IntroductionUntreatable foot problems in diabetics may require lower extremity amputation, which has a high level of patient mortality. This high mortality rate is worse than most malignancies. The present study aimed to identify parameters that can be used to estimate survival in DM patients undergoing below-knee amputations for diabetic foot problems.Materials and methodsA total of 470 patients (299 males, 171 females) with a mean age of 64.32 years who underwent below-knee amputation for diabetic foot problems between 2004 and 2014 were enrolled in the study. The length of time from the operation to time of death was recorded in days. Patient details were obtained, including age during surgery, BMI, oral antidiabetic and insulin usage, dialysis therapy history, lower extremity endovascular intervention, previous amputation at the same extremity, the need for stump revision surgery during follow-up, and above-knee amputation at the same site. Biochemical test results of pre-operative HbA1c, ESR, and levels of CRP, BUN, and creatinine were also obtained.ResultsA total of 333 patients (70.9%) died and 137 (29.1%) survived post-surgery. Survival rates were 90% in the first 7 days, 84% in the first 30 days, and 64% after the first year. Patient median life expectancy post-surgery was 930 ± 106 days. Hemodialysis treatment (p = 0.001), endovascular intervention (p = 0.04), sex (p = 0.004), age (p = 0.001), BUN level (p = 0.001), and duration of insulin use (p = 0.003) were shown to be effective predictors of mortality.ConclusionsLife expectancy is low (<3 years) in DM patients requiring below-knee amputations for untreatable foot problems. Survival could be predicted by duration of insulin use, age, sex, and renal insufficiency.Level of evidenceLevel IV, Therapeutic study.
Background The optimal treatment modality for lowering the triglyceride level in patients with hypertriglyceridemia (HTG)-associated acute pancreatitis is unknown. We evaluated the efficacy of continuous insulin infusion and apheresis procedures as triglyceride-lowering therapy. Materials and methods Clinical, demographic, and laboratory data were retrospectively evaluated for patients with HTGassociated pancreatitis who received continuous insulin infusion or apheresis in a single tertiary center. The endpoints were modality effectiveness and clinical outcomes. ResultsThe study included 48 patients (mean age, 40.4 ± 9.9 years). Apheresis and insulin infusion were performed in 19 and 29 patients, respectively, in the first 24 h of hospital admission. Apheresis procedures included therapeutic plasma exchange in 10 patients and double filtration plasmapheresis in nine patients. Baseline mean triglyceride level was higher in the apheresis group. The two groups were similar in terms of other baseline clinical and demographic characteristics. Seventeen patients (58.6%) in the insulin group and nine patients (47.4%) in the apheresis group exhibited Balthazar grades D-E. There was a rapid reduction (78.5%) in triglyceride level after the first session of apheresis. Insulin infusion resulted in a 44.4% reduction in mean triglyceride level in the first 24 h. The durations of fasting and hospital stay, and the rates of respiratory failure and hypotension, were similar between groups. More patients in the apheresis group experienced acute renal failure or altered mental status. Prognosis did not significantly differ between groups. Conclusion Although apheresis treatments are safe and effective, they provided no clear benefit over insulin infusion for HTG-associated pancreatitis.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the cardiometabolic risk factors in different polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) phenotypes. Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed between 2010 and 2011. Eighty-nine patients with PCOS and 25 age- and weight-matched healthy controls were included in the study. Patients were grouped using the Rotterdam 2003 criteria as: group 1, oligomenorrhea and/or anovulation (ANOV) and hyperandrogenemia (HA) and/or hyperandrogenism (n = 23); group 2, ANOV and polycystic ovaries (PCO; n = 22); group 3, HA and PCO (n = 22); group 4, ANOV, HA and PCO (n = 22); group 5, controls (n = 25). Laboratory blood tests for diagnosis and cardiometabolic risk assessments were performed. Insulin resistance (IR) was calculated in all patients with the homeostasis model assessment of IR (HOMA-IR) formula. An euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp test was performed on 5 randomly selected cases in each subgroup, making 25 cases in total, and indicated as the ‘M' value (mg/kg/min), which is the total body glucose disposal rate. Results: The mean BMl values of the groups were: group 1, 26.1 ± 5.3; group 2, 27.9 ± 5.2; group 3, 24.3 ± 4.2; group 4, 27.9 ± 7.5; group 5, 24.7 ± 5.2 (p > 0.05). There were no differences in the lipid profile, plasma glucose, HOMA-IR, insulin and M values between the groups (p > 0.05). Phenotypes with oligomenorrhea/anovulation (groups 1, 2 and 4) were more obese than group 3 (p = 0.039). Conclusions: The cardiometabolic risk profile was similar among the PCOS subgroups. This finding could be attributed to the mean BMl values, which, being below 30, were not within the obesity range. Obesity appeared to be an important determinant of high cardiovascular risk in PCOS.
Objectives: Detection rate of thyroid nodules is increasing with the use of new imaging modalities, especially in screening for malignancies. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/ CT)-positive thyroid nodules should be differentiated for malignancy to avoid unnecessary operations and further follow-up. Most trials evaluate the role of SUV max , but there is no definitive information about the utility of Hounsfield unit (HU) values for prediction of malignancy. This study aimed to evaluate the HU values beside SUV max for detecting malignancy risk of PET/CT-positive thyroid nodules. Subjects and methods: Results of 98 cancer patients who had fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) for thyroid nodules detected on PET/CT between January 2011 and December 2015 were assessed. The FNABs and surgical pathological results were recorded. Results: FNABs revealed benign results in 32 patients (32.7%), malignant in 18 (18.4%), non-diagnostic in 20 (20.4%), and indeterminate in 28 (28.5%). Twenty-four patients underwent thyroidectomy. The mean HU values were not significantly different in benign and malignant nodules (p = 0.73). However, the mean SUV max was significantly higher (p < 0.001) in malignant ones. Area under curve (AUC) was 0.824 for SUV max ; the cutoff value was over 5.55 (p < 0.001), with 80% sensitivity, 84.5% specificity. Conclusions: Our current study demonstrated that HU value does not add any additional valuable information for discriminating between malignant and benign thyroid nodules. We also defined a SUV max cutoff value of 5.55 for malignant potential of thyroid nodules detected on PET/CT.
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