The Effects of Fibromyalgia Syndrome on Physical Function and Psychological Status of Pregnant Females.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the frequency and most common symptoms of fibromyalgia syndrome (FS) among pregnant females and determine the impacts of FS on physical functioning and psychological status. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 360 pregnant females (mean age 26.5 years, range 19 to 42 years) were included. The subjects were divided into two groups in terms of having (FS group; n=136; mean age 27 years; range 19 to 41 years) or not having FS (control group; n=224; mean age 26.5 years; range 20 to 42 years). The impact of FS on physical functions was evaluated using Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire. Psychological statuses of the subjects were evaluated using State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire, and Beck Depression Inventory. RESULTS: Low back pain was the most common complaint while fatigue was the most common symptom in FS group. FS group had higher levels of pain and physical disability (p<0.001) and also higher values of anxiety, fear of childbirth, and depression (p<0.001, for all values) compared to control group. Symptom severity and physical function scores were significantly correlated with increased levels of pain, depression, anxiety, and fear of childbirth (p<0.001, for all values). CONCLUSION: Fibromyalgia syndrome is common among pregnant females. The existence of FS in pregnancy is a severe factor contributing to maternal stress, anxiety, and depression. Therapeutic measures for fibromyalgia syndrome should be well-established to support healthy pregnancy and good child health outcome.

Gonadotoxic Effects of Nilotinib in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Treatment Dose in a Mouse Model.

OBJECTIVE: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors may have deleterious effects on spermatogenesis or folliculogenesis, resulting in male or female subfertility. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of nilotinib, which is used routinely to treat chronic myeloid leukemia, on spermatogenesis and folliculogenesis by using histopathological parameters. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten male and ten female mice were orally treated with nilotinib at 20 mg/kg body weight dissolved in drinking water daily for 2 months. RESULTS: When compared with the control group, a statistically significant decrease was demonstrated in the total follicle numbers of the female mice in the nilotinib group (268±110 vs. 170±60; p=0.03). Active spermatogenesis was observed in each tubule sample taken from the mice in the control and nilotinib groups. Spermatogenic activity was similar in the two groups. CONCLUSION: We have demonstrated that even though spermatogenesis is preserved, folliculogenesis is inhibited by the usage of a continuous nilotinib treatment dose in chronic myeloid leukemia.

Association of first trimester serum uric acid levels gestational diabetes mellitus development.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of first trimester serum uric acid levels with the development of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in low-risk pregnant women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective data analysis, the results of pregnant women who completed both first trimester biochemical panel and two-step GDM screening were compared with an age-, body mass index, and gestational age-matched control group. The women were grouped as either GDM or impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) according to 100-g oral glucose challenge results. Uric acid levels were compared between the groups and diagnostic utility was tested with receiver-operating characteristics curves. RESULTS: Sixty-six women in GDM group and 358 women in the IGT group were compared against 202 healthy pregnant women. The groups did not differ significantly in terms of parity, pre-gestational body mass index and gestational age. Serum samples for uric acid levels were obtained. The mean serum uric acid levels were significantly higher in the GDM and IGT groups (5.95 mg/dL (±0.97 mg/dL) and 4.76 mg/dL (±1.51 mg/dL), respectively) compared with the control group (3.76 mg/dL (±1.07 mg/dL) (p<0.001). The area under the curve for uric acid levels was 0.92 (95% confidence interval 0.88-0.95) for diagnosis of GDM. At a diagnostic threshold of 3.95 mg/dL, uric acid levels predicted development of GDM with 60% specificity and 100% sensitivity. CONCLUSION: First trimester serum uric acid has a linear association with the development of GDM and IGT.

Problems with the diagnosis of endometriosis.

Endometriosis is classically defined as the presence of endometrial glands and stroma in outside the uterine cavity. As the definition suggests that confirming the ectopic endometrial stroma and glands in ectopic location histopathologically should be necessary for the diagnosis of endometriosis. Therefore, this situation leads to the need for surgery like laparoscopy for diagnosis. However, this surgical diagnostic approach will not be reliable for all patients with suspected endometriosis. It seems to be an important problem that there is still no reliable clinically diagnostic method or pathognomonic clinical finding, which may allow accurate diagnosis of endometriosis without the need for surgery or histopathologic evaluation. While these clinical features are not pathognomonic for the endometriosis, they should be used as markers for creating high-risk population for endometriosis. Clinical features and the available diagnostic methods, their advantages and limitations for the endometriosis will be discussed in this article. The different options for clinical assessment, laboratory tests and imaging techniques will be summarized and the advantages and disadvantages of these methods will be evaluated. We will also discuss the gold standard definitive diagnostic options with their problematic aspects.

Comparison of ambulatory versus conventional urodynamics in females with urinary incontinence.

AIMS: We planned to compare the diagnostic accuracy of conventional urodynamics (UD) and ambulatory UD for the detection of detrusor over activity (DOA) and/or urodynamic stress incontinence (USI) in women presenting with urinary incontinence. METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 44 women with urinary incontinence and performed both urodynamic (UD) studies after they completed the UDI-6 questionnaire. During ambulatory UD one micturition cycle was recorded. According to responses for individual items on the UDI-6, patients were divided into three groups to define incontinence type irrespective of scoring. RESULTS: Mean age was 52.2 and mean duration of the symptoms was 4.94 years. The ambulatory UD detected an underlying pathophysiology of urinary incontinence (77.3%) in significantly more women than the conventional UD (6.8%) (P = 0.001). Among women with stress incontinence, 56% had USI on the ambulatory UD and none had abnormalities on the conventional UD (P = 0.002). Seventy-two percent of women with mixed symptoms had abnormal findings (USI and/or DOA) on the ambulatory UD and 9% had abnormal findings on the conventional UD (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that ambulatory UD done in a clinical setting during one micturition cycle with unstandardized provocative activities detects an underlying pathophysiology (urge incontinence, stress incontinence, mixed incontinence) more often than conventional UD in supine position Conventional UD has a higher false-negative rate in diagnosis of DOA and/or USI compared to ambulatory UD.