Tetramethylpyrazine Attenuates Radiation-Induced Ototoxicity in a Rat Model.

INTRODUCTION: Tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) is a chemical compound, which has been shown to possess numerous biological features such as anticoagulation, inhibition of platelet aggregation, anti-inflammation, capillary dilatation, improvement in microcirculation, and protection against reactive oxygen radicals. The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effect of TMP against radiation-induced ototoxicity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 40 rats were divided into four groups. The first group was irradiated for 5 days. The second group received a single dose of 140 mg/kg/day intraperitoneal TMP given to the rats 30 min before radiotherapy (RT) for 5 days. The third group received a single dose of 140 mg/kg/day i.p. TMP for 5 days, whereas the fourth group was administered saline. All rats underwent distortion product otoacoustic emission (DPOAE) and auditory brainstem response measurements before and after the application. The temporal bulla of animals was removed for immunohistopathological examination. RESULTS: Signal-noise ratio values were significantly decreased in the RT group for the frequencies of 2-32 kHz after RT (p < 0.05), whereas the difference was not significant in terms of pre- and posttreatment values for the other groups. Also in the RT group, the ABR thresholds were significantly increased after treatment. In H&E staining, the mean scores for outer hair cells (OHCs), stria vascularis (SV), and spiral ganglion (SG) injuries were significantly higher in RT and RT + TMP groups than in the other groups. The mean OHCs and SV injury scores were also significantly higher in the RT group than in the RT + TMP group (p < 0.05). The number of cochleas that showed cytoplasmic caspase-3 immunoreactivity in the OHC, SV, and SG was significantly higher in RT and RT + TMP groups than in the other groups. CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study suggest that TMP may have a therapeutic potential for preventing sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) related to RT.

Incidental papillary thyroid microcarcinomas in thyroidectomy specimens: A single-center experience from Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTM) is a relatively common entity in the general population. PTM is often asymptomatic and is detected incidentally during the histopathological examination of thyroidectomy specimens from operations because of benign thyroid disease. AIMS: The aims of the study are to determine the incidence of incidental papillary thyroid microcarcinomas (IPTMs) in our center, to examine the clinicopathologic characteristics of these tumors, and to present our experiences. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study includes 827 patients who underwent thyroidectomy operation in our center between January 2013 and June 2017 and were examined histopathologically in the Pathology Clinic. Patients' demographic characteristics, preoperative diagnoses, operative procedure, histopathological findings, and postoperative prognostic indexes are presented. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Of the 827 patients, 138 (16.6%) were diagnosed with a malignancy. Of these, 124 were papillary carcinoma, 5 were follicular carcinoma, 4 were lymphoma, 2 were medullary carcinoma, 2 were anaplastic carcinoma, and 1 was poorly differentiated carcinoma. The IPTM incidence rate was 8.01%; the multifocality and bilaterality rates were 23.3% and 13.3%, respectively. In 98.3% of IPTM cases, total thyroidectomies were performed, and in 1.7% of cases, subtotal thyroidectomy was performed followed by complementary thyroidectomy. No relapse or metastasis was detected in any of these cases. A careful histopathological examination of the thyroidectomy specimen is essential because IPTM is frequently skipped in fine needle aspiration cytology. We consider it best to perform total thyroidectomies because bilaterality and multifocality rates are high in IPTM. Long-term life expectancy in these tumors is quite good.

Prognostic Value of Cancer Stem Cell Markers CD44 and ALDH1/2 in Gastric Cancer Cases

Purpose: To determine expression levels of CD44 and ALDH1/2, known cancer stem cell (CSC) markers, in stomach adenocarcinomas and assess relationships with clinicopathologic parameters and prognosis. Methods: Eighty patients diagnosed with gastric cancer between the years 2011-2015 were included in this study of clinicopathologic characteristics, postoperative prognostic indexes and stem cell marker CD44 and ALDH1/2 expression in paraffin-embedded tumour sections analyzed immunohistochemically. Clinicopathologic parameters were evaluated using the chi-square test and t-test. Survival analyses were conducted using Kaplan-Meier statistics. Results: We observed positive CD44 and ALDH1/2 staining in 45.0 % and 67.5% of tumour tissues, respectively, but not in normal gastric mucosa. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) was found to be shorter in cases with high levels of CD44 expression (p=0.004). Similarly, short RFS was observed in patients with high levels of CD44 and ALDH1/2 co-expression (p=0.004). Furthermore, tumour invasion depth was found to correlate with high CD44 and ALDH1/2 co-expression (p=0.028). Conclusion: The cancer stem cell markers CD44 and ALDH1/2 may indicate poor patient prognosis and play a role in tumour development and invasion.

The Effects of Distraction on Preoperative Anxiety Level in Children.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of distraction on the preoperative anxiety levels of pediatric patients. DESIGN: A prospective, two-group experimental design was used. METHODS: This study was conducted in the clinic of pediatric surgery of a university hospital in Turkey between November 20, 2013 and January 25, 2014. The population of the study was composed of a total of 83 children (40 in the study group and 43 in the control group) who met the inclusion. The data were collected using the "Personal Information Form," "Separation Scoring," and "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children-State Form." Distraction was performed on the children in the study group during the preoperative period. No intervention was applied to the children in the control group. FINDING: The results of this study demonstrated that the separation scores and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children-State scores of the children in the study group, on whom distraction was applied, were lower than those of the control group. CONCLUSIONS: Distraction applied to children in the preoperative period significantly reduced anxiety and separation anxiety.

Prognostic Significance of Two Dimensional AgNOR Evaluation in Local Advanced Rectal Cancer Treated with Chemoradiotherapy.

The prognostic significance of AgNOR proteins in stage II-III rectal cancers treated with chemoradiotherapy was evaluated. Silver staining was applied to the 3µm sections of parafin blocked tissues from 30 rectal cancer patients who received 5-FU based chemoradiotherapy from May 2003 to June 2006. The microscopic displays of the cells were transferred into the computer via a video camera. AgNOR area (nucleolus organizer region area) and nucleus area values were determined as a nucleolus organizer regions area/total nucleus area (NORa/ TNa). The mean NORa/TNa value was found to be 9.02±3.68. The overall survival and disease free survival in the high NORa/TNa (>9.02) patients were 52.2 months and 39.4 months respectively, as compared to 100.7 months and 98.4 months in the low NORa/TNa (<9.02) cases. (p<0.001 and p<0.001 respectively). In addition, the prognosis in the high NORa/TNa patients was worse than low NORa/TNa patients (p<0.05). In terms of overall survival and disease-free survival, a statistically significant negative correlation was found with the value of NORa/TNa in the correlations tests. Cox regression analyses demostrated that overall survival and disease-free survival were associated with lymph node status (negative or positive) and the NORa/TNa value. We suggest that two-dimensional AgNOR evaluation may be a safe and usable parameter for prognosis and an indicator of cell proliferation instead of AgNOR dots.