The WHO global alliance against chronic respiratory diseases in Turkey (GARD Turkey).

In order to prevent and control non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the 61st World Health Assembly has endorsed an NCD action plan (WHA resolution 61.14). A package for essential NCDs including chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) has also been developed. The Global Alliance against Chronic Respiratory Diseases (GARD) is a new but rapidly developing voluntary alliance that is assisting World Health Organization (WHO) in the task of addressing NCDs at country level. The GARD approach was initiated in 2006. GARD Turkey is the first comprehensive programme developed by a government with all stakeholders of the country. This paper provides a summary of indicators of the prevalence and severity of chronic respiratory diseases in Turkey and the formation of GARD Turkey.

Common variable immunodeficiency in an adult with recurrent pneumonia.

Primary immunodeficiency syndromes are rarely diagnosed among adults. Common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is a congenital immunological disorder characterized by defective antibody production. In this report, we describe a 35-year-old male suffering from a common variable immunodeficiency, referred to us because of a lobar pneumonia. He had a history of recurrent pulmonary infections, which was present months before presentation, suggesting hypogammaglobulinemia. We found a severe hypogammaglobulinemia, which confirmed the diagnosis of CVID. His immunoglobulin profiles upon admission before infusion of immunoglobulin (normal ranges) were: IgG < 1.41 (8-17) g/l, IgA 0.25 (0.85-4.9) g/l, IgM 0.182 (0.5-3.7) g/l, and IgE < 2 (< 120) IU/ml. His HLA profiles were HLA A2 A26, B18 B38, Cw7, DR11 and DQ7 DQ9. He was treated with intravenous immunoglobulin. After this regimen, his IgG was maintained at > 6.0 g/L. On follow up, he has been free of opportunistic infections. In conclusion, CVID should be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurrent pneumonia in adults.

Localized benign pleural mesothelioma: a case report.

Primary neoplasms of the pleura are rare tumors and the majority are generally mesotheliomas. Mesotheliomas are either localized and mostly benign, or diffuse and uniformly malignant neoplasms. Localised benign pulmonary mesothelioma (solitary fibrous tumor of the pleura) are originally thought to be a variant of diffuse pleural mesothelioma because they consists of a spindle cell stroma associated with branching tubular structures lined by cuboidal cells. Our case which is reported below shows the clinical spectrum of the more common benign variant. Clinical differential diagnosis of benign and malign mesotheliomas is not clear. Complete surgical resection is the preferred treatment for both types and usually curative with the benign mesothelioma. The localised pleural variant is benign in most cases, and it is even less common, constituting only 10% of all mesotheliomas [1]. The importance of localised benign mesothelioma is that it is almost impossible to differentiate from a malignant neoplasm preoperatively and it may occasionally recur, sometimes with a malignant change.

Microstructural brain changes in acromegaly: quantitative analysis by diffusion tensor imaging.

OBJECTIVE: We examined brain diffusion changes of patients with acromegaly. We searched whether there are differences in apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) values between remission and non-remission patients with acromegaly and investigated any effect of time of hormone exposure on diffusion metrics. METHODS: The values of FA and ADC were calculated in a total of 35 patients with acromegaly and 28 control subjects. Patients were subdivided into remission and non-remission groups. We looked at brain FA and ADC differences among the groups and looked for any relation between the diffusion changes and time of hormone exposure among the patients with acromegaly. RESULTS: We found decreased FA and increased ADC values in some of the growth hormone responsive areas. There were no significant brain diffusion changes between remission and non-remission groups. The most affected areas were the hypothalamus, parietal white matter and pre-motor cortex in patients with acromegaly. In terms of hormone exposure time among the patients with acromegaly, there was no effect of disease duration on brain microstructural changes. CONCLUSION: All patients with acromegaly showed increased brain diffusion with no relation to disease duration and treatment status. We suggested that in patients with acromegaly, brain damage had already occurred in the subclinical period before symptom onset. ADVANCES IN KNOWLEDGE: This study contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms in acromegaly.

Retinal nerve fibre layer measurements are reduced in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome.

PURPOSE: To determine the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) in order to investigate the possibility of detecting early signs of glaucoma in this population. METHODS: A total of 66 consecutive patients admitted for polysomnographic evaluation of suspected OSAS. Patients underwent an overnight sleep study in an effort to diagnose and determine the severity of OSAS. Patients who had the disease were classified as having mild and severe OSAS, while patients who did not have the disease were classified as controls. All patients received physical, neurological, and ophthalmological evaluation including visual acuity, slit-lamp examination, Goldmann applanation tonometry, gonioscopy with a three mirror contact lens, and fundus examination. After these examinations, patients with glaucoma and patients who had ophthalmological and/or systemic disease known to affect RNFL thickness were excluded from the study. The RNFL thickness was assessed with a scanning laser polarimeter (Nerve Fiber Analyzer GDx, Laser Diagnostic Technologies Inc., San Diego, CA, USA). RESULTS: A total of 34 patients with obstructive sleep apnoea (19 mild, 15 severe) and 20 age-matched controls were included in the study. The thickness of RNFL was reduced in patients with OSAS compared to controls. The decrease in RNFL was found to be correlated with the severity of sleep apnoea (r=0.78, P=0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The sleep apnoea syndrome is correlated with a proportional decrease in the RNFL. Decreased ocular perfusion related to hypoxia and vasospasm associated with OSAS may cause RNFL thinning, which may precede clinically detectable glaucoma.