A 65-year-old female patient presented with eye pain, swelling and blurred vision in the left eye. Routine biochemistry and microbiological analyzes were conducted. Orbital tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, and cerebral angiography were performed. Orbital cellulitis due to a complication of ethmoidal sinusitis was diagnosed with thrombosis of the SOV in the patient. Systemic broad-spectrum antibiotic and anticoagulant therapy was started on the patient. The patient's symptoms were recorded at the end of two weeks of the treatment.

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of diffusion-weighted MRI in differentiating transudative from exudative pleural effusions. Fifty-seven patients with pleural effusion were studied. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) was performed with an echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence (b values 0, 1000 s/mm(2)) in 52 patients. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were reconstructed from three different regions. Subsequently, thoracentesis was performed and the pleural fluid was analyzed. Laboratory results revealed 20 transudative and 32 exudative effusions. Transudates had a mean ADC value of 3.42+/-0.76 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s. Exudates had a mean ADC value of 3.18+/-1.82 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s. The optimum cutoff point for ADC values was 3.38 x 10(-3) mm(2)/s with a sensitivity of 90.6% and specificity of 85%. A significant negative correlation was seen between ADC values and pleural fluid protein, albumin concentrations and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) measurements ( r=-0.69, -0.66, and -0.46, respectively; p<0.01). The positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and diagnostic accuracy of ADC values were determined to be 90.6, 85, and 88.5%, respectively. The application of diffusion gradients to analyze pleural fluid may be an alternative to the thoracentesis. Non-invasive characterization of a pleural effusion by means of DWI with single-shot EPI technique may obviate the need for thoracentesis with its associated patient morbidity.

Background: Different serological tests are used in serologic diagnosis of brucellosis. The most widely used of these are Standard Tube Agglutination and Coombs anti-brucella tests. Whereas ELISA Ig M and Ig G tests have been in use for a long time, immuncapture agglutination test has been recently introduced and used in serological diagnosis. The aim of this study was to compare diagnostic values of ELISA Ig M and Ig G and immuncapture agglutination tests with Coombs anti-brucella test.Methods: Sera from 200 patients with presumptive diagnosis of brucellosis were included into the study. Coombs anti-brucella test, ELISA Ig M and Ig G tests and Immuncapture test were investigated in these sera. Then, sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive and positive predictive values were calculated.Results: Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive and positive predictive values were found to be 90,6 %, 76,3 %, 94,2 %, and 65,9 % respectively for the Immuncapture test, whereas they were found to be 73,7 %, 58,9 %, 84,2 %, and 42,8 % for Ig G and 72,2 %, 67,8 %, 85,2 %, and 48,7 % for Ig M. The Immuncapture test was found to be compatible with ELISA Ig M and Ig G tests but it was statistically incompatible with Coombs anti-brucella test.Conclusions: Immuncapture agglutination test yields similar results to those of Coombs anti-brucella test. This test is a useful test by virtue of the fact that it determines blocking antibodies in the diagnosis and follow-up of brucellosis.