Aim: The cardiovascular diseases are one of the most frequent causes of death in coal miners. Atherosclerosis is the most frequent cause of cardiovascular disease around the world. The subclinical atherosclerosis can be diagnosed thanks to the localization of carotid arteries by measuring carotid intima media thickness via Doppler ultrasonography. In this study, the aim was to investigate whether the chronic exposure to coal mine dust contributes to atherosclerotic process. Method: The study was designed as a single center, retrospective survey, consisting of 25 young coal miners, 25 veteran coal miners, 25 young people and 25 healthy elderly people who have never exposed to coal mine dusts. The carotid Doppler ultrasonography, biochemical tests, echocardiography, respiratory function test results were recorded from the files of the cases. Results: There was not any significant difference as for carotid intima-media thickness between coal miners and healthy young group(0.66±0.16 vs 0.65±0.16; p=0.994), while there was a significant difference between veteran coal miners and healthy elderly group (0.99±0.09 vs. 0.81±0.13; p<0.05). Conclusion: In this study, it was found that the carotid intimamedia thickness, which is used in order to diagnose atherosclerosis in early stage, increased after chronic exposure to coal mine dust. Therefore, it can be thought that professional questioning may be beneficial while determining the risk factors of individuals in terms of atherosclerosis.

Aim: Congestive heart failure (CHF) and pneumonia are the most important causes of potentially death due to dyspnea in patients presenting at the Emergency Department. Early diagnosis and suitable treatment are lifesaving in cases of both CHF and pneumonia. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic ability of the soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1 (sTREM-1) which is an inflammatory biomarker in the differential diagnosis of pneumonia from CHF. Material and Method:This prospective study was conducted from 1 Jun 2014 to 30 May 2015 in the emergency medicine departments of urban and university hospitals. Patients presenting with dyspnea were evaluated and divided into two groups according to the diagnoses made according to international guidlines; CHF group and pneumonia group. The groups were compared in respect of clinical and demographic characteristics and sTREM-1 levels.Results: 15 patients were evaluated in each group. Pulse rate was higher in the CHF group (p<0.001), and respiration rate and temperature values were higher in the pneumonia group (p=0.002, p=0.008). On the chest radiographs, significant infiltration was observed in the pneumonia group, and cardiomegaly in the CHF group (p<0.001). The sTREM-1 levels were higher in the pneumonia group than the CHF group, and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.044). Conclusion:We think that STEM can be used in the differential diagnosis of dyspnea in the emergency departments, but this should be supported by more comprehensive studies.

2019 yılının sonunda Çin'de ortaya çıkan ve tüm dünyayı etkisi altına alan COVID-19 pandemisi tüm dünyada etkisini sürdürürken reinfeksiyon ve uzamış infeksiyonla ilgili soru işaretleri devam etmektedir. Bu bildiride ilk infeksiyondan yaklaşık 5 ay sonra benzer semptomlarla başvuran bir hastada saptanmış bir COVID-19 reinfeksiyonu olgusu sunulmuştur.