OBJECTIVE: Propofol injection pain (PIP) is a common condition in anesthesia practice and can be detrimental for patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of preoperative anxiety, depression levels, and D-type personality trait on PIP and to determine predictive factors.
METHODS: Sixty-eight patients who underwent elective septorhinoplasty under general anesthesia were analyzed. The effects of various factors (preoperative anxiety, depression, D-type personality, venous cannulation pain, gender, and age) on the incidence of PIP were assessed. To identify risk factors associated with PIP, multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed.
RESULTS: The incidence of PIP was significantly higher in patients who had preoperative anxiety and venous cannulation pain and who are Type D personality and female. Preoperative anxiety (β, 2.914; p=<0.001), Type D personality (β, 2.225; p=0.022) and venous cannulation pain (β, 1.590; p=0.043) were identified as independent risk factors for development of PIP. Depression, general anesthesia history, marital status, smoking, education status, and age were not significant as risk factors for the PIP.
CONCLUSION: In addition to the physical factors that can predict PIP in anesthesia application, we believe that the presence of preoperative anxiety, Type D personality, and venous cannulation pain is significant, and it will be useful to apply preventive treatments for injection pain.

OBJECTIVE: The mainstay of Crohn’s disease treatment is medical therapy. Failure to comply with medications causes disease activation, loss of response to treatment, and increased hospitalization rates. Drug non-adherence worsens the course of the disease, leading to fistula, stricture, and surgical interventions. The adherence rates to drug therapy in Crohn’s disease patients and the risk factors vary considerably in the literature. The aim of the study was to investigate drug adherence rates and factors affecting adherence to Crohn’s disease medications.
METHODS: This study was conducted as prospective cohort study at the tertiary health care institution inflammatory bowel disease outpatient clinic within 1 year. Crohn’s disease characteristics and pharmacy records of consecutive patients were evaluated. Medication adherence was assessed by calculating the medication possession ratio using the amount of medication purchased from the pharmacy.
RESULTS: A total of 129 patients were included in the study. It was observed that 43.6% of the patients did not comply with their Crohn’s disease medications. It was determined that the patients who did not adhere to the medication were significantly younger (41±12 vs. 48±13, p=0.039). The duration of the disease is shorter in patients who did not comply with the drugs (4.50 [IQR: 3.00–12.00] vs. 6.00 [IQR: 3.00–12.00, p=0.025]). Adherence with medication is lower in patients with higher education levels (35.7% vs. 64.3%, p=0.023).
CONCLUSION: Medication adherence is of critical importance for Crohn’s disease outcomes. Nearly half of Crohn’s disease patients do not comply with drugs. Young and highly educated patients with shorter disease duration should be targeted for measures to increase the rates of medication adherence.

OBJECTIVE: Basketball consists of a contact sport that involved actions such as running, jumps, and abrupt changes in direction several times and these repetitive movements can lead to injuries. The objective of this study was to verify the epidemiology of musculoskeletal injuries and risk factors in basketball players.
METHODS: The sample comprises 361 basketball athletes Southern Portugal, being 238 (65.9%) males, aged between 10 and 53-years-old. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire with questions about the population characterization and related to the basketball practice and injuries.
RESULTS: Two hundred and thirty-nine (66.2%) players referred an injury throughout their practice, totaling 494 injuries, and 174 (48.2%) players reported an injury in the previous year, with a total of 244 injuries. There were 2.72 injuries/1,000 h of basketball training. The most common injuries were sprain (43.8%), the most injured body area was the ankle (40.1%) and the principal injury mechanism was the impact with another athlete (19.4%). The basketball players who trained more than 4 times a week showed a 2.21 greater chance to develop injury (95% CI: 1.3–3.5; p=0.003) than those who trained less often.
CONCLUSION: This study showed a high prevalence of injuries in this analyzed sample, being the ankle and knee the most injured body areas, the sprain the more prevalent type of injury, and the impact with another player the main mechanism of injury. The data obtained can be used to create training programs with the objective of preventing injuries on basketball players. (NCI-2021-1-46/R2)

OBJECTIVE: The os trigonum is a common cause of posterior ankle impingement in children and adults. Its incidence in the medical literature is controversial. The aim of the study is to determine the incidence of os trigonum, medullary imaging features and size in pediatric patients with suspected posterior ankle impingement.
METHODS: Fifty-five children (4–16-years-old; 16 girls,) who underwent magnetic resonance ýmaging (MRI) with a pre-diagnosis of posterior ankle impingement syndrome (PAIS) were included in the study. Their ankle MRI and lateral radiograms were retrospectively reviewed. The relationship between os trigonum type, size, medullary signal characteristics, and PAIS development was investigated. Skeletal maturity was graded based on the ossification pattern of the calcaneal apophysis. The possible relationship between skeletal maturity and PAIS caused by os trigonum was investigated.
RESULTS: Among the 55 participants, there were 14 participants diagnosed with PAIS (9 boys, mean age 15±1.2 years). There was no connection between the os trigonum type, its medullary signal, gender, and PAIS clinical picture (p>0.05). The os trigonum size causing PAIS was 9±3.4 mm on average. There was a statistically significant relationship between PAIS complaints and os trigonum size (p=0.04). There was no significant relationship between calcaneal stage and PAIS clinical picture (p=0.669). When the os trigonum was fused, all participants were at calcaneal stage 3 or higher.
CONCLUSION: MRI is superior in detecting fusion of the os trigonum with the talus, the medullary signal of ossicle, and PAIS findings. The most important factor in the development of PAIS is the size of the os trigonum.

OBJECTIVE: During pregnancy, changes occur in many systems, including the immune system. In line with our experience in the previous years, COVID-19 infections have negative effects on pregnancy. In our study, it was aimed to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 on pregnancy, fetus and newborn, and treatment management.
METHODS: In our study, 63 patients followed up between April 1, 2020 and April 1, 2021, were evaluated. Demographic data, symptoms, laboratory data, treatments, clinical course and delivery characteristics of the patients, as well as pathologies in the fetus and newborn were investigated retrospectively. The obtained data were statistically analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.
RESULTS: In this study, 63 pregnant COVID-19 patients aged 19–37 years were included in the study. Fifty of the patients had symptoms of COVID-19 at the time of admission. At the time of admission, 13 patients required oxygen, and ten of these patients had severe radiological involvement. Seven patients were admitted to the intensive care unit, and three of them required invasive mechanical ventilation and deceased afterward. All newborns were found negative for the COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction test. Low birth weight has been detected in eight newborns and low Apgar score in 2 of them. Respiratory distress was observed in four newborns and they were discharged from intensive.
CONCLUSION: Pregnant women have more disadvantages in the course of COVID-19 and have worse maternal outcomes. In addition, treatments such as Lopinavir/Ritonavir and hydroxychloroquine did not have any effect. These patients should be carefully evaluated and followed up.

OBJECTIVE: Extrapulmonary neuroendocrine carcinoma (EP-NEC) is a rare tumor type, and a standard therapy for EP-NEC has not yet been established. The purpose of this research was to explore the overall survival (OS) and therapeutic effects of platinum-etoposide combination therapy in EP-NEC.
METHODS: This retrospective study was conducted based on the medical records from January 2010 to March 2020. Eligible patients had been pathologically diagnosed with EP-NEC.
RESULTS: Forty-seven patients were included in the study. About 72.3% (n=34) of the patients were diagnosed with metastatic disease at the first diagnosis. The most common primary tumor site was the stomach. The median progression-free survival (PFS) of the patient group, who received the combination of platinum/etoposide, was 5.83 months (95% CI 4.46–7.20), whereas the median OS of the patients, who were found to have metastatic disease at the first diagnosis, was 13.6 months (95% CI 9.01–18.18). There was no difference in PFS and OS between patients with and without liver metastasis.
CONCLUSION: The outcome of advanced EP-NECs with platinum/etoposide chemotherapy remains poor. Obviously, there is a need for new, more effective treatment options.

OBJECTIVE: At present, there is no reliable indicator for dietary compliance and disease severity in patients with celiac disease (CD). The aim of this study is to evaluate mean platelet volume (MPV) level as a biomarker for detection of disease activation, dietary adherence, and assessment of disease severity.
METHODS: Eighty-one patients with CD and 50 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. The diagnosis of CD was established by both positive antibodies against endomysium or gliadin and histopathological criteria (lymphocytic infiltration and total villous atrophy in duodenal biopsies).
RESULTS: MPV was observed to be significantly higher among CD patients when compared to healthy controls (8.14±0.26 fL vs. 7.82±0.29 fL and p=0.001). Overall dietary adherence rate was 72.8% (58/81 CD patients). After induction of a gluten-free diet, the MPV was significantly lower in the dietary adherent group than non-adherent patients (7.86±0.17 fL vs. 8.07±0.30 fL and p=0.001). The increase of MPV was correlated with Marsh classification (Marsh 3 active CD vs. Marsh 2 active CD vs. Marsh 1 active CD; 8.32±0.27 fL vs. 8.12±0.19 fL vs. 7.98±0.19 fL; p=0.004 and p=0.009).
CONCLUSION: Based on these data, we believe that increased MPV can provide additional benefit to screening in patients with CD. It can indicate the activation of the disease and adherence to the diet.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to analyze the clinical features and prognostic factors for survival in patients with brain metastasis (BM) from gastrointestinal primaries treated with whole-brain radiotherapy (WBRT) or stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).
METHODS: We retrospectively investigated patients with BMs resulting from gastrointestinal primaries who underwent WBRT or SRS. The effects of treatment modalities on overall survival (OS) were calculated by the Kaplan–Meier method.
RESULTS: WBRT and SRS were applied to 24 and 17 patients, respectively. In the WBRT group, radiotherapy was delivered at 20–30 Gy in 5–10 fractions (fx). In the SRS group, a median dose of 22 Gy (range: 18–27 Gy) was applied in 1–3 fx. At BM diagnosis, all patients had synchronous extracranial metastases which were mostly detected in the lung and liver. Median OS values were 9 months and 4 months in the SRS and WBRT groups, respectively (p=0.005). Karnofsky performance status (KPS) score (≥70 vs. <70), diagnosis-specific graded prognostic index, gastrointestinal (GI) graded prognostic index, cumulative intracranial tumor volume (CITV), controlled systemic disease, and treatment modality (WBRT vs. SBRT) were found to be related with OS.
CONCLUSION: In patients with GI cancer-related BMs, SRS should be preferred in those with longer OS expectancy who have controlled extracranial disease, good KPS and CITV values of <10 cm3.

OBJECTIVE: Sacroiliitis (SI), an inflammatory arthropathy, may accompany pediatric inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), present with non- specific back pain, hence might be unnoticed. The aims of this study were to assess the frequency of the SI in children with IBD and determine the characteristics of the association of SI with the clinical hallmarks of the IBD.
METHODS: In this prospective, cross sectional study, twenty-seven children with IBD, 7–18 years of age were evaluated. Patients with low back pain or stiffness, alternating buttock pain, or hip pain were examined for the presence of SI. The radiologic manifestations on X-ray suggesting sacroilitis were confirmed with Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
RESULTS: Twenty-seven children (16 girls, female/male=1.45), with mean age of 12.55±3.6 years, of which 52% had ulcerative colitis (UC), 41% had Crohn’s disease (CD), and two had indeterminate colitis (IC). The median time from IBD diagnosis was 6.0 (18.0) months for patients with SI and 12.0 (13.5) months for patients without SI. Low back pain or stiffness was observed in 13 patients (48%). SI was present in eight (30%) of the children with IBD. The patients with CD were more prone to SI (45% of CD vs. 21% of UC patients). All patients with SI were negative for HLA-B27 genotyping. The disease activity and gender were not associated with increased risk for SI. MRI was remarkable for bone marrow edema in all of the patient, followed by erosions in six of them (75%), synovial enhancement observed in five (63%), and erosion associated enthesitis of the pelvic region was observed in two (25%) of the patients.
CONCLUSION: SI may remain obscured in children with IBD. Children with CD are more prone to SI than those with UC. Pediatric rheumatology-pediatric gastroenterology collaboration might augment screening in at-risk patients.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we examined the possible relationship between dynapenia and vitamin D (VD) levels in geriatric women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
METHODS: One hundred and twenty-two geriatric female patients aged 65–80 years with a diagnosis of T2DM were included in this prospective study. Physical examinations of the patients were performed, and biochemical tests were analyzed. The muscle strength of the patients was measured with a hand dynamometer. Dynapenia was defined as low grip strength with normal skeletal muscle mass index. In muscle strength measurements, for female patients, over 20 kg was accepted as normal and below 20 kg as decreased muscle strength. Patients were separated into three groups as <10 ng/ml, 10–30 ng/ml, and >30 ng/ml according to VD levels; according to the status of dynapenia, they were divided into two groups as dynapenic and non-dynapenic. By comparing all these parameters between these groups, the relationship between VD level and dynapenia was evaluated. In statistical analysis, significance was accepted as p<0.05.
RESULTS: While 54 of the patients (44.3%) met the dynapenia criterion, 68 patients (55.7%) were non-dynapenic. Patients were first compared according to their dynapenia status. VD level was significantly lower in the dynapenic group (p<0.05). In the correlation analysis, a moderate positive correlation was found between muscle strength and VD (p=0.033, r: 0.23). The patients were then compared according to the VD groups. In the VD insufficient group, muscle strength (p=0.015), body mass index (p=0.025), systolic blood pressure (p<0.01), and glucose (p<0.01) were statistically significantly higher.
CONCLUSION: In the present study, we found a considerable relationship between VD levels and dynapenia in geriatric women with T2DM.

OBJECTIVE: We aim to demonstrate the effect of disease activity and gonadal status on bone biochemical parameters in patients with acromegaly.
METHODS: In this cross-sectional,case–control study, 73 patients with acromegaly and 64 healthy controls were included in the study. Acromegaly and control groups, as well as active/controlled acromegaly groupswere compared in terms of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, parathormone (PTH) and 25-OH Vitamin D (25[OH]D), and C-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen (CTX). Patients with hypogonadism and normal gonadal status were also compared in terms of these parameters among patients with acromegaly.
RESULTS: The calcium, phosphorus, and CTX were increased in the acromegaly group compared to the control group (p=0.04, p=0.006, and p<0.001, respectively). Age, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), PTH, and 25(OH)D levels were similar in the acromegaly group and the control group. The ALP, calcium, phosphorus, and CTX were increased in patients with active acromegaly compared to those in remission (p=0.03, p=0.001, p=0.03, and p=0.017, respectively). Age, eGFR, ALP, calcium, and CTX were increased in acromegalic patients with hypogonadism compared in those without hypogonadism (p<0.001, p=0.004, p=0.003, p=0.001, and p=0.009, respectively) while phosphorus, PTH, and 25(OH)D levels were similar between the two groups.
CONCLUSION: Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels, as well as concomitant hypogonadism, play an active role in calcium and CTX levels, while phosphorus levels are associated only with IGF-1 and GH rather than hypogonadism.

Ovarian tumors are the most common gynecological tumors seen in girls. Approximately 60–70% of them are germ cell tumors. Pseudo-Meigs syndrome is characterized by the presence of pelvic tumoral mass (benign or malign), pleural effusion, and massive acid. If the tumor is removed, acid and hydrothorax disappear. Endodermal sinus (yolk sac) tumor is a very rare cause in the diagnosis of Pseudo-Meigs syndrome, and only a few cases have been reported. This case is one of the rare cases presenting with Pseudo-Meigs syndrome and pathologically diagnosed as yolk sac tumor.

Biologics’ are a class of medications produced by living cells using recombinant DNA technology. Biologics have had an important impact in many areas of medicine, and in particular in rheumatology and oncology. However, the high cost of these agents is a growing concern, particularly as more products become available and their use for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases continues to expand. Biosimilars, also called follow-on biologics, have been viewed as a potential cost-saving alternative to traditional therapies. Currently, a product can be considered biosimilar to a reference product if there are no clinically meaningful differences in terms of safety, purity, and potency. In this review, the most important key concepts about biosimilars were summarized for physicians emphasizing the status in Turkey.

NCI-2021-12-6