.1% belonged to the O blood group, 30% to the A blood group, 15.2% to the B blood group, and 7.7% to the AB blood group while 90% were Rh-positive. The ratio of those with the O blood group was determined to be significantly higher in the Hashimoto's hypothyroidism group compared to the other disease groups. In the non-Hashimoto's hypothyroidism group, however, the ratio of the AB blood group was statistically significantly higher. While autoimmune diseases were more common in those with the O blood group, they were significantly lower in the AB blood group (p < 0.001). In our study, we determined that the ratio of the O blood group was significantly higher among patients with hypothyroidism due to Hashimoto's thyroiditis. These findings imply that there might be a relation between O blood group and Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

We present our single-center results on ultrasound-assisted thrombolysis (USAT) in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) at intermediate high risk (IHR) and high risk (HR). Our study consisted of 75 patients with PE who underwent USAT (60 at IHR and 15 at HR). The median time delay from symptoms to USAT was 5 days. Ultrasound-assisted thrombolysis resulted in improvements in tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion; pulmonary artery (PA) systolic and mean pressures; Qanadli score; right to left ventricle diameter ratio and right to left atrial diameter ratio; and diameters of main, right, and left PA regardless of the baseline risk status ( P < .0001 for all). Death was documented in 4 patients, and major and minor bleeding were noted in 2 and 5 of the patients, respectively. No PE-related event was noted during postdischarge follow-up period of median 310 days. Our study revealed that USAT facilitates the resolution of PA thrombotic burden, recovery of pulmonary hemodynamics, and right heart functions with acceptable rates of procedure-related complications in patients with PE, irrespective of the IHR or HR status.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare arterial stiffness, which is an independent risk indicator for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), between patients with overt hyperthyroidism, subclinical hyperthyroidism, euthyroidism by antithyroid therapy and healthy volunteers with pulse wave analysis (PWA). Subjects and methods: A total of 102 volunteers were included in the study (30 in the overt hyperthyroid group, 28 in the subclinical hyperthyroid group and 14 with euthyroidism by antithyroid therapy and 30 healthy). The arterial stiffness measurements of the participants in the study were performed with the Mobil-O-Graph PWA device (I.E.M. GmBH, Stolberg, Germany), which makes cuff based oscillometric measurement from the brachial artery. Results: Systolic blood pressure, pulse rate, central systolic blood pressure, cardiac output, heart rate-corrected augmentation index (Aix@75) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements were significantly higher in the hyperthyroid group than in the control group. The heart rate and PWV in the subclinical hyperthyroid group were significantly higher than the control group. In the euthyroid group, systolic blood pressure, central systolic blood pressure, cardiac output, cardiac index and PWV were found significantly higher than the control group. There was also a negative correlation between Aix@75 and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and a positive correlation between Aix@75 and free thyroid hormones. Conclusion: In our study, we observed that the arterial stiffness was adversely affected by an overt or subclinical increase in thyroid hormones and this correlated with thyroid hormone levels. We recommend that PWV measurement, which is a simple method for detecting CVD risk, can be used in these patients.

We found that PWV was significantly higher in patients with euthyroid nodular goiter. This result suggests that these patients may be at risk for cardiovascular disease.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate and compare arterial stiffness, which is an independent risk indicator for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), between patients with overt hyperthyroidism, subclinical hyperthyroidism, euthyroidism by antithyroid therapy and healthy volunteers with pulse wave analysis (PWA). Subjects and methods: A total of 102 volunteers were included in the study (30 in the overt hyperthyroid group, 28 in the subclinical hyperthyroid group and 14 with euthyroidism by antithyroid therapy and 30 healthy). The arterial stiffness measurements of the participants in the study were performed with the Mobil-O-Graph PWA device (I.E.M. GmBH, Stolberg, Germany), which makes cuff based oscillometric measurement from the brachial artery. Results: Systolic blood pressure, pulse rate, central systolic blood pressure, cardiac output, heart rate-corrected augmentation index (Aix@75) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) measurements were significantly higher in the hyperthyroid group than in the control group. The heart rate and PWV in the subclinical hyperthyroid group were significantly higher than the control group. In the euthyroid group, systolic blood pressure, central systolic blood pressure, cardiac output, cardiac index and PWV were found significantly higher than the control group. There was also a negative correlation between Aix@75 and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), and a positive correlation between Aix@75 and free thyroid hormones. Conclusion: In our study, we observed that the arterial stiffness was adversely affected by an overt or subclinical increase in thyroid hormones and this correlated with thyroid hormone levels. We recommend that PWV measurement, which is a simple method for detecting CVD risk, can be used in these patients.

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Objective: This study was designed to determine whether obesity causes the development of metaplasia in conjunctival epithelial cells. Material and Method: A total of 61 volunteer participants who had no previous history of illness or drug use were involved in this study. Of those, 20 were obese, and 41 were of normal weight. We measured the glucose and insulin values of all volunteers. We also measured the Body Mass Index (BMI) and Homeostasis Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA IR). The impression cytology method was used to analyze the conjunctival epithelium cells, and to classify them between Grades 0 to 3 according to the Nelson criteria. Results: There was a certain level of loss of goblet cells on the 90% level as well as squamous metaplasia (Grade 2-3) in 80% of the obese participants and impression cytology was found to be normal in only two patients. The expected results were observed in 56.1% of the control group where the squamous metaplasia rate was nearly 17% (p<0.001). 90.9% of the grade 3 patients were obese. The variables as independent predictors were found to indicate the existence of abnormal cytology in the conjunctiva at various levels; BMI (OR: 1.24; p=0.002) and HOMA IR (OR= 28.6; p= 0.001) in a Model I multivariable regression model, and the existence of obesity (OR: 11.91; p=0.002) and HOMA IR (OR= 15.08; p<0.001) in a Model II multivariable regression model. Conclusion: Obesity was found to be a disorder that causes metaplasia in the conjunctival epithelium cells for the first time.