Nineteen cases of suspected Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever reported from Turkey.

In this prospective, randomised, open trial, we wanted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of hourly subcutaneous (SC) insulin lispro administration in the treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in comparison with intravenous (IV) regular insulin treatment. Twenty patients were enrolled in the study. The patients were randomly assigned into two groups. Following a bolus injection of 0.15 U/kg IV regular insulin, group L received half of this dose as hourly SC insulin lispro while group R was treated conventionally with IV regular insulin infusion. At the end of treatment period, time that needed for normalisation of serum glucose, beta-hydroxybutyrate, blood pH and urine ketone levels were not different in groups L and R. There was no mortality or serious side effects in both groups. In this study, we revealed that treatment of mild and moderate DKA with SC insulin lispro is equally effective and safe in comparison with IV regular insulin.

Summary. Fifty-seven adult patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) were treated with either conventional-dose prednisolone (CDP) (1 mg/kg/d, 36 patients) or high-dose methylprednisolone (HDP) (30 mg/ kg/d, 21 patients), as first-line treatment. Patients in the HDP arm responded more rapidly (4·7 v 8·4 d), with a higher response rate (80% v 52·7%), and without severe sideeffects. One quarter of the patients (3/12) who were nonresponsive to CDP achieved complete remission when they were treated with HDP. The findings suggest that HDP may be a more effective first-line treatment than CDP for adult ITP, and it may also be preferred for life-threatening cases of ITP. However, these results must be confirmed by a randomized study prior to any change in the current practice of employing CDP as first-line treatment for adult ITP.

The MTHFR C677T mutation has been shown to be associated with venous thrombosis. The role of this mutation in ischemic stroke is unclear. We investigated whether the MTHFR mutation is a risk factor for patients with ischemic stroke in the Black Sea Turkish population or not. We analyzed 30 patients (19 male, 11 female) [median age: 50 years (range: 28-78)] with ischemic stroke who had no known predisposition factors for stroke and 242 (182 male, 60 female) healthy controls [median age: 42 years (range: 18-65)]. Detection of the MTHFR C677T mutation was performed by using commercially available allele-specific PCR-ELISA kits. Prevalence of the MTHFR C677T genotype was 49.1% (CT, 45.8%; TT, 3.3%) in controls and 50% (CT, 43.3%; TT, 6.6%) in patients [OR: 1.03, 95% CI (0.45-2.35]). The prevalence of homozygous gene mutation for MTHFR was higher among patients with stroke than control subjects, but this difference was not statistically significant. The MTHFR gene mutation is not a risk factor for ischemic stroke formation in patients from the Black

No abstract

No abstract

Objective: To report a case of Hodgkin’s disease presenting with immune hemolytic anemia. Clinical Presentation and Intervention: A 47-year-old man was admitted to hospital because of weight loss, fever, and inguinal lymph node adenopathy. Biopsy of the inguinal lymph node revealed mixed-cellularity Hodgkin’s disease. Three days after starting combined chemotherapy, the patient showed evidence of autoimmune hemolytic anemia, which responded well to prednisolone. Conclusion: This case shows that clinicians should be aware of the possibility of autoimmune hemolytic anemia in patients with Hodgkin’s disease presenting with anemia, and distinguish it from the anemia of chronic disease.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of macrovascular diseases and related death. Additionally, diabetes mellitus is frequently complicated by other cardiovascular risk factors, such as hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, obesity, hypercoagulability, and inflammation. We wanted to evaluate and compare the effects of treating with a one-year course of atorvastatin or simvastatin on inflammatory markers such as high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), fibrinogen, and ferritin in uncontrolled type 2 diabetic patients. Also, we planned to investigate the correlation between inflammatory markers and metabolic parameters. Fifty type 2 diabetic patients (30 women, 20 men; mean age: 49.9 +/- 8.5 years) were enrolled into the study. Twenty healthy subjects, matched on body mass index and age, were also included in the study as a control group. Diabetic patients were divided into two groups and received simvastatin or atorvastatin (Group S and A, respectively). After 1 year of statin treatment (Group A), there were significant decreases in total cholesterol (217.3 +/- 46.5-173.8 +/- 37.2 mg/dl; P < 0.0001), LDL-cholesterol (146.7 +/- 50.3-102.3 +/- 31.1 mg/dl, P < 0.0001), hsCRP (0.88 +/- 0.62-0.35 +/- 0.18 mg/dl, P < 0.0001), fibrinogen (258.2 +/- 16.9-215.5 +/- 10.6 mg/l; P < 0.0001), and ferritin (118.2 +/- 73.9-81.2 +/- 72.5 ng/ml, P < 0.0001) levels compared to basal values. In the S group, there were significant decreases in total cholesterol (224.4 +/- 61.2-175.0 +/- 47.8 mg/dl; P < 0.0001), LDL-cholesterol (140.9 +/- 56.7-110.9 +/- 42.2 mg/dl, P < 0.0001), hsCRP (0.98 +/- 1.3-0.46 +/- 0.25 mg/dl, P < 0.0001), fibrinogen (265.7 +/- 26.8-222.1 +/- 20.6 mg/l; P < 0.0001), and ferritin (136.7 +/- 101.1-85.6 +/- 32.1 ng/ml, P < 0.0001) levels compared to basal values. At the end of the study, hsCRP, fibrinogen, and ferritin levels were correlated with LDL (r = 0.42; P = 0.005, with hsCRP), (r = 0.40; P = 0.008, with fibrinogen), (r = 0.46; P = 0.002, with ferritin) and HDL (r = -0.50; P < 0.0001, with hsCRP), (r = -0.32; p = 0.042, with fibrinogen), (r = -0.48; P < 0.0001, with ferritin) cholesterol levels. Atorvastatin and simvastatin treatments were found to be effective for the control of hypercholesterolemia and resulted in a significant decrease in acute phase reactants in uncontrolled type 2 diabetic patients.