Cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors among Syrian refugees in Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Information on the world distribution of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors in refugees/migrants is not available at the same rate for all countries or for different ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Today, Syria's humanitarian catastrophe has become a public health concern, which cannot be ignored. METHODS: A search was conducted across PubMed and Google Scholar for papers on cardiovascular diseases among refugees/migrants worldwide with a focus on Syrian in Turkey. RESULTS: The total number of papers identified through the database searches and from reference lists was 486. Of these, 62 were found to be relevant after further screening. A further 42 papers were considered not eligible after full-text, language and data assessments, resulting in a final 20 papers included in the qualitative analysis. These studies discussed several major themes: cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors among refugees/migrants, the effects of changing living conditions on refugees/migrants, the effects of psychological and socioeconomic factors, and the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases in refugees/migrants. The risk of cardiovascular disease varied by country of origin, country of destination, and duration of residence. The findings suggest that cardiovascular diseases and their risk factors are increased for Syrian refugees in Turkey. CONCLUSION: Raising awareness, prevention, early detection, and good management as well as monitoring and reporting of risk factors are the key components to controlling cardiovascular diseases in refugees. Further studies and greater acquisition of survey data are urgently needed.

Hemolysis at different vacuum levels during vacuum-assisted venous drainage: a prospective randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: There are several reports on the application of variable degrees of vacuum pressure to hardshell venous reservoirs. The aim of the current study was to compare the hemolytic effects of vacuum-assisted venous drainage (VAVD) at two different vacuum levels with the classical gravity siphon method. METHODS: A prospective, equally randomized (1: 1: 1), parallel group study was performed in elective coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) operations. PATIENTS: (n = 162) were divided into three groups: gravity siphon (group 1, n = 55), VAVD at -40 mmHg (group 2, n = 55) and VAVD at -80 mmHg (group 3, n = 52). Hemolysis tests were performed at 2, 24 and 48 h following the operations. RESULTS: There were no deaths in this study. Plasma-free hemoglobin (PfHb) levels showed a difference at 2 h (p < 0.001) compared to 24 h (p = 0.02) between the groups. Haptoglobin (Hp) levels also revealed hemolysis in groups 2 and 3 at all sampling times. CONCLUSIONS: Constant negative suction at -80 mmHg during elective coronary bypass operations caused more hemolysis. We do not recommend a constant suction of -80 mmHg for VAVD.