Immature Granulocyte Percentage as an Early Predictor of Necrosis in Volvulus.

AIM: Volvulus is a disease characterized by the abnormal twisting of a gaseous distension of the loop of the intestine around itself. Colonic volvulus is the third common cause of colonic obstruction. The study aimed to determine whether the percentage of immature granulocytes is a marker of early necrosis in the volvulus. METHODS: Demographic characteristics of the cases were collected in the study. In addition, age, gender, white blood cell count, immature granulocyte count, immature granulocyte percentage, platelet lymphocyte ratio, and neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio were compared between groups with and without necrosis in terms of treatment. RESULTS: The effectiveness of immature granulocyte percentage (IG%) and IG markers were statistically significant in predicting necrosis. The AUC was the highest for IG (0.820, 95% CI: 0.586-1), followed by IG% (0.820, 95% CI: 0.617-1). The optimal cut-off value for the IG was 0.65, with a sensitivity of 76.2% and specificity of 85.7% (P = 0.013). The optimal cut-off value for the IG% was 0.065, with a sensitivity of 85.7% and specificity of 71.4% (0.018). CONCLUSION: IG% and IG count were found to be useful for predicting necrosis in patients with volvulus.

Prognostic Effect of Preoperative Inflammatory Markers on Morbidity and Overall Survival in Pancreatic Adenocarsinoma.

BACKGROUND/AIM: His study aimed to evaluate the availability of common diagnostic tests and biochemical markers in predicting poor prognosis in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAC). The primary outcome measure was to identify predictive prognostic factors. The secondary outcome measure was to compare predictive measures in patients who survived or did not survive in the follow-up period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical data of 51 patients were obtained who underwent resection surgery for PAC between January 2016 and May 2022. There were two groups according to the mortality in the follow-up period group general mortality positive (GMP; n = 29) and group general mortality negative (GMN; n = 22). Stage IIb was the most common stage in subgroups. RESULTS: Preoperative diagnostic tests revealed that aspartate aminotransferase (AST) level, De Ritis ratio (DRR), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cancer antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), immature granulocyte (IG) count, and IG ratio (IG%) are higher, and hemoglobin (Hgb) levels are lower in the GMP group (P < 0.05). In univariate analysis, seven variables, including AST ≥20.5 (P = 0.001), DRR ≥1.05 (P ≤ 0.001), CEA ≥3.32 (P = 0.02), IG count ≥0.06 (P < 0.01), Hgb ≤11.75 (P = 0.01), poor differentiation (P < 0.001) and existence of life-threatening complication (P < 0.01) were identified. In multivariate analysis, only DRR (≥1.05;100% specificity and 72% sensitivity) and poor differentiation (P = 0.019) were found to be independent prognostic factors for overall survival. The median overall survival of patients with the DRR ≥1.05 and poor tumor differentiation was lower, and the mortality rate was higher than the patients with DRR and without poor tumor differentiation (10.65 ± 3.11 months vs. 61.86 ± 5.36 months and 100% vs. 26.7%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Pretreatment high DRR, high IG counts and IG%, and poor differentiation of the tumor might be used as independent predictors of poor prognosis and mortality in patients with PAC.

A novel quantitative light-induced fluorescence device for monitoring molar-incisor hypomineralization.

BACKGROUND: The FluoreCam system is based on an innovative approach to the quantification of enamel health termed fluorescence enamel imaging (FEI). Enamel is both highly mineralized and semi-translucent. Because of its mineral composition, enamel will fluoresce when exposed to certain light wavelengths. The semi-translucent nature of enamel results in different enamel densities emitting different levels of fluorescence. As a result, with FEI technology, one can measure the density of tooth enamel by measuring its fluorescence when subjected to specific light wavelengths. PURPOSE: To determine the ability of visual examination and the instrumental procedures of the FluoreCam to monitor molar-incisor hypomineralization (MIH) lesions. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study involved children with MIH at the Department of Paediatric Dentistry, Marmara University. In total, 11 patients with MIH were diagnosed on a visual MIH scale and evaluated with the FluoreCam. The equipment, data processing, and interaction between the equipment and operator were evaluated. RESULTS: Fluorescent images recorded with the custom software, the clinical view, and digital numeric values were evaluated to assess the potential for use of the device in clinical practice. CONCLUSION: These preliminary data from an ongoing clinical study suggest that measurements with the FluoreCam are useful in monitoring MIH. This technique also provides visual and quantitative feedback to patients.

Effects of Ankaferd Blood Stopper and calcium alginate in experimental model of hepatic parenchymal bleeding.

BACKGROUND: This experimental study compared the hemostatic effects of calcium alginate and Anka-ferd Blood Stopper in hepatic parenchymal bleedings. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The study comprised 39 male Wistar albino rats (weight 230±30 g). Laceration model was created in the left lateral lobe of the liver. Standard cotton gauze that was impregnated 0.9% NaCl solution and Calcium alginate cover was compared to ABS tampon. The amount of preoperative bleeding, preoperative and postoperative Day 1 hematocrit levels, and the difference between them were assessed and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Comparing the hematocrit levels between the groups, we found that the amount of bleeding was significantly higher in the control group versus the study groups (p<0.001). Histopathological examination revealed the portal area enlargement and biliary canaliculi proliferation. In the Ca2+ Alginate group, it was observed that the fibres were still present in the incision line with massive fibrotic area around. In the Ankaferd group, examination of the preparations revealed patchy focal necrosis areas but no fibrotic area. CONCLUSION: With this study, we demonstrated that both calcium alginate and Ankaferd have hemostatic effect in preventing hepatic parenchymal bleeding and that calcium alginate causes fibrosis in the liver, where ABS causes focal necrosis areas(Tab. 2, Fig. 4, Ref. 19).

Effect of extremely low frequency magnetic field on enamel microhardness in rats.

AIM: The potential effects on human health of extremely low frequency magnetic field (ELF-MF) are of considerable concern. In the present study, it was investigated the effect of long term ELF-MF exposure on microhardness of rat teeth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups. The first and second experimental groups (n=10) were exposed to 100 µT and 500 µT ELF-MF during 10 months, 2 hours a day respectively. For the control group, nothing was applied to the rats and they completed their life cycle in the cage during the study period. After ELF-MF exposure, microhardness of enamel surface was determined for each group. RESULTS: The decrease in microhardness in the second experimental group was found to be statistically significant compared to the control group (P <0.05). However, no statistical difference was found between the first and second experimental groups (P >0.05). CONCLUSION: From the results it can be concluded that 500 µT level of magnetic field strengths may have a certain negative effect on enamel mineralisation. Further investigations are necessary to analyse the effect of ELF-MF on teeth.