PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of the combined procedure in the management of involutional entropion. METHODS: In this study, we reviewed 45 eyes of 36 patients who underwent the combined procedure (lateral tarsal strip, retractor tightening, and everting sutures) for the management of involutional lower eyelid entropion and compared the results with 31 eyes of 25 patients who underwent the Wies procedure. Exclusion criteria included previous lower eyelid surgery and follow-up of less than 6 months. RESULTS: No patients demonstrated entropion on the first postoperative day. The mean follow-up period was 18.4 months (6 to 52 months) in the Wies group and 22.6 months (6 to 59 months) in the combined procedure group. During the follow-up period, 9 of 31 eyes in the Wies group presented with recurrence and only 1 of 45 eyes in the combined procedure group presented with recurrence (p = 0.001). The average time of recurrence was 4.8 months in the Wies group. Recurrence occurred at 2 months postoperatively in the patient in the combined procedure group. Six of the 9 recurrences in the Wies group were managed by the combined procedure. None of these patients had further recurrence after correction. Three patients complained about a visible incision line after the Wies procedure. CONCLUSIONS: The combined procedure seems to be more effective than the Wies procedure in the management of involutional entropion. The combined procedure addresses the three major causative factors in involutional entropion and makes it possible to perform the surgery using a small incision.
Adult ; Aged ; Blepharoplasty/*methods ; Entropion/*surgery ; Eyelids/*surgery ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Suture Techniques/*instrumentation ; *Sutures ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVES: The purpose is to investigate effect of septoplasty and widened nasal patency on voice quality. METHODS: Fifty patients who undergone septoplasty were included in the study. Thirty-three people who had similar age and distribution were enrolled as control group. Before and 1 and 3 months after surgery, anterior rhinomanometry, voice analysis by Multi-Dimensional Voice Program, and spectrographic analysis were performed to patients. The recordings of /a/ vowel were used to evaluate average fundamental frequency (F0), jitter percent, and shimmer percent. In spectrographic analyses, F3–F4 values for the vowels /i, e, a, o, and u/, nasal formant frequencies of the consonants /m/ and /n/ in the word /mini/, and 4 formant frequencies (F1, F2, F3, and F4) for nasalized /i/ vowel following a nasal consonant /n/ in the word /mini/ were compared. The differences in nasal resonance were evaluated. All patients were asked whether change in their voices after the surgery. Preoperative and postoperative voice parameters and anterior rhinomanometry results were compared separately with the control group as well as in the patient group itself. RESULTS: Preoperative total nasal resistance (TNR) values of patients were higher than the control group (P=0.001). TNR values of patients measured one day before surgery and after surgery in the 1st and 3rd months were different and these differences were significant statistically (P=0.001). There was no significant difference between the voice analysis parameters in preoperative, postoperative 1st, and 3rd months. As a result of their subjective reviews, 12 patients (36%) noted their voices were better than before surgery and 20 patients (61%) noted no change before and after surgery. CONCLUSION: Providing widened nasal cavity has no effect on voice quality.
Humans ; Nasal Cavity ; Nasal Septum ; Rhinomanometry ; Voice Quality* ; Voice*

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Systemic inflammation has an important role in the initiation of atherosclerosis, which is associated with arterial stiffness (AS). Aortic flow propagation velocity (APV) is a new echocardiographic parameter of aortic stiffness. The relationship between systemic inflammation and AS has not yet been described in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). We aimed to investigate the early markers of AS in patients with FMF by measuring APV and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Sixty-one FMF patients (43 women; mean age 27.3±6.7 years) in an attack-free period and 57 healthy individuals (36 women; mean age 28.8±7.1 years) were included in this study. The individuals with atherosclerotic risk factors were excluded from the study. The flow propagation velocity of the descending aorta and CIMT were measured to assess AS. RESULTS: APV was significantly lower (60.2±16.5 vs. 89.5±11.6 cm/sec, p<0.001) and CIMT was significantly higher (0.49±0.09 vs. 0.40±0.10 mm, p<0.001) in the FMF group compared to the control group. There were significant correlations between APV and mean CIMT (r=-0.424, p<0.001), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (r=-0.198, p=0.032), and left ventricle ejection fraction (r=0.201, p=0.029). APV and the ESR were independent predictors of FMF in logistic regression analysis (OR=-0.900, 95% CI=0.865-0.936, p<0.001 and OR=-1.078, 95% CI=1.024-1.135, p=0.004, respectively). Mean CIMT and LVEF were independent factors associated with APV in linear regression analysis (β=-0.423, p<0.001 and β=0.199, p=0.017, respectively). CONCLUSION: We demonstrated that APV was lower in FMF patients and is related to CIMT. According to our results, APV may be an independent predictor of FMF.
Aorta, Thoracic ; Atherosclerosis ; Blood Sedimentation ; Carotid Intima-Media Thickness ; Echocardiography ; Familial Mediterranean Fever* ; Female ; Heart Ventricles ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Linear Models ; Logistic Models ; Observational Study* ; Risk Factors ; Vascular Stiffness