Retinal changes in generalized anxiety disorder patients.

OBJECTIVE: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a method that allows high-resolution cross-sectional imaging of biological tissues. It was suggested that changes in the cranial structure or functions would be reflected in the retina. OCT has been an important method in the diagnosis and follow-up of diseases via morphometric or quantitative retinal measurements. Free radicals, inflammatory processes, and neurotransmission disorders play a role in the etiology of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). The study aimed to demonstrate the retinal changes in GAD patients due to neurodegeneration based on the comparison of the OCT data of the GAD patients and controls, and the differences between OCT findings of GAD patients and those of controls. METHODS: The study group included 21 GAD patients. The control group included 21 individuals without any known psychiatric or organic disease, including eye diseases. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference between the macular volumes (MV) of the GAD and control groups, the macular volume was lower in the GAD group. There were positive correlations between BDI scores and MV, GCLT, RNFLT-i, RNFLT-n, between BAE scores and (RNFLT-n), and between the CGI severity scale scores and MV, RNFLT-n, and RNFLT-t. CONCLUSION: OCT analysis of the GAD patients demonstrated that MV values were lower when compared to the control group. Patients with GAD should be screened for these retinal changes. OCT, a simple, non-invasive, and relatively inexpensive method could be employed as a supplementary method in the follow-up of GAD patients.

Lipid profile and plasma atherogenic index in postmenopausal osteoporosis.

OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between the lipid profile, plasma atherogenic index (PAI), and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. METHODS: The data of age, duration of menopause, height, weight, lipid profile, bone mineral density (BMD) value, and history of oral contraceptive use of 407 postmenopausal women who had not been menstruating for at least 12 months, were between the ages 45 and 80, and presented at the obstetrics and gynecology polyclinic of Kartal Dr. Lutfi Kirdar Tr aining and Research Hospital were reviewed. The patients were divided into 2 groups according to the presence of osteoporosis, and the data compared. The level of significance was accepted as p<0.05. RESULTS: A total of 142 postmenopausal patients with osteoporosis were included in the study. The mean age was 61.7±6.9 years. In the control group, there were 263 postmenopausal women without osteoporosis, with a mean age of 58.3±4.5 years. There was no statistically significant difference with respect to triglyceride level; however, in the osteoporosis group, the level of total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were lower, and the level of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) was higher (p=0.762, p=0.002, p=0.01, p<0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: A high level of HDL, and low LDL and PAI values, which are important for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, were found to be negative factors for BMD.

Relation of Muscle Indices with Metabolic Parameters and C-Peptide in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the relation between bioimpedance measurements and metabolic parameters and C-peptide in patient with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Kartal Dr Lutfi Kirdar Training and Research Hospital, Pendik Kaynarca Diabetes Center, Exercise and Metabolism Unit, between January and March 2015. METHODOLOGY: Patients with DM, aged less than 65 years, were assessed for bioimpedance analysis, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), HbA1c, C-peptide levels, triglyceride levels, LDL-cholesterol, and HDL-cholesterol levels. Skeletal muscle index, total muscle index, skeletal muscle percentage, and total muscle percentage were used for muscle-related analyses. Mann-Whitney U-test or independent t-test were used to compare differences between two independent groups. Pearson correlation test or Spearman correlation test were used to find out correlation between variables. RESULTS: Atotal of 359 DM patients were enrolled in the study. Mean age was 51.6 ±8.0 years, and 278 (77.7%) of the participants were females. After adjusting age and gender variables, there was no relation between muscle-related measurements and FPG, triglyceride, LDL-cholesterol (p>0.05). However, there was muscle-related indexes (MRI) positively correlation with C-peptide and inversely associated with HDL-cholesterol (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Muscle-related indices positively correlated with C-peptide, which showed endogenous insulin reserve.

The optimal analgesic method in saline infusion sonogram: A comparison of two effective techniques with placebo.

OBJECTIVE: Operations performed with local anesthesia can sometimes be extremely painful and uncomfortable for patients. Our aim was to investigate the optimal analgesic method in saline infusion sonograms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was performed in our Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology between March and August 2011. Ninety-six patients were included. Patients were randomly divided into groups that received saline (controls, group 1), paracervical block (group 2), or paracervical block + intrauterine lidocaine (group 3). In all groups, a visual analogue scale score was performed during the tenaculum placement, while saline was administered, and 30 minutes after the procedure. RESULTS: When all the patients were evaluated, the difference in the visual analogue scale scores in premenopausal patients during tenaculum placement, during the saline infusion into the cavity, and 30 minutes following the saline infusion sonography were statistically different between the saline and paracervical block groups, and between the saline and paracervical block + intrauterine lidocaine group. However, there was no statistically significant difference between paracervical block and paracervical block + intrauterine lidocaine groups. CONCLUSION: As a result of our study, paracervical block is a safe method to use in premenopausal patients to prevent pain during saline infusion sonography. The addition of intrauterine lidocaine to the paracervical block does not increase the analgesic effect; moreover, it increases the cost and time that the patient stays in the dorsolithotomy position by 3 minutes.