We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of adsorption therapy as an extracorporeal blood purification technique in critically ill patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). A retrospective analysis was performed on 17 adult patients with severe COVID-19, who underwent adsorption therapy using an HA330 cartridge, at Ankara City Hospital. Each adsorption therapy was administered for three consecutive days, and each therapy session lasted three hours. Several parameters, including cytokine levels, blood count, biochemistry panel, clinical status, and mortality rate were assessed before and after each therapy session. The results obtained from this study revealed that adsorption therapy reduced IL-6 levels and improved oxygenation in the short term. However, heart rate, mean arterial pressure and SOFA score did not demonstrate significant changes. Notably, the dose of norepinephrine increased after the third session. Regrettably, only 4 out of 17 patients (23.5%) survived. Consequently, adsorption therapy appears to be effective in reducing IL-6 levels in severe COVID-19 patients. Nonetheless, further investigation is warranted to evaluate its impact on clinical outcomes.
We wanted to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment in Covid-19 patients in the intensive care unit (ICU). Sixteen (66.7%) male and 8 (33.3%) female adult severe Covid-19 patients who were treated with IVIG in the tertiary ICU between April 2020 and October 2021 at Ankara City Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The median age of the patients was 63 (interquartile range (IQR):19). The patients were evaluated in terms of laboratory values and clinical results before and after IVIG treatment. There was no statistically significant difference between survived and deceased Covid-19 patients treated with IVIG in terms of age, gender, the onset of symptoms, presence of concomitant diseases, APACHE-II scores, duration of mechanical ventilator support, and length of stay in the ICU. When the laboratory values before and after IVIG treatment were compared, a significant decrease was identified only in alanine transaminase levels (p=0.01). However, there was a statistically significant difference in mortality in 5 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome who all survived (p=0.001). IVIG treatment was effective in Covid-19 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome. However, IVIG treatment did not have a statistically significant effect on pre and post-treatment laboratory values, morbidity, and mortality of severe Covid-19 patients in the ICU.
Background: The Beliefs About Obese Persons Scale (BAOP) is used among non-obese people in English speaking countries to evaluate their opinions on obese people. Nevertheless, the data are scarce from the view of obese people. Therefore, we wanted to test BAOP on obese patients in order to evaluate their opinions from the perspective of obese patients. Methods: Between August 2019-June 2020, 115 (76.7%) female and 35 (23.3%) male, a total of 150 obese patients who were admitted to the general surgery department to be evaluated for bariatric surgey, were included in this study. Local ethics committee approval was obtained (2019/08-10). These obese patients were asked to fill out BAOP, which included 8 statements in which each statement was valued between -3 to +3 points. Results: Mean score of BAOP within all obese patients was 34.87 ± 8.12 (range: 5-48). The average score of BAOP was 34.33 ± 8.60 (range: 5-48) in females and 36.62 ± 6.06 (range: 21-48) in males (p = 0.14). The frequency of the answers given by the male and female patients to the 5th statement, which was “Most obese people eat more than non-obese people”, showed a statistically significant difference (p = 0.03). Conclusions: Obese patients had higher BAOP scores compared to previous BAOP studies performed with non-obese people. Within this study, obese patients considered obesity as a condition which was not under their control.
Background: The number of studies with the application of scales, such as Attitudes Toward Obese Persons Scale (ATOP), on morbid obese patients are limited. Therefore, we wanted to examine the attitudes toward obese people through the eyes of morbid obese patients. Methods: Between October 2019 - April 2020, 70 female and 20 male, morbid obese patients, who were admitted to the general surgery department to be evaluated for bariatric surgery were included in this study. These 90 morbid obese patients were asked to fill out ATOP, which included 20 statements. Results: The mean ATOP score of all morbid obese patients was 63.44±18.58 (range:19-116). The mean ATOP score of female patients was 63.47±20.34 (range:19-116), whereas the mean ATOP score of male patients was 63.35±10.69 (range:43-80) (p=0.98). The frequency of the responses given by the male and female patients to the third statement, which was “Most obese people are more self-conscious than other people” pointed out a statistically significant difference (p=0.02). Conclusions: Based on ATOP scores gained from morbid obese patients, 60% of morbid obese patients did not feel as happy as non-obese people, whereas 74.4% of the morbid obese patients thought that obese people were not as healthy as non- obese people. Moreover, ATOP scores which were slightly higher than 60 points in both female and male morbid obese patients indicated that morbid obese patients had neither negative nor highly positive attitudes toward obese people.
Background: We wanted to evaluate the effectiveness of oral everolimus alone and in combination with capecitabine treatment on colorectal cancer-induced peritoneal carcinomatosis animal model. Methods: Caco-2 colon adenocarcinoma cells were injected intraperitoneally to BALB/cOlaHsd-Foxn1nu mice to establish peritoneal carcinomatosis. Mice were divided into four groups (everolimus, everolimus plus capecitabine, capecitabine, control group) with 2 mice in each group. Treatment was initiated 5 days after inoculation of Caco-2 cells. 7.5 mg/kg everolimus was administered orally every 2 days. 2.1 mmol/kg capecitabine was administered orally every 5 days a week. 22 days after inoculation of Caco-2 cells, mice were sacrificed. Results: The mean weight of the tumor was 25 ± 7.07 mg in the control group (n=2); 0.7 ± 0.7 mg in the everolimus group (n=2); 0.28 ± 0.36 mg in the capecitabine group; 0.48 ± 0.07 mg in the everolimus plus capecitabine group. Conclusion: Tumor samples excised from BALB/cOlaHsd-Foxn1nu mice revealed that everolimus alone, and in combination with capecitabine suppressed tumor growth. However, a comparison of tumor weights revealed no statistically significant difference within the four groups (p=0.227). To reach statistically significant data, the sample size should be increased.
