BACKGROUND:This study aimed to determine the necessity of pregnancy test in women of reproductive age admitted to emergency department (ED) in routine practice.METHODS:We retrospectively reviewed the records of patients who presented to the ED between January 1, 2006 and December 31, 2010 and received a pregnancy test.RESULTS:The median age of 1 586 patients enrolled into the study was 27 years. Of these patients, 19.55% had a positive result of pregnancy test. The most common complaint at admission was abdominal pain in 60.15% of the patients, and pregnancy test was prescribed. 15.83% of the patients with abdominal pain had a positive result of pregnancy test. Of the patients, 30.64% had nausea-vomiting at admission, and 11.52% had a positive result of pregnancy test. When other complaints were considered, the most commonly observed complaints were non-specific symptoms such as dizziness, malaise and respiratory problems. Of the patients, 70.93% were not remembering the date of last menstruation, and 9.51% showed a positive result of pregnancy test. Urinary tract infection (UTI) was commonly diagnosed with an incidence of 17.65%, which was followed by non-specific abdominal pain (NSAP) (16.77%) and gastrointestinal disorders such as gastritis and peptic ulcer (6.87%). Of the patients, 88.40% were discharged from ED, and 11.60% were hospitalized.CONCLUSION:Pregnancy test should be given to women of reproductive age as a routine practice in ED in developing countries like Turkey.

Aim: In our study, we aimed to evaluate the trauma patients who were admitted to Department of Emergency Medicine, Uludag University Hospital for demographic characteristics, triage categories, and necessity of a third-level emergency service. Materials and Methods:Data of the trauma patients admitted between November 1, 2012 and November 1, 2013 were selected by a retrospective systematic sampling. The patient age, sex, admission date, trauma mechanism, body part affected by trauma, and triage categories have been recorded. Results:In all, 3251 patients were included. Most cases were men (66%); the age of trauma exposure was 18-64 years age. Most patients were admitted between April and June, and the most frequent mechanism of trauma was sprain and crush. The hospital admission rate is higher in triages 1 and 2, and discharge rates were higher in triages 4 and 5. Conclusion:To determine the severity of the trauma patients that comprised a special group in the emergency department, triage categories can be effectively used. Considering emergency admissions, 80.4% were not found to be emergent patients group, and these patients should be referred to outpatient clinics.

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Objective: miR-1 miR-133a and miR-133b release into the circulation during the early stages of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). However, their discriminative expression pattern in ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and Non-STelevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) remains unknown. The present study aims to characterize and compare the circulating miR-1, miR-133a and miR-133b expression levels in peripheral blood samples of ACS patients to determine their discriminative expression pattern of STEMI or NSTEMI. Material and Methods: Peripheral blood samples were taken from 54 patients with ACS (27 STEMI, 27 NSTEMI) and 20 healthy volunteers. The expression levels of miR-1, miR-133a and miR-133b were measured by qRT-PCR. The association of miRNA expressions and characteristics of STEMI and NSTEMI patients were evaluated using a web-based program "RT2 Profiler PCR Array Data Analysis". Results: The expression levels of miR-1, miR-133a and miR-133b were higher in ACS than the control group (P< 0.05). However, the expression pattern of miRNAs differs between STEMI and NSTEMI patients, time-dependently. While miRNA expressions were in positive correlation with CK-MB in STEMI, they were in negative correlation in NSTEMI patients. Conclusion:Our findings suggest that the dynamic expression of miR-1, miR-133a and miR-133b could predict the severity and progression of coronary heart disease in ACS patients. Advanced functional studies and larger cohort validations are required.