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The prevalence of and risk factors for hypertension were determined among habitants in the European side of Istanbul who are 25 years and older. Eight administrative districts were selected with the method of simple random sampling. The participants were selected through systematic calling from address lists. Between 17 and 22 June 2002, the questionnaires were applied to the participants in a face-to-face interview; then arterial blood pressures, body weights and heights of the participants were measured. Of 423 adults participating in the study, 35.5% were hypertensive; 35.9% were obese, 27.9% were overweight and 2.1% were underweight. Risk factors for hypertension such as age, gender, educational status, social security, family history of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, medical history of diabetes and congestive heart failure, smoking and alcohol use, and body mass index in the hypertensive and non-hypertensive groups were investigated by means of logistic regression analysis. Age [odds ratio (OR): 5.20, 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.18-12.40], body mass index (OR: 2.22, 95% CI: 1.57-3.16) and smoking (OR: 0.72, 95% CI: 0.55-0.95) were found to be correlated with hypertension. The results showed that the prevalence of hypertension was high in Istanbul, and obesity, being overweight and advanced age were the risk factors for hypertension.

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of beta-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) and prednisolone on the prevention of esophageal damage and stricture formation after caustic esophageal burn. Method. Twenty-eight rats were divided into four equal groups. In groups 1, 2, and 3, caustic esophageal burns were generated by applying NaOH to the 1.5 cm segment of the abdominal esophagus. Group 4 was for the sham. Normal saline to group 1, BAPN to group 2, and prednisolone to group 3 were administered intraperitoneally as a single daily dose. Results. Treatment with BAPN decreased the stenosis index (SI) and histopathologic damage score (HDS) seen in caustic esophageal burn rats. The SI in group 4 was significantly lower compared with groups 1, 2, and 3. Group 2 had the minimum SI value in corrosive burn groups. The differences related to SI between groups 1, 2, and 3 were not statistically significant. The HDS was significantly lower in group 4 compared with groups 1, 2, and 3. The HDS in group 2 was significantly lower compared with groups 1 and 3. Conclusion. This study demonstrated that BAPN was able to decrease the development of stenosis and tissue damage better than prednisolone.

Background: The current knowledge about novel coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) indicates that the immune system and inflammatory response play a crucial role in the severity and prognosis of the disease. In this study, we aimed to investigate prognostic value of systemic inflammatory biomarkers including C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) in patients with severe COVID-19. Methods: This single-center, retrospective study included a total of 223 patients diagnosed with severe COVID-19. Primary outcome measure was mortality during hospitalization. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to identify independent predictors associated with mortality in patients with severe COVID-19. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine cut-offs, and area under the curve (AUC) values were used to demonstrate discriminative ability of biomarkers. Results: Compared to survivors of severe COVID-19, non-survivors had higher CAR, NLR, and PLR, and lower LMR and lower PNI ( P < .05 for all). The optimal CAR, PNI, NLR, PLR, and LMR cut-off values for detecting prognosis were 3.4, 40.2, 6. 27, 312, and 1.54 respectively. The AUC values of CAR, PNI, NLR, PLR, and LMR for predicting hospital mortality in patients with severe COVID-19 were 0.81, 0.91, 0.85, 0.63, and 0.65, respectively. In ROC analysis, comparative discriminative ability of CAR, PNI, and NLR for hospital mortality were superior to PLR and LMR. Multivariate analysis revealed that CAR (⩾0.34, P = .004), NLR (⩾6.27, P = .012), and PNI (⩽40.2, P = .009) were independent predictors associated with mortality in severe COVID-19 patients. Conclusions: The CAR, PNI, and NLR are independent predictors of mortality in hospitalized severe COVID-19 patients and are more closely associated with prognosis than PLR or LMR.

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Objective: Physicians are exposed to various emotional and physical stressors in their working environment. Emergency departments are particularly stressful working environments. This study aimed to determine the frequency of anxiety among emergency physicians (EP) and other medical specialists. Methods: This cross-sectional survey included voluntarily participated physicians working in hospitals in Turkey. Physicians were grouped based on their Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) scores and their characteristics were compared. The frequency of anxiety and other characteristics of the physicians were investigated. Results: A total of 508 medical specialists (male 71.9%; mean age 37.5±7.2 years) included in the analysis, 97 (19,1%) were EP and 411 (80.9%) were from other medical specialties. The mean Beck Anxiety Inventory Score of the specialists from other clinics was 9.6±7.7 points. The frequencies of moderate, and severe anxiety among medical specialists were 13.8%, and 2.8%, respectively. The overall frequency of moderate-severe anxiety was 16.5%; which was higher in emergency physicians than in other clinical specialists (33% and 12.7%, respectively). The mean Beck Anxiety Inventory scores of EP and other medical specialists were found as 13±9.3 and 8.7±7.0, respectively (p<0.001). Anxiety score showed a negative correlation with age and duration of working as a specialist.Among emergency physicians, the rates of smoking (p=0.008), alcohol consumption (p=0.003) and anxiety scores were higher and the duration of working as a specialist was shorter (p<0.001). Conclusions: Frequency of anxiety is higher among physicians. Considering medical specialties, higher level of anxiety determined in the emergency physicians might be a guide for investigation of working conditions in this field and for development of protective and preventive policies.

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Öz Amaç: COVID-19 pandemisi gibi afetlerin yönetiminde hastaları ilk karşılayan acil servislerin hastanedeki diğer kliniklerle olan iş birliği ve koordinasyonu acil servislerin işleyişini kolaylaştırmaktadır. Çalışmamızda COVID-19 salgınındaki acil servis yönetimimizi ve bunun sonuçlarını araştırdık. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Bu çalışmada 1 Mart 2020 ile 30 Nisan 2020 tarihleri arasındaki 3.basamak bir acil servise başvuran hastaların süreci ve bu süreçteki Covid-19 tanılı ve şüpheli vakaların yönetimi ile acil servisteki Covid-19 pandemisine cevap için yapılan hazırlıklar ve Covid-19 ön triyaj sistemi ve sonuçları değerlendirildi. İstatistik anlamlılık düzeyi olarak p<0,05 alındı. Bulgular: 2019 göre 2020 Mart ayı toplam başvuru oranında artış olduğu (p<0.01; %50,1'den %66,8'e), Nisan ayı toplam başvuru oranında ise düşüş olduğu (p <0.01; %49,9'dan %33,2'ye), saptandı. 2020 Nisan ayında Mart ayına göre tüm kliniklere hasta yatışı 1,35 kat azaldığı, enfeksiyon hastalıkları konsültasyon sayısının 3,81 kat arttığı saptandı. 21 Mart ile 30 Nisan 2020 tarihleri arasında acil servisten istenen toraks bilgisayarlı tomografilerinin %89,2'sinin nedeni COVID-19 şüphesi ile olmuştu. Acil servisin dışında COVID-19 şüpheli hastalar ayrımı için ön triyaj kuruldu. 2020 Mart ayında COVID-19 şüpheli hastaların %66,6'sı, Nisan ayında ise %91'i evde izolasyona gönderilerek takip edildi. Nisan ayında sokağa çıkma yasağı uygulanan günlerde acil servis başvuruları %66,7 azalırken (p<0,01) sokağa çıkma yasağının bittiği günlerdeki acil servis başvuruları %142,9 artmıştı (p<0,01). Sonuç: Pandemiler önceden öngörülemeyen durumlardır ve tüm hastane ile beraber acil servis işleyişini derinden etkilemektedir. COVID-19 pandemisi gibi afetlerin yönetiminde acil servislerin hastanedeki diğer kliniklerle olan iş birliği ve koordinasyonu ile hızlı kararlar alıp uygulayabilen multidisipliner yönetim sistemine ihtiyaçları vardır.