SUMMARY BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire world, posing a serious threat to human health. T cells play a critical role in the cellular immune response against viral infections. We aimed to reveal the relationship between T cell subsets and disease severity. METHODS: 40 COVID-19 patients were randomly recruited in this cross-sectional study. All cases were confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR. Patients were divided into two equivalent groups, one severe and one nonsevere. Clinical, laboratory and flow cytometric data were obtained from both clinical groups and compared. RESULTS: Lymphocyte subsets, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, memory CD4+ T cells, memory CD8+ T cells, naive CD4+ T cells, effector memory CD4+ T cells, central memory CD4+ T cells, and CD3+CD4+ CD25+ T cells were significantly lower in severe patients. The naive T cell/CD4 + EM T cell ratio, which is an indicator of the differentiation from naive T cells to memory cells, was relatively reduced in severe disease. Peripheral CD4+CD8+ double-positive T cells were notably lower in severe presentations of the disease (median DP T cells 11.12 µL vs 1.95 µL; p< 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: As disease severity increases in COVID-19 infection, the number of T cell subsets decreases significantly. Suppression of differentiation from naive T cells to effector memory T cells is the result of severe impairment in adaptive immune functions. Peripheral CD4+CD8+ double-positive T cells were significantly reduced in severe disease presentations and may be a useful marker to predict disease severity.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of eltrombopag, an oral thrombopoietin receptor agonist, in patients with chronic immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). Materials and Methods: A total of 285 chronic ITP patients (187 women, 65.6%; 98 men, 34.4%) followed in 55 centers were enrolled in this retrospective cohort. Response to treatment was assessed according to platelet count (/mm 3) and defined as complete (platelet count of >100,000/mm 3), partial (30,000-100,000/mm 3 or doubling of platelet count after treatment), or unresponsive (<30,000/mm 3). Clinical findings, descriptive features, response to treatment, and side effects were recorded. Correlations between descriptive, clinical, and hematological parameters were analyzed. Results: The median age at diagnosis was 43.9±20.6 (range: 3-95) years and the duration of follow-up was 18.0±6.4 (range: 6-28.2) months. Overall response rate was 86.7% (n=247). Complete and partial responses were observed in 182 (63.8%) and 65 (22.8%) patients, respectively. Thirty-eight patients (13.4%) did not respond to eltrombopag treatment. For patients above 60 years old (n=68), overall response rate was 89.7% (n=61), and for those above 80 Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı kronik immün trombositopeni (ITP) hastalarında bir oral trombopoietin reseptör agonisti olan eltrombopagın etkinlik ve güvenirliliğini değerlendirmektir. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Elli beş merkezde izlem altındaki toplam 285 kronik ITP hastası (187 kadın, %65,6) bu geriye dönük küme çalışmasına alınmıştır. Tedaviye yanıt trombosit sayısına göre değerlendirilmiş ve tam yanıt (>100.000/mm 3), kısmi yanıt (30.000-100.000/mm 3 veya tedaviden sonra trombosit sayısının bir kat artmış olması) ve yanıtsızlık (<30.000/mm 3) olarak tanımlanmıştır. Hastaların klinik bulguları, tanımlayıcı özellikleri, tedaviye yanıt ve yan etki bilgileri toplanmış ve aralarındaki ilişki incelenmiştir. Bulgular: Tanı anında yaş ortalaması 43,9±20,6 (3-95) yıl olan hastalar ortalama 18,0±6,4 (6-28,2) ay izlenmiştir. Tam ve kısmi yanıtı içeren toplam yanıt %86,7 (n=247) bulundu. Sırasıyla 182 (%63,8) ve 65 (%22,8) hastada tam ve parsiyel tedavi yanıtları gözlenmiştir. Otuz sekiz hasta (%13,4) eltrombopag tedavisine yanıt vermemiştir. Altmış yaş üzerindeki hastalarda (n=68) toplam yanıt %89,7 (n=61) bulunurken, bu oran 80 yaş üzerindeki (n=12) hastalarda %83 (n=10) olmuştur. Tedavi öncesi trombosit sayısı göz önüne alındığında, eltrombopag,

Öter V, et al. Intraoperative hemorrhage and increased spleen volume are risk factors for conversion to open surgery in patients undergoing elective robotic and laparoscopic splenectomy.

In this study, we aim to investigate the efficacy of convalescent plasma (CP) according to blood groups (BGs) in the treatment of critically ill patients diagnosed with COVID-19. Materials and methods: 28 critically ill and laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 patients who were admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) of Sakarya University, Medical Faculty were included in the study. Patients were divided into 2 groups as anti-A Antibody (Ab) containing (BG O and B) and those not containing anti-A Ab (BG A and AB) CP received patients. Results: Among 28 patients, 13 patients received anti-A Ab containing CP (BG; B: 6, O: 7), 15 patients not containing anti-A Ab CP (BG; A: 13, AB: 2). Duration in ICU, the rates of mechanical ventilation (MV) support and vasopressor support, the case fatality rate and discharge rate were lower in patients received CP containing anti-A Ab than not containing anti-A Ab CP. However, only the difference in the rate of MV support achieved statistically significance (p=0.04) Conclusion: In our study, it was observed that the efficiency of CP without anti-A antibody was lower than that of plasma containing anti-A antibody, although it was not statistically significant. This result is thought to be due to the anti-A antibody's ability to block the ACE2 receptor. We believe that this hypothesis should be investigated in controlled studies with higher patient numbers.

Multiple myeloma (MM), the second most common hematological malignancy, is caused by the accumulation of monoclonal plasma cells in bone marrow. It accounts for 10–15% of deaths from hematological malignancies and approximately 2% of deaths from cancer. The median age at presentation is 70 years old. The diagnosis is incidental in 30% of cases. MM is often discovered through routine blood screening with a large gap between the total protein and the albumin levels.Two thirds of patients complain of bone pain, especially lower back pain. MM could be diagnosed after a pathologic fracture occurs in one third of patients. Presentation with symptoms related to hyperviscosity, hypercalcemia and bleeding tendency could also be observed. A rare presentation of MM is peri-orbital ecchymotic lesion (raccoon eye). Here, we report a 64 years old, male patient presented with unilateral raccoon eye and high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) to internal medicine outpatient. The patient was referred to hematology outpatient and was diagnosed with multiple myeloma.

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OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of factors associated with an increased risk of thrombosis in patients with essential thrombocythemia.METHODS: A total of 200 patients followed-up in our unit with a diagnosis of essential thrombocythemia in 13 years were analyzed retrospectively.RESULTS: Of the study participants, 60.5% were females and 39.5% were males, with an overall mean (±SD) age of 54.93 (±14.21) years. In 119 patients, Janus Kinase 2 was positive with 56.3% of cases. When two patient categories were defined as those with or without history of thrombosis, no significant differences were found in terms of Janus Kinase 2 positivity, mean age, as well as white blood cells and platelet counts (p>0.05). Also, no significant differences in thrombotic event incidence were found between patient categories defined on the basis of cut-off values for white blood cells (cut-off values of 15×10 3 /mm 3 and 8.7×10 3 /mm 3 ) and platelets (cut-off values of 1500×10 3 /mm 3 ) (p>0.05).CONCLUSION: Although our results are generally in line with the published data, some divergence from previous results has been observed with respect to risk factors for thrombotic events. Absence of a correlation between leukocytosis and thrombosis may be related with the significant decline in white blood cells after treatment. Also, a significant reduction in platelet counts occurring in association with treatment is linked with a lowered incidence of thrombosis. Janus Kinase 2-positive patients had a similar thrombosis frequency with that reported in the literature.

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