The relationship between serum GDF-15, mortality, and carotid artery thickening suggests that GDF-15 may be a novel marker of atherosclerosis, inflammation, and malnutrition in HD patients.

BackgroundThyroid nodules are commonly encountered problems in clinical practice. For patients who have a thyroid nodule, the fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is the most important test, as it is the most reliable diagnostic method for distinguishing between benign thyroid nodules and cancerous nodules. FNAB is able to be performed either via an ultrasound (USG) or alone and is the first choice when it comes to diagnosing thyroid nodules, given that it is cheap, safe and provides accurate results.ObjectiveIn this study-a retrospective analysis of FNAB via USG - our aim is to evaluate the multiple variables related to FNAB procedures, including the experience of the person performing the biopsy, the age and gender of the patient, the number of nodules, the size of the nodule(s) and the number of lams recorded from the cytopathology report on non-diagnostic rates, conducted at an invasive radiology clinic and at a general surgery clinic.Materials and methodsA total of 1062 patients involving 1869 nodules, examined using FNAB via USG, were reviewed retrospectively from records dated between November 2011 and July 2014 and from pathology reports taken from the ANEAH General Surgery clinic and Interventional Radiology clinic. Cytopathology results were classified according to the 2007 Bethesda System for Reporting. Gender, age, number of nodules, diameter of the nodules, biopsied nodules, location of the nodules, number of lams, symptoms and the date of biopsies were the parameters used to examine the factors involved in non-diagnostic cytopathology invasive radiology. These parameters were inspected at both of the clinics (ANEAH General Surgery clinic and Interventional Radiology clinic). In analyzing the results, the statistical significance level was set at 0.05, where in cases that the p value was under 0.05 (p < 0.05), it was determined that no significant relationship existed. In this study, data were analyzed using SPSS 20 software.ResultsOf the nodules reviewed, 1620 were found on females and 249 on males. The age of the patients ranged from 10 to 87 years, with the mean age being 50 years. In the general surgery clinic, 470 nodules of 341 patients were aspirated, and in the interventional radiological clinic, 1399 nodules of 721 patients were aspirated. In the literature review conducted to compare statistical assessments of FNAB via USG, no significant difference was found between the ANEAH General Surgery clinic and the Invasive Radiology clinic (p > 0.05). In the invasive radiology clinic, non-diagnostic rates decreased with the increase in experience of the person who conducted the biopsy (p = 0.001).ConclusionThe results from both of the clinic's rates of non-diagnostic FNAB, performed via USG, were found to be acceptable. Our study also demonstrates that USG-guided FNAB can be performed with a low non-diagnostic rate as experience grows.

Introduction: Studies have shown that sarcopenia is associated with poor outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal cancer undergoing surgery. We aimed to investigate the relationship between postoperative complications of sarcopenic patients who had been operated on for colon cancer and the effects on short-term mortality. Material and methods: In this study, patients who had undergone colon cancer surgery between January 2013 and December 2018 were collected retrospectively. Sarcopenia was diagnosed by the skeletal muscle index (SMI) derived from a preoperative computed tomography scan. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether sarcopenia is associated with postoperative major complications (POMC). Results: The study included 160 patients with a mean age of 62.4 ±12.6 years. Clavien-Dindo grade 1-2 (minor) complications were not significantly different between the groups (p = 0.896). However, grade ≥ 3 (major) complications were detected in 13 (17.8%) patients in the sarcopenic group (SG) and in 5 patients in the non-sarcopenic group (NSG) (5.7%) (p = 0.016). Length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay was longer in SG (p = 0.002) and there was no difference between 1-month and 6-month mortality rates (p = 0.273 and p = 0.402, respectively). According to univariate analyses, sarcopenia and age over 65 years were related to POMC. In multivariate analyses, sarcopenia (odds ratio = 3.039; 95% confidence interval 1.008-9.174; p = 0.048) and advanced age (odds ratio = 3.246; 95% confidence interval 1.078-9.803; p = 0.036) were found to be independent risk factors for POMC. Conclusions: This study showed that while sarcopenia is a risk factor for POMC, sarcopenia also prolongs the duration of ICU stay. Also sarcopenia has no effect on short-term mortality.

INTRODUCTIONAcute appendicitis is one of the most common causes of acute abdomen in all ages. It occurs more frequently in men than in women (male/female: 1.3/1); the mean and median ages related to this pathology are 31.3 and 22 years, respectively (1-3). Open appendectomy (OA), which was first described by McBurney (4) in 1894, is the most frequently performed emergency abdominal operation in the world. However, the use of the laparoscopic appendectomy (LA) procedure has rapidly increased since it was first described by Semm in 1984 (5). Although LA is commonly performed for acute appendicitis, it is not always the best treatment choice. Many studies comparing LA and OA with respect to treatment and follow-up have been conducted. These studies have reported less postoperative surgical-site infection, decreased need for analgesics, much greater visualization, rapid healing, shorter hospital stay times, and earlier return to normal activity (RTNA) rates associated with LA (6-10). However, because of the high costs related to endostaplers, endoclips, and knottings, LA is not the most efficient operation technique (11, 12).Our aim in this study is to prospectively compare OA and LA performed with laparoscopic intracorporeal knotting and glove endobag; we also wish to demonstrate that the latter is a facile and effective alternative LA procedure. MATERIAL AND METHODS Methodology and EthicsThis study was conducted in the Surgery Department at Kars Harakani State Hospital during the period from May 2014 to April 2015. A total of 72 patients who were treated for acute appendicitis were eligible for the study. These 72 patients were divided into two groups: the LA group (group 1) (n=36) and the OA group (group 2) (n=36). All the patients were evaluated in terms of age; gender; perioperative symptoms Objective: Despite the recent increase in the use of laparoscopic appendectomy procedures to treat acute appendicitis, laparoscopic appendectomy is not necessarily the best treatment modality. The aim of this study is to examine the value of laparoscopic intracorporeal knotting and glove endobag in terms of various parameters and in terms of reducing the costs related to laparoscopic appendectomy procedures.Material and Methods: Seventy-two acute appendicitis patients who underwent laparoscopic appendectomy and open appendectomy surgery were enrolled in the study and were evaluated prospectively. The patients were divided into two groups: group 1 was treated with laparoscopic appendectomy using laparoscopic intracorpreal knotting and glove endobag (n=36) and group 2 was treated with open appendectomy (n=36). The two groups were statistically compared in terms of preoperative symptoms and signs, laboratory and imaging findings, operation time and technique, pain score, gas and stool outputs, duration of hospital stay, return to normal activity, and complications. Results:No statistically significant differences were found between the groups in relation to gender, age, body mass index, or pre-operation findings, which include...