Quantitative phase imaging of erythrocyte in epilepsy patients.

The present study focuses on the quantitative phase imaging of erythrocytes with the aim to compare the morphological differences between epilepsy patients under antiepileptic treatment, who have no other disease which may affect the erythrocyte morphology, and the healthy control group. The white light diffraction phase microscopy (WDPM) has been used to obtain the interferogram of the erythrocyte surfaces. The continuous wavelet transform with Paul wavelet has been chosen to calculate the surface profiles from this interferogram image. For the determination of alteration in morphology, besides WDPM, erythrocyte surfaces have been investigated by light microscope and scanning electron microscope. In this way, it has been possible to see the difference in terms of precision and implementation between the most commonly used methods with regard to the quantitative phase imaging. Erythrocytes from all the samples have been examined and displayed in both two- and three-dimensional way. We have observed that erythrocytes of patients with effective antiepileptic blood levels were more affected in morphology than healthy subjects. When we compared the erythrocyte morphological changes of patients who received monotherapy or polytherapy, no difference was observed. In conclusion, antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) cause red blood cell (RBC) morphological changes and a combined usage of WDPM with Paul wavelet and light microscopy methods are very convenient for studying the erythrocyte morphologies on multiple patients.

Pathological Yawning in Patients with Acute Middle Cerebral Artery Infarction: Prognostic Significance and Association with the Infarct Location

Background: Pathological yawning is a compulsive, frequent, repetitive yawning triggered by a specific reason besides fatigue or boredom. It may be related to iatrogenic, neurologic, psychiatric, gastrointestinal, or metabolic disorders. Moreover, it could also be seen in the course of an ischemic stroke. Aims: To determine whether pathological yawning is a prognostic marker of middle cerebral artery stroke and evaluate its relationship with the infarct location. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: We examined 161 patients with acute middle cerebral artery stroke, consecutively admitted to emergency department. Demographic information, stroke risk factors, stroke type according to Trial of Org 10172 in Acute Stroke Treatment classification, blood oxygen saturation, body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, glucose levels, daytime of stroke onset, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, at admission and 24 h), modified Rankin scale (at 3 months), and infarct locations were documented. Pathological yawning was defined as ≥3 yawns/15 min. All patients were observed for 6 hours to detect pathological yawning. National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score >10 was determined as severe stroke. The correlation between the presence of pathological yawning and stroke severity, infarct location, and the short- and long-term outcomes of the patients were evaluated. Results: Sixty-nine (42.9%) patients had pathological yawning and 112 (69.6%) had cortical infarcts. Insular and opercular infarcts were detected in 65 (40.4%) and 54 (33.5%) patients, respectively. Pathological yawning was more frequently observed in patients with cortical, insular, and opercular infarcts (p<0.05). Pathological yawning was related to higher National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores. Patients with severe stroke (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score ≥10) presented with more pathological yawning than those with mild to moderate strokes (p<0.05). The clinical outcomes and mortality rates showed no significant relationship with the occurrence of pathological yawning. Conclusion: Pathological yawning in middle cerebral artery stroke was associated with stroke severity, presence of cortical involvement, and insular and opercular infarcts. However, no association was found with long-term outcome and mortality.

Prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome and its correlation with pain amongst female hairdressers.

OBJECTIVES: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) may develop with repetitive and forced movements of the hands and wrists. In this study, we have aimed to evaluate whether the frequency of CTS is increased amongst female hairdressers as compared with unemployed women or not. Besides, we have also analyzed whether the functionality and pain intensity levels amongst female hairdressers with CTS are different from the ones of unemployed women with CTS or not. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The consecutive female hairdressers and unemployed women who had referred to our electroneuromyography (ENMG) laboratory for the upper extremity nerve conduction studies were included. They were evaluated in terms of clinical and ENMG findings, socio-demographic characteristics, functionality and pain intensity levels determined with the Boston CTS Questionnaire and visual analog scale (VAS). RESULTS: In this study, 110 women (70 female hairdressers and 40 unemployed women) were included. The frequency of CTS among hairdressers (74.3%) was higher than the one of the unemployed control group (55%) (p = 0.032). We detected that as the time period of occupation in hairdressing increased, the risk of developing CTS also increased among hairdressers (p < 0.001). Additionally, pain intensity and functional loss levels were higher for hairdressers with CTS than those for the control group with CTS (p = 0.005, p < 0.001, p = 0.028, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of CTS is elevated for female hairdressers with respect to the unemployed women as in many other occupations requiring forced or repetitive hand movements. Besides, the occupational exposure in hairdressing also results in more elevated pain intensity and functional loss levels related with CTS as compared with the unemployed subjects. Int J Occup Med Environ Health 2018;31(3):333-339.