Comparison of COVID-19 patients who underwent thrombectomy with those in the pre-pandemic period in terms of etiology and prognosis.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed at determining the effectiveness of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in patients with major vessel occlusion and infected with COVID-19, evaluating its clinical outcome and comparing it with non-COVID patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During the pandemic, 729 patients who underwent MT in stroke centers due to Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) with large vessel occlusion were evaluated. This study included 40 patients with a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis by a positive PCR test between March 11, 2020, and December 31, 2020. These patients were compared to 409 patients who underwent MT due to major vessel occlusion between March 11, 2019, and December 31, 2019. RESULTS: Of the patients with AIS who are infected with COVID-19, 62.5% were males, and all patients have a median age of 63.5 ± 14.4 years. The median NIHSS score of the COVID-19 group was significantly higher than that of the non-COVID-19 groups. Dissection was significantly more in the COVID-19 group. The mortality rates at 3 months were higher in the COVID-19 groups compared to non-COVID-19 groups. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed an increased frequency of dissection in patients with COVID-19. COVID-19-related ischemic strokes are associated with worse functional outcomes and higher mortality rates than non-COVID-19 ischemic strokes.

Sexual dysfunction in women with migraine versus tension-type headaches: a comparative study.

The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of sexual dysfunction between patients with tension-type headaches (T), migraines (M) and healthy controls (C) in order to investigate the relationship between sexual dysfunction and the features of headaches. The population comprised of 44 patients with M, 30 with T and 30 with C. They have completed Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX), Visual Analog Scale. The number of sexual activities over the past 30 days and the frequency of masturbation behavior in C were considerably higher than those in the headache groups. The averages for ASEX item no. 1, 2, 3 and 4 were significantly higher in those with M versus C; and both the subscales and total scores of ASEX were also higher in those with T than C. The mean score for ASEX item no. 3 and the total ASEX score were significantly higher in T versus M. In both headache groups, no significant relationship was observed between headache features and ASEX. The present study showed that patients with either M or T do experience problems in several aspects of sexuality compared with C. Further research is essential to augment our understanding of the sexual dysfunction in this field.

Immunohistochemical evaluation of inflammatory infiltrate in the skin and lung of lambs naturally infected with sheeppox virus.

The present study describes immunophenotypic characteristics of inflammatory infiltrate in the skin and lung of lambs naturally infected with sheeppox virus (SPV). Three lambs revealed typical cutaneous and pulmonary lesions of sheeppox. Histologically, cutaneous and pulmonary lesions consisted of hyperplastic and/or degenerative changes in the epithelium with mononuclear cells, neutrophils, and typical sheeppox cells (SPCs), which had a vacuolated nucleus and marginated chromatin with occasional granular intracytoplasmic inclusions. The inflammatory infiltrate in pox lesions in both skin and lung was characterized by the presence of MHC II+ dendritic cells, CD4+, CD8+, gammadelta+ T cells, IgM+ cells, and CD21+ cells. Loss of expression of MHC I and MHC II antigens was observed in the affected areas of skin and lung. SPCs, stained with anti-SPV antibody, were also positive for CD14 and CD172A, antigens expressed on monocytes and macrophages. CD14 and CD172A negative SPCs were considered to be SPV infected degenerated epithelial cells or fibroblasts.

Immunohistochemical detection of antigen in lamb tissues naturally infected with sheeppox virus.

The present study describes the detection of sheeppox virus antigen in various lamb tissues, using an immunohistochemical technique, in sheeppox cases which occurred naturally. Sheeppox viral antigen was detected in the cytoplasm of sheeppox cells and degenerated epithelial cells of the skin, lungs and digestive tract involving typical sheeppox lesions. Nuclear staining was also observed in some typically deformed nuclei of sheeppox cells. The immunostaining of sheeppox virus showed a correlation with the presence of sheeppox cells and degenerated epithelial cells resembling them. Additionally, in order to confirm the presence of sheeppox virus in the skin and lung samples, direct electron microscopy was performed and sheeppox virus was only demonstrated in two skin samples.

The in vivo and in vitro comparative nephrotoxicity of cefazolin and gentamicin.

Biochemical, histopathological and cell culture evaluations compared the nephrotoxicity of cefazolin with that of gentamicin. New Zealand rabbits were dosed with 250 mg cefazolin/animal i.m. twice daily, 3 mg gentamicin/kg i.m. twice daily, or 0.9% NaCl solution for 10 d. The rabbits in drug-treated groups had necrosis of proximal kidney tubules and elevated urinary-gamma glutamyl transferase (uGGT) levels. The results of the histopathological examinations, uGGT analyses and effects in cell culture indicated the nephrotoxicities of both antibiotics were similar.

Antibody prevalence of caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV) in goats in Turkey.

In this study, a serological survey in goat herds for antibodies against Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAEV) in Turkey is described. 808 serum samples were collected from three state farms and seven private flocks in different regions of Turkey. The serologic examination was performed by Agar Gel Immunodiffusion (AGID) technique. 16 (1.9%) out of 808 sera deriving from two state farms (n = 14) and one private herd (n = 2) were found to be serologically positive. The findings are discussed with regard to the relatively low prevalence of CAEV in Turkey, age and race dependency and the kind of origin of the serologically screened animals.