[en] Dobutamine stress echocardiography, Tc-99m radionuclide ventriculography (RNVG), and exercise stress testing were performed prospectively in 63 patients with suspected coronary artery disease to compare the values of exercise testing, dobutamine stress echocardiography and RNVG in the non-invasive diagnosis of coronary artery disease. The sensitivities of dobutamine stress echocardiography and RNVG were found to be higher than that of exercise testing (93-62%, p<0.001; 83-62%, p<0.05). The sensitivities of dobutamine stress echocardiography and RNVG were similar (p>0.05). There were no differences between the sensitivities of the three techniques in multiple vessel disease (p>0.05). The specificities of dobutamine stress echocardiography and RNVG were higher than that of exercise testing (for both of the tests 86-62%, p<0.05). The diagnostic accuracy of dobutamine stress echocardiography and RNVG were similar (p>0.05). The results of dobutamine stress echocardiography RNVG were concordant with each other in 46 patients (76%, kappa=65%) in sectional analysis. Dobutamine stress echocardiography and RNVG tests were comparable with each other in 85% of the 189 segments (kappa=64%). The expected 5% decrease at peak doses of dobutamine was not detected in stress echocardiography in 25 patients and in RNVG in 26 of the patients. Dobutamine stress echocardiography and RNVG are superior to exercise testing in the diagnosis of single vessel disease and there is no significant difference between the two techniques. When the ejection fraction is considered in dobutamine stress echocardiography and RNVG, it does not make an additional contribution to the diagnosis of coronary artery disease. (author)

[en] To compare the value of exercise electrocardiography with dobutamine stress echocardiography and exercise technetium-99m isonitrile single-photon emission computed tomography for coronary artery disease, 70 patients with either suspected or proven coronary artery disease underwent dobutamine stress echocardiography, exercise technetium-99m isonitrile single-photon emission computed tomography (mibi-SPECT) and treadmill exercise electrocardiography (ECG). Dobutamine echocardiography and exercise mibi-SPECT revealed a higher overall sensitivity than exercise testing (90 vs 57%, p<0.001; 96 vs 57%, p<0.001, respectively). Dobutamine stress echocardiography showed a higher specificity than both exercise mibi-SPECT and treadmill exercise electrocardiography (90 vs 71%, p>0.05; 90 and 62% p<0.05, respectively) but the difference between dobutamine stress echocardiography and exercise mibi-SPECT was not statistically significant. Diagnostic accuracy of dobutamine stress echocardiography and exercise mibi-SPECT was higher than that of exercise testing (90 vs 59%, p<0.001; 89 vs 59%, p<0.001, respectively). Dobutamine stress echocardiography and exercise mibi-SPECT have superiority over exercise testing in the diagnosis of coronary artery disease and dobutamine stress echocardiography is an alternative for exercise mibi-SPECT. (author)

[en] Objective: To compare the outcomes between two methods of dissection (balloon trocar vs. telescopic dissection) used in total extra-peritoneal (TEP) inguinal hernia repair. Study Design: Comparative study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya University, conducted between January 2018 and January 2020. Methodology: The study included patients who underwent elective TEP inguinal hernia repair. Preoperative and early postoperative results were compared, after the patients had been divided into a balloon trocar group (Group 1) and telescopic dissection group (Group 2). The technique performed depended on equipment availability. Permission was obtained from the Institutional Review Board. The study data are presented as descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, median, first quartile, third quartile, frequency and percentage); p-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 189 patients were included; 95 patients in Group 1 and 94 patients in Group 2. No significant differences in age, gender, body mass index, body weight, ASA performance status, operating time, duration of hospitalisation or postoperative bleeding values were observed between the groups (p >0.05). European Hernia Society Quality of Life pain score values were higher in Group 2 than Group 1 (p = 0.016). Conclusion: Telescopic dissection was cheaper than balloon dissection. The bleeding values and operating time were similar between the two methods, but telescopic dissection caused more postoperative pain. (author)

[en] To analyse the efficiency of thyroid function tests (thyroid stimulating hormone, thyroxine and tri-iodothyronine) on prediction of postoperative atrial fibrillation. Study Design: Meta-analysis. Place of Study: Siyami Ersek Chest and Cardiovascular Surgery Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Methodology: Literature review was carried out in PubMed, Science Direct and Ovid Database. No date limitations was applied. Trials, which evaluated the preoperative levels of thyroid stimulating hormone, thyroxine and tri-iodothyronine in cardiac surgery patients, were included. Only the articles in English language were reviewed. We evaluated the results with fix or random effect models according to the presence of heterogeneity (I2 >25%). Results: Five hundred and forty-seven articles were obtained after screening of databases. After checking over the titles and abstracts, five trials were included which covered 380 patients and complied with inclusion criteria. According to results of analysis, there was no significant relationship between postoperative atrial fibrillation and thyroid stimulating hormone (SMD: 0.38, 95%CI -0.46-1.23, p=0.375), and also thyroxine (SMD: 0.006, 95% CI -0.29-0.30, p=0.966). However, tri-iodothyronine (SMD: -1.06, 95% CI -2.08- -0.03, p=0.04) was correlated with development of atrial fibrillation. Heterogeneity was observed in three parameters (I2; for TSH: 92.45%, for T3: 93.08% and for T4: 31.78%). Conclusion: Preoperative levels of tri-iodothyronine was an effective parameter for predicting postoperative atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery, but there was a need of larger trials for eliminating heterogeneity for all of the parameters of thyroid function tests. (author)

[en] We present performance studies of a full-length prototype for the CASTOR quartz-tungsten sampling calorimeter, installed in the very forward region of the CMS experiment at the LHC. The response linearity and energy resolution, the uniformity, as well as the showers' spatial properties in the prototype have been studied with electrons, pions and muons of various energies. A special study was also carried out for testing the light-output with a 90-degree cut of the quartz plates of the calorimeter. The data were taken during the CASTOR test beam at CERN/SPS in 2007. (orig.)