Epidemiological and clinical data of patients with stings and bites at a medical center of Turkey

Objective: To analyze the epidemiological and clinical data of patients who were admitted to ?n?nü University Turgut ?zal Medical Center Emergency Department with bites and stings between 2013 and 2015. Methods: Patients with bites and stingings who were admitted to ?n?nü University Turgut ?zal Medical Center during 2013-2015 were selected for this retrospective evaluation. We retrived the following information including age, gender, anatomic localization of the sting or bite, admission time, complaints, vital signs, length of stay, laboratory findings and hospitalization department. Pearson's chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, One-way ANOVA test and the Bonferroni correction as post hoc were used for statistical analysis. Results: The mean age of the patients was (43.51±16.90) years, and 55% were male. The most common admission reason was pain (34.7%), followed by rash (19.1%) and panic (11.6%). A total of 16.8% of the admissions occurred in July, 16.8% in August and 16.5% in June while the occurrence was the lowest in November with 1.5%. The most prevalent bites or stinging animals were scorpions (34.6%), followed by ticks (19.7%) and bees (12.9%). Antihistaminic-steroid-tetanus and analgesic-antihistaminic-steroid combinations were administered, respectively to 59.6% and 25% of the patients. The longest length of stay was (48.56±26.92) h due to snake bites. Conclusions: The community should be educated about the living areas of these animals, the seasons and hours in which they are active. Since individuals living and working in rural areas are at risk, more education should be given to them.

Endoscopic tympanoplasty

Middle ear surgery is usually performed using a surgical microscope. Initially, in otorhinolaryngology practice, endoscopes were used for paranasal sinus surgeries. It was only later that they were applied in the area of otology. In otologic surgeries, endoscopes were first used to visualize the middle ear, before being used to assist with visualization of instruments during cholesteatoma surgeries, although they are still not used alone in various otologic surgeries. As in other surgical fields, there is also a trend towards minimally invasive intervention in the field of otorhinolaryngology. Smaller incisions performed under the guidance of endoscopes are preferred over conventional large incisions. Using this approach, improved outcomes can be achieved and postoperative morbidities can be reduced. In addition, the outcomes of grafts performed using the endoscopic approach are similar to that achieved by the microscopic approach. Therefore, endoscopic ear surgery implementations are becoming increasingly popular.

QT interval dispersion in the patients with central serous chorioretinopathy

AIM: To evaluate QT dispersion(QTD) in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy(CSC).METHODS: This clinical, comperative, case-control study included 30 patients with CSC at acute phase(Group 1) and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy subjects(Group 2, the control group). From all subjects, a 12-lead surface electrocardiography was obtained. The heart rate(HR), QT maximum(QT max), QT minimum(QT min), QT corrected(QT c), QTD and T mean were manually measured and analyzed. Student’s t-test and Pearson’s method of correlation were used for statistical analysis.· RESULTS: The patient and control groups were matched for age, smoking status(rate and duration) and gender. There were no significant differences with regard to these among the groups(P 】0.05). The participants included 19 men(63.3%) and 11 women(36.7%) in Group1, 20 men(66.7%) and 10 women(33.3%) in Group 2.QT max, QTD and QT c were significantly higher than those of healthy controls(P 【0.001 for QT max, P =0.01 for QTD and P =0.001 for QT c). QT min, T mean and HR did not differ significantly between the study groups(P =0.28 for QT min,P =0.56 for T mean and P 】0.05 for HR). No significant correlation was found between duration of the disorder and QTD values(r =0.13, P 】0.05).CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that CSC may be associated with an increase in QTD and that the patients might be at risk for ventricular arrhythmia.