Background: The authors aimed to compare the effects of a one-time ultrasound (US)-guided subacromial corticosteroid injection and three-time ozone (O2-O3 ) injection in patients with chronic supraspinatus tendinopathy. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to the corticosteroid group (n = 22) or ozone group (n = 22). Injections in both groups were administered into subacromial bursa with an US-guided in-plane posterolateral approach. Primary outcome measure was the change in the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index (WORC) score between baseline and 12-weeks post-injection. Secondary outcome measures included visual analog scale and Shoulder Pain and Disability Index scores. Assessments were recorded at baseline, and 4-weeks and 12-weeks post-injection. Results: Forty participants completed this study. Based on repeated measurement analysis of variance, a significant effect of time was found for all outcome measures in both groups. Both the groups showed clinically significant improvements in shoulder pain, quality of life, and function. Baseline, 4-week post-injection, and 12-week post-injection WORC scores (mean ± standard deviation) were 57.91 ± 18.97, 39.10 ± 20.50 and 37.22 ± 27.31 in the corticosteroid group, respectively and 69.03 ± 15.89, 39.11 ± 24.36, and 32.26 ± 24.58 in the ozone group, respectively. However, no significant group × time interaction was identified regarding all outcome measures. Conclusions Three-time ozone injection was not superior to a one-time corticosteroid injection in patients with chronic supraspinatus tendinopathy. It might be as effective as corticosteroid injection at 4-weeks and 12-weeks post-injection in terms of relieving pain and improving quality of life and function.

OBJECTIVE: Many neurochemical systems have been implicated in the development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The prolidase enzyme is a cytosolic exopeptidase that detaches proline or hydroxyproline from the carboxyl terminal position of dipeptides. Prolidase has important biological effects, and to date, its role in the etiology of PTSD has not been studied. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate prolidase activity in patients with PTSD. METHODS: The study group consisted of patients who were diagnosed with PTSD after the earthquake that occurred in the province of Van in Turkey in 2011 (n=25); the first control group consisted of patients who experienced the earthquake but did not show PTSD symptoms (n=26) and the second control group consisted of patients who have never been exposed to a traumatic event (n=25). Prolidase activities in the patients and the control groups were determined by the ELISA method using commercial kits. RESULTS: Prolidase activity in the patient group was significantly lower when compared to the control groups. Prolidase activity was also significantly lower in the traumatized healthy subjects compared to the other healthy group (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The findings of the present study suggest that the decrease in prolidase activity may have neuroprotective effects in patients with PTSD.
Cytosol ; Dipeptides ; Earthquakes ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Exopeptidases ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Hydroxyproline ; Methods ; Neuroprotective Agents ; Proline ; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* ; Turkey

PURPOSE: Patients receiving treatment for benign prostate hyperplasia may have persistent storage symptoms. There has been increasing debate on the precision and accuracy of the International Prostate Symptom Score questionnaires over other questionnaires in evaluating all the complaints of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). The aim of this study was to perform the validity and reliability analysis of the Turkish version of the Internatinal Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Male LUTS (ICIQ-MLUTS). METHODS: Linguistic validation was studied (i.e., translation and back translation). Intelligibility was completed between October 2013 and November 2013. Data was collected between November 2013 and March 2014. The stability and reliability of the form were measured with the Cronbach test. RESULTS: In total, 117 male patients were included in the study. At the first visit, the mean age of the patients was 59 years (range, 18-84 years). For reliability, the Cronbach alpha value was 0.798, demonstrating the internal consistency of the form (r>0.7). The internal consistency of each question was examined separately and found to be over 0.7. For the evaluation of test-retest reliability, the test was administered to 116 patients for a second time with an interval of 2-4 weeks. The first and second test scores for each question were found to be correlated (r=0.741). CONCLUSIONS: ICIQ-MLUTS is a new questionnaire, which can be used for evaluating male LUTS in Turkey. We believe that the Turkish version of the ICIQ-MLUTS is an important breakthrough in our country.
Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Linguistics ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms* ; Male* ; Prostate ; Reproducibility of Results* ; Turkey

PURPOSE: To determine the proportion of patients with undetected symptoms of overactive bladder by using the overactive bladder-validated 8 (OAB-V8) screening questionnaire and investigate these symptoms were undetected in female patients who were hospitalized. METHODS: We invited 2,250 female patients hospitalized in the Aegean region of Turkey to answer a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions on evidence of lower urinary tract symptoms (OAB-V8), relevant medical history, and demographic data. Patients with a total OAB-V8 score≥8 were defined as having OAB symptoms. RESULTS: The proportion of patients with OAB symptoms in this study was 40.6%. Nearly 57% of the patients with OAB symptoms had not been previously admitted to any hospital for lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). The two most common reasons why women with OAB symptoms did not admit themselves to a hospital because of LUTS were as follows: "I did not think I had a disease" and "The symptoms did not bother me," with a response rate of 74.7%. The mean OAB-V8 scores of the patients with these two responses were significantly lower than those of the other patients (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to demonstrate a significant proportion of women with undetected OAB symptoms. The main reasons the women did not admit themselves to a hospital were their unawareness of the disease and because the LUTS were not bothersome. Public awareness programs on this disease may resolve this problem.
Diagnosis ; Female* ; Humans ; Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms ; Mass Screening ; Outpatients* ; Turkey ; Urinary Bladder, Overactive*