Background. Gastrointestinal motility and serum thyroid hormone levels are closely related. Our aim was to analyze whether there is a disorder in esophagogastric motor functions as a result of hypothyroidism. Materials and Methods. The study group included 30 females (mean age ± SE 45.17 ± 2.07 years) with primary hypothyroidism and 10 healthy females (mean age ± SE 39.40 ± 3.95 years). All cases underwent esophagogastric endoscopy and scintigraphy. For esophageal scintigraphy, dynamic imaging of esophagus motility protocol, and for gastric emptying scintigraphy, anterior static gastric images were acquired. Results. The mean esophageal transit time (52.56 ± 4.07 sec for patients; 24.30 ± 5.88 sec for controls; P = .02) and gastric emptying time (49.06 ± 4.29 min for the hypothyroid group; 30.4 ± 4.74 min for the control group; P = .01) were markedly increased in cases of hypothyroidism. Conclusion. Hypothyroidism prominently reduces esophageal and gastric motor activity and can cause gastrointestinal dysfunction.

Background and Purpose: Increased uptake in the thyroid gland (TG) is often identified as an incidental finding on the whole body fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography ( 18 F-FDG PET/CT) in non-thyroid cancer patients. Currently, there is no consensus on the appropriate approach for the management of these cases. Thyroid ultrasound, scintigraphy and fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) are suggested to exclude malignant thyroid lesions. Our aim is to determine the importance of increased F-18-FDG uptake in the TG on positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) scans in patients who are being screened for various forms of non-thyroid cancer. Materials and Methods: We evaluated 2000 cases undergoing whole body PET/CT scanning between April 2011 and October 2012. The age, sex, type of primary cancer, maximum standardized uptake value (SUV max ), size of the thyroid nodules and cervical lymph nodes (CLNs) on 18 F-FDG PET/CT images and if available, the biopsy results were evaluated. Results: In total, 57 patients (23 men, 34 women, mean age ± standard deviation (SD), 60.89 ± 14 years) showed an increased fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose ( 18 F-FDG) uptake by the TG (average SUV max : 4.07 ± 3.7). The CLNs were detected in 19/57 patients (33%). Only 20 cases (35%) received FNAB. The final histopathological diagnosis was papillary thyroid carcinoma in seven patients (mean SUV max ± SD: 6.0 ± 5.43) and benign thyroid disease in seven patients (mean SUV max ± SD: 2.36 ± 0.63). The FNAB results were undetermined for six patients. Conclusion: Focal high 18 F-FDG uptake in the TG may be associated with an increased risk of malignancy, but the clinical significance is unclear. More data are needed to elucidate the role of the SUV in the differentiation of benign and malign thyroid lesions. If a focal increase in 18 F-FDG uptake in the TG on PET/CT is present, a prompt histopathological evaluation should be suggested to clinicians for definitive diagnosis.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate the role of gated myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) and to investigate whether only the invasive coronary angiography (CAG) is sufficient in the diagnosis of the coronary artery disease (CAD) in women. Material and Methods: Sixty-four women (62±10 years) with known CAD were included in this study. They had echocardiography (ECHO), stress/rest gated MPS and invasive CAG. Coronary stenosis as of > 50 % in invasive CAG was accepted as significant. Gated MPS data were compared with invasive CAG and ECHO. Results: Invasive CAG results were abnormal in 34 patients, and normal in 30 cases. Myocardial ischemia was detected by gated MPS in 22/ 30 cases with normal invasive CAG, 6 had mild coronary stenosis in major coronary arteries ranging from 30% to 50% in invasive CAG. 16/ 22 women were diagnosed as metabolic syndrome according to MetSend Diagnostic Criteria and only 8 of 30 patients with normal invasive CAG had false positive MPS data on the reevaluation by a nuclear cardiologist.Conclusion: We think that invasive coronary angiography method is not sufficient alone in the diagnosis of CAD in women. Gated MPS study is recommended to achieve the final decision for myocardial ischemia in the cases with CAD and raw data must always be evaluated to avoid attenuation artifacts. Conflict of interest:None declared.

18F-FDG-PET/CT identified the primary tumor site well in 50% of our cases. We propose that 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging may help to accurately detect malignant lesions in patients with unknown primary tumors.

Objective:We aimed to describe the clinical, laboratory, and radiological characteristics of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in our region to find additional clues that can help diagnosis. Materials and Methods:All the patients with VL who admitted to our clinic between January 2010 and January 2018 were reviewed retrospectively. The patients with symptoms and signs suggestive of VL and a positive indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFA) or rapid diagnostic test, and/or direct parasitology consisting of the presence of amastigotes of Leishmania in bone marrow aspirate were included in the study. We collected the demographic and clinical features, laboratory, and radiological information from the hospital database. Results:We present ten (seven males and three females) cases of VL, with the mean age of 53 (range of 31-75). Serological tests such as IFA or rapid diagnostic tests were positive in all patients. Amastigotes of Leishmania were present in only three of eight patients who underwent bone marrow biopsy. Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography revealed that all patients (10/10) had splenomegaly, eight of 10 patients had hepatomegaly, and seven patients had intraabdominal lymphadenopathy. Seven patients had multiple hypodense nodular lesions in the spleen with homogeneous parenchyma. Two patients had nodular lesions in the liver. Two patients died because of multiorgan failure before completing their treatment. The remaining patients completed liposomal amphotericin B treatment and cured.Conclusion: VL should be suspected in the diagnosis of the patients, who had long-term fever, splenomegaly, pancytopenia associated with multiple nodular lesions in the spleen with/without liver involvement.

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Serum adiponectin levels were lower in patients with syndrome X, and these low adiponectin concentrations may cause endothelial dysfunction. Thus, patients with a marked drop in adiponectin levels may be considered at high risk for future coronary events and may therefore benefit from additional pharmacological treatment.