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Biomedical subjects

N Kocak

Publications and source records attributed to N Kocak.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Effects of a major earthquake on blood donor types and infectious diseases marker rates.

This observational study attempted to identify the effect of a natural disaster on the safety of blood supply and donor types with the influx of donors after a severe earthquake. Blood donation rate, blood discard rate and safety of blood donations responding to the earthquake, as projected from the infectious disease marker rate, were evaluated in blood donated immediately before (1 July-17 August) and after 17 August 1999 (17 August-21 August). These were compared with the results from the corresponding periods in 1998 and 2000 for donations at a university medical centre and two regional blood centres. 8055 units of allogeneic blood were collected at two regional blood centres, and 450 units were collected at a university medical centre during 4 days. Viral marker rates were nearly the same at the former but were slightly lower at the latter. The blood discard rate was nearly twice the comparative periods at the former, but it remained unchanged at the latter. Voluntary donors replaced the replacement donors during 4 days. This analysis highlights the size of the pool of potential donors that are available as a national resource that can be motivated to give blood with the right motivation.

Biomarkers↗
PubMed2003

Seroprevalence of tetanus antibody in Turkish population and effectiveness of single-dose tetanus toxoid.

The study presented here was performed to determine the rates of immunity to tetanus in a cross section of the Turkish population and to assess the impact of a single-dose tetanus toxoid in previously unvaccinated individuals. Among 18-year-old participants who received their last tetanus booster 4 years prior to the study and 22-year-old participants who received the booster 8 years previously, certain durable protective antibody (>1 IU/ml) was detected in 100%. However, only 3.3% of 20-year-old participants who did not know whether they had been vaccinated as children or young adults had a protective antibody level. After administering a single dose of tetanus vaccine to this group, the rate of protective antibody increased from 3.3% to 96.7%. For the prevention of tetanus, the optimal policy should focus on improving rates of complete primary immunization in adults and children and giving a single booster every 10 years, or at least at age 40 or 50 years.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2003

Unilateral Purtscher-like retinopathy after weight-lifting.

PURPOSE: To report a case of Purtscher-like retinopathy after weightlifting. METHODS: A 17-year-old man presented with a sudden visual loss in his left eye after weightlifting two weeks ago. Fundus examination of the left eye showed cotton-wool spots and scattered retinal hemorrhages in the posterior pole. Fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography with a scanning laser ophthalmoscope were performed. RESULTS: Angiography showed hypofluorescent areas adjacent to the optic disc and in the posterior pole and partial filling insufficiency in the inferior and inferotemporal branch retinal veins. Complete venous filling was noted in late phases of angiography. CONCLUSIONS: The pathogenesis of weightlifting suggests the Purtscher-like changes as a result of Valsalva maneuver in our case. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of Purtscher-like retinopathy associated with weightlifting.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Magnetic resonance imaging characteristics of posterior scleritis mimicking choroidal mass.

We present imaging findings in a case of posterior scleritis, which may mimic tumoral mass lesion resulting in unnecessary enucleation. Magnetic resonance imaging was remarkable for a subretinal mass hypointense on T2 and hyperintense on T1 weighted images. A peripheral rim of hypointensity was noteworthy, suggestive of sclerouveal thickening. There was an ill-defined area of increased T2 signal intensity adjacent to globe at the site of nodular lesion implying an inflammatory process. A linear contrast enhancement was seen within the bulbus oculi which may represent detached retina by exudation or displaced retina due to thickened sclera and choroidal layers. The CSF space around the optic nerve was enlarged.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Wilson's disease with hepatic presentation in childhood.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate clinical, laboratory findings, treatment and long-term follow-up of children with Wilson's disease with hepatic presentation. DESIGN: Retrospective study with a median follow-up period of 9 years. SETTING: University medical center. SUBJECTS: Thirty-four children with hepatic involvement, ranging in age from three to fifteen years, were diagnosed as Wilson's disease over an eighteen year period. METHODS: The diagnosis was based on the presence of family history and Kayser-Fleischer rings, low serum ceruloplasmin levels and increased urinary and hepatic copper concentrations. RESULTS: Four patients had also neurological manifestations. Eight patients were diagnosed as fulminating hepatic failure resulting in death in a few days. The most common symptoms were abdominal distension and abdominal pain. Hepatomegaly was the predominant physical finding and serum transaminases were elevated in most of the patients. Twenty patients had cirrhosis and six had chronic hepatitis histopathologically. All patients with fulminating hepatic failure had hyperbilirubinemia with normal alkaline phosphatase and higher aspartate aminotransferase than alanine aminotransferase. Patients were treated with D-penicillamine and zinc sulphate. Three patients underwent liver transplantation. Four more patients besides patients with fulminating hepatic failure died due to end stage liver disease. Twenty-two patients were followed for median 9 years. Four patients with poor compliance progressed to decompensated cirrhosis and the others were stable. CONCLUSIONS: Liver disease with unknown origin with positive family history and parental consanguinity should imply Wilson's disease strongly.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

A gene for congenital generalized lipodystrophy maps to human chromosome 9q34.

Congenital generalized lipodystrophy (CGL, Berardinelli-Seip Syndrome, OMIM # 269700) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by near complete absence of adipose tissue from birth. Affected individuals have marked insulin resistance, hypertriglyceridemia and acanthosis nigricans, and develop diabetes mellitus during teenage years. The genetic defect for CGL is unknown. A semi-automated genome-wide scan with a set of highly polymorphic short tandem repeats (STR) was carried out in 17 well-characterized pedigrees and identified a locus for CGL to chromosome 9q34. The maximum two-point lod score obtained was 3.6 at D9S1818 (theta(max) = 0.05). There was evidence for genetic heterogeneity (alpha = 0.73) and 2 of the pedigrees were unlinked. Multipoint linkage analysis excluding the 2 unlinked families yielded a peak lod score of 5.4 between loci D9S1818 and D9S1826. The CGL1 critical region harbors a plausible candidate gene encoding the retinoid X receptor alpha (RXRA) that plays a central role in adipocyte differentiation. Identification of the CGL gene(s) will contribute to our understanding of the adipocyte differentiation and elucidation of the mechanisms of insulin resistance in disorders of adipose tissue.

Acanthosis Nigricans↗
PubMed1999

Mutation analysis in patients of Mediterranean descent with Wilson disease: identification of 19 novel mutations.

In this study, we report further results of mutation analysis of the ATP7B gene in Wilson disease (WD) patients of Mediterranean origin. A total of 136 WD chromosomes, 73 of which were of Italian, 43 of Turkish, 18 of Sardinian, and two of Spanish origin, were analysed and the mutation characterised in 84.5% of them. We found 50 different mutations of which 19 are novel, including three nonsense, one frameshift, and 15 missense mutations. The mutations detected were rare and mostly found in the compound heterozygous state together with other mutations and only rarely in homozygosity. Most of these mutations lie in the transmembrane and ATP binding loop regions. These data expand our knowledge of both the structure-function relationships of the WD protein and the molecular pathology of WD, thus improving our capability of prevention and genetic counselling.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗
PubMed1996

Factor V Q 506 mutation in children with thrombosis.

The factor V Leiden mutation in 12-children with thrombosis and in 20 controls was investigated. Five heterozygous individuals and 1 homozygous individual among the cases with thrombosis and 1 heterozygous individual among controls were found. Central nervous system thromboses were increased in children with the factor V mutation, associated with protein S deficiency.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed1981

Levamisole treatment in acute hepatitis.

Fifty-six and forty patients with acute icteric hepatitis were given levamisole and placebo, respectively, for the first 3 days of a week of the disease for 2 weeks, and continued through the third and fourth weeks if their hepatitis was not resolved. Liver functions of the levamisole-treated patients became normal slightly faster than the controls'. The normalization time of transaminases was found barely significantly shorter in the levamisole-treated group than in the controls (p less than 0.05). Additional studies with larger groups of antigenetically different types of hepatitis are warranted to determine whether treatment with levamisole might lessen the chances of developing chronic hepatitis.

Acute Disease↗