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The present work was undertaken in order to investigate the effects of magnetic field (MF) on hematopoiesis and fuel metabolites in female rats. At thermoneutrality (25°C), the exposition of rats 1 hour/day for 10 consecutive days to a MF of 128 mT (m Tesla) induced an increase in hematocrit and hemoglobin compared to controls. Exposure to MF also induced an increase in blood glucose levels but had no effect on triglyceride concentrations. Moreover, serum alanine aminotransferase activity remained unchanged in treated rats, while aspartate aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase activities increased by about 22% and 33%, respectively, following MF exposure. It was concluded that sub-acute exposure to MF induced elevations in hematocrit, hemoglobin, plasma fuel metabolites and tissue enzymes release within the blood. Key words: Magnetic field, hematology, glucose, triglycerides, plasma enzymes, rat.

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Erken evre mycosis fungoides (MF) oral photo-chemotherapy (Psorolevand UVA-PUVA) gibi metotlarla tedavi edilebilir. Literatürde, PUVA ile birlikte interferon (IFN) kullanýmýnýn baþarýlý olabileceðine dair yayýnlar mevcuttur. Bu çalýþmada, retrospektif olarak, IFN+ PUVA ile tedavi ettiðimiz erken evre MF hastalarýnýn deðerlendirilmesi amaçlanmýþtýr. Haziran 2003-Mayýs 2005 tarihleri arasýnda tedavi edilen 6 erken evre (Ia-IIa) MF hastasý bu çalýþmaya alýnmýþtýr. IFN ve PUVA kombine olarak baþlanmýþ ve yanýt alýnan hastalarda IFN ile devam edilmiþtir. Tam yanýt alýnan hastalar aylýk peryodlarla izlenmiþtir. Interferon-α-2b haftada 3 gün 2 milyon ünite (MÜ) /gün kullanýlmýþ, PUVA haftada 3 gün yapýlmýþtýr. Dört kadýn ve 2 erkek hastanýn ortalama yaþlarý 54.3 (32-75) idi ve tümör nod metastaz (TNM) evreleme sistemine göre, 4 hasta evre Ia, 1 hasta evre Ib ve 1 hasta da evre IIa idi. Altý hastanýn 4’ünde (%66) tam yanýt elde olunurken, 2 hastada (%34) parsiyel yanýt alýnabildi. Hiç bir hastada evre 3-4 toksisite geliþmedi. Tedavi esnasýnda hiç bir hastada progresyon saptanmadý. Tüm hastalar planlandýðý þekilde halen takip ve tedavi altýndadýr. Düþük doz IFN-α-2b ve PUVA kombinasyonu, erken evre MF hastalarýnda yanýt eldesinde oldukça baþarýlýdýr ve hastalar tarafýndan iyi tolere edilmektedir.

Early-stage mycosis fungoides (MF) can be treated with different regimens such as oral photo-chemotherapy (Psoralen and UVA-PUVA). There have been some studies showing the effectiveness of combination of interferon (IFN) with PUVA. In this study, we aimed to evaluate retrospectively the patients with early-stage MF treated with IFN + PUVA. Six patients with the diagnosis of early stage (Ia-IIa) MF between June 2003 and May 2005 were enrolled in this study. IFN combined with PUVA was started and followed by IFN maintenance in complete response (CR) patients. Patients achieving CR were followed up at monthly intervals until relapse. Interferon-α-2b was administered at a dose of 3 MU 3 times a week and PUVA was applied 3 times a week. There were 4 female and 2 male patients, aged 32-75 years (mean 54.3 years). Four patients were at stage Ia, one patient at Ib and one patient at stage IIa according to TNM staging. Four of 6 patients (66%) achieved CR and 2 of 6 (33%) achieved partial response (PR). No grade 3-4 side effects due to IFN were detected, and no progression was observed during the treatment. All patients have been under treatment as planned. Low dose of IFN-α-2b plus PUVA was found to be successful in achieving excellent clinical responses in patients with early-stage MF. This treatment modality was very well tolerated.

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Akut myeloid lösemili (AML) ve myelodisplastik sendromlu (MDS) yaþlý hastalarýn nasýl tedavi edileceði halen tartýþmalýdýr ve pek çok rejimle elde edilen sonuçlar olumsuzdur. Tam doz antrasiklin içeren yoðun tedavileri tolere edemeyecek 60 yaþ üzerindeki 14 vakayý tedavi rejiminin etkinliðini göstermek için çalýþmamýza aldýk. Ortalama yaþ 69 idi ve 60 ile 85 arasýnda deðiþmekte idi. Sekiz hastada MDS (biri AML ye dönüþtü), 6 tanesinde de AML vardý. Tedavi etoposid 120 mg/m² ve thioguanin 100 mg/m² p.o. günde iki kez 1-5.günler ve araC 40 mg/m² s.c. 1. günde verildi (ETC). Çalýþmanýn ilk sonuçlarýnda; on dört hastanýn 7sinde (%50) tam yanýt elde edildi. Ortalama yaþam süresi 10 aydý. Hastanede geçirilen ortalama günler 28 gündü. Ortalama nötropeni süresi 11 gün iken trombositopeni süresi 15 gündü. Ciddi hiçbir enfeksiyon tespit edilmedi. Erken ölüm 2 (%14) hastada izlendi. Sonuç olarak bu yeni tedavi yaklaþýmý yaþlý hastalarda %50’lik tam yanýt oraný ile basit güvenli ve ekonomik bir tedavi seçeneðidir.

Treatment in elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) remains controversial, and results have been poor with most regimens. In order to study the efficacy of a new regimen in the treatment of these diseases in elderly patients assessed as not tolerating full-scale anthracycline-containing intensive chemotherapy, 14 patients over 60 years were enrolled in our study. The median age was 69 years, range 60-85 years. Eight patients had MDS (one transformed to AML) and six had AML. Anthracycline-lacking therapy (ETC) consisted of etoposide 120 mg/m² and thioguanine 100 mg/m² p.o. twice daily on days 1-5 and cytarabine (araC) 40 mg/m² s.c. on day 1. The preliminary results were as follows: 7 of the 14 patients (50%) achieved complete remission. The median survival was 10 months. Days spent at hospital were 28. Neutropenia was observed for 11 days and thrombocytopenia for 15 days. No severe infection was detected. Early death was observed in 2 (14%) of the patients. In conclusion, this novel treatment with a complete response of 50% appears to be a simple, safe, cost-effective form of therapy for elderly patients.

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Türk pediatrik inme hastalarýnda Protrombin G20210A ve A19911G mutasyonlarý ve PT A19911G polimorfizminin etkisi araþtýrýldý. Vaka-kontrol çalýþmasýna 107 serebral infarktlý hasta ve 83 saðlýklý akraba olmayan kontrol grubu dahil edildi. Bu çalýþma grubunda PT A19911G polimorfizminin daðýlýmý ve PT 19911G ile 20210A allelerinin etkisi birlikte deðerlendirildiðinde bir risk oluþturmadýklarý saptanmýþtýr.

Effects of PT A19911G polymorphism in Turkish pediatric stroke patients were investigated. The case-control study included 107 patients with cerebral infarct and 83 healthy unrelated controls. Distribution of PT A19911G and data on the combined effect of PT 19911G and PT 20210A alleles do not indicate that they constitute a risk in this group of patients.

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We followed 565 male patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) in two hospitals of Saudi Arabia. We investigated these cases for presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) by determining the HBsAg and anti-HCV. Anti-HCV positive cases were confirmed by PCR. The NHL cases were classified on the basis of working formulation. The results of HBV and HCV in cases of NHL were compared with the prevalence of these viruses in healthy male blood donors. We found 11.2% of cases of NHL were positive for HBV and 16.1% for HCV, compared to 3.4% HBV and 2.9% HCV among blood donors. The highest numbers of cases (48.4% of HBV and 56% of HCV) were seen in the intermediate and low grade of NHL, respectively. Follicular small cleaved was the predominant type in both types of infection. The variation in prevalence of HBV and HCV in NHL from that of the general population was statistically significant (p<0.001). We observed that the background prevalence of HBV definitely affects the rate of infection in NHL, while infection of HCV in cases of NHL is independent of its background prevalence.

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Lösemi tanýsýyla takip edilen ve pulmoner aspergillozis seyrinde tam kalp bloðu geliþen bir vaka bildirilmiþtir. Kemoterapi sonrasý nötropenik dönemde, ani geliþen takipne, dispne, ateþ, bilateral akciðerlerde infiltrasyon ve solunum yetmezliði tablosundaki hastaya olasý pulmoner aspergillozis teþhisi konmuþtur. Antifungal tedavinin altýncý gününde tam atrioventriküler blok geliþmiþtir. Lipozomal Amfoterisin-B tedavisi sýrasýnda tam kalp bloðu bildirilmemiþtir. Hastamýzda Aspergillozis’in lokal veya hematojen yayýlýmý sonrasý miyokard tutulumunun, tam kalp bloðunun en olasý sebebi olabileceði düþünülmüþtür.

A patient with leukemia who developed complete heart block after the diagnosis of pulmonary aspergillosis is reported. The patient had probable invasive pulmonary aspergillosis with a sudden tachypnea, dyspnea, fever, bilateral pulmonary infiltrates and acute respiratory insufficiency after chemotherapy. On the sixth day of antifungal therapy, she developed complete atrioventricular block. Complete heart block has not been reported during liposomal amphotericin B (LAMB) therapy. Local or hematogenous involvement of the myocardium with aspergillosis may be the most likely explanation of the complete heart block.

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Multiple myeloma and acute leukemia may sometimes occur in the same patient, usually in patients with myeloma who receive chemotherapy and subsequently develop acute leukemia. However, simultaneous occurrence of myeloma and acute leukemia on presentation is rare, with only a handful of such cases reported in the literature.

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