Examination of ECG characteristics of patients admitted to emergency department with conversive attack.

OBJECTIVE: Conversion disorder is defined as a disorder with one or more neurological symptoms that accompany psychological conflict, suggesting a physical disorder. It has been shown that patients with conversion disorder have an imbalance in the autonomic nervous system. There are only a limited number of studies that have examined how conversion disorder is related with surface ECG parameters. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of conversion disorder on the surface ECG parameters of patients with conversion disorder admitted to the emergency department. METHODS: This cross-sectional case-control study included 98 patients who were admitted to the emergency department and diagnosed with conversion disorder and 56 healthy volunteers. All patients underwent 12-derivation ECG. PR interval, P wave dispersion, duration of QRS complex, QT interval, QTc interval, frontal QRS-T angle values were calculated for all individuals. RESULTS: When compared with the control group, the conversion disorder group revealed a significant difference in terms of PWD [60 (40-80) vs. 40 (40-60) P = 0.01], QT [385 (364-410) vs. 378 (354-394), P = 0.048], QTc [420 (405-430) vs. 406 (397-429), P = 0.039], and frontal QRS-T angle [25 (15-33) vs. 20 (8-35), P = 0.018]. In the multivariate linear regression analysis, conversion disorder was found to be an independent predictor for both PWD (ß = 0.196, P = 0.014) and frontal QRS-T angle (ß = 0.258, P = 0.011). CONCLUSION: This study is the first to show that conversion disorder significantly increases QT, QTc, P wave dispersion, and frontal QRS-T angle.

HLA Genotypes in Turkish Hematopoietic Cell Recipients and Likelihood of Finding a Matched Donor Through Family Searches.

OBJECTIVES: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant is a life-saving treatment, but donor numbers in Turkey do not meet the increasing demand for this procedure. Here, our objectives were (1) to assess the frequency of HLA-matched related donors in the Turkish population and (2) to identify the HLA antigens and haplotypes that are most frequent in Turkey. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The HLA genotypes of 841 consecutive recipients and 3071 family members were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Matched related donors were identified for 368/841 recipients (44%). Extended family donor searches were performed for 111/181 pediatric recipients (61%), with nonsibling matched related donors found for 23 patients (21%). Matched related donors were found for a significantly higher proportion of pediatric patients (52%) than adult patients (41%) (odds ratio of 2.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.9-4.1; P = .02). The percentage of pediatric versus adult patients with 3 or more siblings was 13% versus 46% (odds ratio of 5.6; 95% confidence interval, 3.6-8.5; P = .001). The most frequent HLA class I antigens at each locus were HLA-A*02 (20.2%), HLA-B*35 (19.5%), and HLA-C*07 (19.8%). The most frequent HLA class II antigens at each locus were HLA-DRB1*11 (21.6%) and HLA-DQB1*03 (40.2%). The most common 3-locus haplotypes were HLA-A*24 B*35 DRB1*11 (F:0.020) and HLA-A*01 B*08 DRB1*03 (F:0.015). When adult and pediatric groups were combined, the most common locus haplotypes were found in 43/345 sibling donors (12%) and in 7/23 nonsibling pediatric donors (30%) (odds ratio of 2.7; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-6.4; P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that, in Turkey, it can be beneficial to revise donor search algorithms to include an extended family donor search before an unrelated donor search. This type of search can be effective because of the HLA haplotype diversity in Turkey, the frequency of consanguinity, and the country's limited donor pool.

Transient overexpression of exogenous APOBEC3A causes C-to-U RNA editing of thousands of genes.

APOBEC3A cytidine deaminase induces site-specific C-to-U RNA editing of hundreds of genes in monocytes exposed to hypoxia and/or interferons and in pro-inflammatory macrophages. To examine the impact of APOBEC3A overexpression, we transiently expressed APOBEC3A in HEK293T cell line and performed RNA sequencing. APOBEC3A overexpression induces C-to-U editing at more than 4,200 sites in transcripts of 3,078 genes resulting in protein recoding of 1,110 genes. We validate recoding RNA editing of genes associated with breast cancer, hematologic neoplasms, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer disease and primary pulmonary hypertension. These results highlight the fundamental impact of APOBEC3A overexpression on human transcriptome by widespread RNA editing.