Serum Neurogranin Measurement as a Biomarker of Central Nervous System Infections: A Preliminary Study.

The early diagnosis of central nervous system infections is of great importance to minimize morbidity and mortality. Neurogranin is a postsynaptic neural protein, and when the blood-brain barrier is damaged, neurogranin levels increase in both the cerebrospinal fluid and serum. The aim of this study was to evaluate the level of serum neurogranin and to investigate its utility in the diagnosis of central nervous system infections. This study was conducted as a prospective case-control study of patients diagnosed with meningitis. The study initially included 55 patients, and 15 patients with proven central nervous system infection were ultimately included in the patient group. The results in the patient group were compared with those of the control group of 15 healthy subjects. The 15 patients comprised 4 women and 11 men with a mean cerebrospinal fluid neurogranin level of 432.4 ± 123.5 ng/ml. Correlation analysis revealed a moderate positive correlation between cerebrospinal fluid neurogranin levels and serum neurogranin levels. The mean serum neurogranin level was 198.6 ± 51.7 ng/ml in the control group but was significantly higher at 429.2 ± 104.3 ng/ml in the patient group. In conclusion, it may be useful to measure blood neurogranin levels in patients suspected of having central nervous system infections, especially in those for whom computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or lumbar puncture cannot be performed.

A new biomarker in the differential diagnosis of epileptic seizure: Neurogranin.

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the level of serum NGRN in epilepsy patients presenting at the Emergency Department with complaints of an epileptic seizure, and to thus evaluate the utility of this biomarker in the differentiation of epilepsy and PNES patients from each other. MATERIAL METHODS: The study included patients aged >18 years who had experienced an epileptic seizure or were experiencing an epileptic seizure proven with EEG. All patients with brain disease of structural or infectious cause were excluded from the study (dementia, stroke, intracranial mass, meningitis, encephalitis, Creutzfeldt-Jacobs disease, abscess, etc). Patients were also excluded if they had traumatic brain injury or a severe systemic disease such as sepsis, which was thought to impair brain blood flow. The control group was formed of completely healthy volunteers. RESULTS: Evaluation was made of a total of 49 patients, comprising 19 (38.78%) males and 30 (61.22%) females, and a control group of 53 healthy volunteers comprising 28 (52.83%) males and 25 (47.17%) females. The serum neurogranin value was median 184.16 ng/dl (range: 110.1-1172.98) in the patient group and 97.90 ng/dl (range: 73.71-282. 11) in the control group. The serum neurogranin value was determined to be statistically significantly higher in the patient group than in the control group (p < 0.005). CONCLUSION: The differential diagnosis of ES from PNES remains a challenging situation for emergency service physicians. Based on the findings of this study, it can be said that the serum NRGN level is high in patients who have experienced an epileptic seizure. Therefore, this new biomarker can be considered for use in the differential diagnosis of epileptic seizure and PNES.

Factors Predicting the Frequency of Second Seizures in Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department With Seizures: A Prospective Observational Study.

Introduction This study aimed to determine the factors that trigger seizures in patients reporting to our emergency department (ED) with seizures and the factors that affect recurrent seizures during the emergency department stay. Materials and methods This study was designed prospectively and was conducted among patients over the age of 18 years who reported to the ED of the Education and Research Hospital with complaints of epileptic seizure between July 01, 2020 and July 01, 2021. In addition to the sociodemographic information of the patients, the time of admission after the seizure, the medications used, comorbidities, the treatment given in the ED, history of trauma, previous epilepsy diagnosis, time of last seizure, alcohol use in the last 24 hours, insomnia, presence of infective symptoms in the past week, vital parameters, blood tests, and presence of recurrent seizure during hospital follow-up were recorded. Results The median age of the 102 patients included in the statistical analysis was 37 (25%-57%), and 61 (59.8%) were men. Patients who came to the ED with the complaint of seizures were divided into two groups, namely, those who had recurrent seizures and those who did not. When the differences between the groups in terms of various variables were examined, no statistically significant difference was found in the univariate analysis, except for WBC, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) values. The diagnostic value of WBC, AST, and ALT levels in predicting recurrent seizures in emergency follow-up was analyzed using a receiver operating characteristic curve. Conclusion In this study, we could not find a parameter that can predict the probability of recurrent seizures in the ED in patients presenting with epileptic seizures.

Healthcare workers' sleep quality after COVID-19 infection: A cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: The COVID-19 pandemic not only affected physical health but also caused high levels of mental health problems including sleep disturbances, depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms. The aim of this study was to examine the sleep parameters of healthcare workers before COVID-19 infection and after recovery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Healthcare workers who were infected with COVID-19 and whose treatment was completed at least 30 days ago were included in the study. A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on the participants. RESULTS: The median PSQI score increased significantly after COVID-19 infection (7.0) compared with the level before COVID-19 infection (5.0). The increases in median scores for subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance, use of sleeping medication and daytime dysfunction were all significant. CONCLUSION: Sleep quality decreased during the convalescence period from COVID-19 infection as compared with the pre-COVID-19 period.