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Abstract Bromobenzene (BB) is a hazardous environmental contaminant because of its multiple routes of exposure and the toxicity of its bio-derivates. It could elicit neuronal alterations by stimulating redox imbalance and apoptotic pathways. Gum Arabic (GA) protected the hippocampus of a type 2 diabetic rat model from cognitive decline. Whether gum Arabic nanoemulsion (GANE) can increase the neuroprotectant potency of GA in fighting BB-associated neurological lesions is the question to be answered. To accomplish this objective, 25 adult male Wistar rats were randomly and equally assigned into five groups. Control received olive oil (vehicle of BB). BB group received BB at a dose of 460 mg/kg BW. Blank nanoemulsion (BNE) group supplemented with BNE at 2 mL of 10% w/v aqueous suspension/kg BW. GANE group received GANE at a dose of 2 mL of 10% w/v aqueous suspension/kg BW. BB + GANE group exposed to BB in concomitant with GANE at the same previous doses. All interventions were carried out daily by oral gavage for ten consecutive days. BB caused a marked increase in malondialdehyde and succinate dehydrogenase together with a marked decrease in reduced glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and lactate dehydrogenase in the brain. BB was accompanied by pathological deteriorations, amyloidosis, and reduced immuno-expression of integrase interactor 1 in the hippocampal region. Administration of GANE was beneficial in reversing the aforementioned abnormalities. These results pave the road for further discovery of nano-formulated natural products to counter the threats of BB.

Objective: Surgery for foot drop secondary to lumbar degenerative disease is not always associated with postoperative functional improvement. It is still unclear whether early decompression results in better functional recovery and how soon surgery should be performed. This study aimed to evaluate predicting factors that affect short- and long-term recovery outcomes and to explore the relationship between timing of lumbar decompression and recovery from foot drop in an attempt to identify a cutoff time from symptom onset until decompression for optimal functional improvement., Methods: The authors collected demographic, clinical, and radiographic data on patients who underwent surgery for foot drop due to lumbar degenerative disease. Clinical data included tibialis anterior muscle (TAM) strength before and after surgery, duration of preoperative motor weakness, and duration of radicular pain until surgery. TAM strength was recorded at the immediate postoperative period and 1 month after surgery while long-term follow-up on functional outcomes were obtained at ≥ 2 years postsurgery by telephone interview. Data including degree and duration of preoperative motor weakness as well as the occurrence of pain and its duration were collected to analyze their impact on short- and long-term outcomes., Results: The majority of patients (70%) showed functional improvement within 1 month postsurgery and 40% recovered to normal or near-normal strength. Univariate analysis revealed a trend toward lower improvement rates in patients with preoperative weakness of more than 3 weeks (33%) compared with patients who were operated on earlier (76.5%, p = 0.034). In a multivariate analysis, the only significant predictor for maximal strength recovery was TAM strength before surgery (OR 6.80, 95% CI 1.38-33.42, p = 0.018). Maximal recovery by 1 month after surgery was significantly associated with sustained long-term functional improvement (p = 0.006)., Conclusions: Early surgery may improve the recovery rate in patients with foot drop caused by lumbar degenerative disease, yet the strongest predictor for the extent of recovery is the severity of preoperative TAM weakness. Maximal recovery in the short-term postoperative period is associated with sustained long-term functional improvement and independence.

Purpose: Pediatric brain incidentalomas are increasingly being diagnosed. As the posterior fossa (PF) is the location of most brain tumors in children, lesions of this region are of special interest. Currently, the natural history of incidental lesions in the PF is unknown. We present our experience treating such lesions., Methods: A retrospective study was carried out in two large tertiary pediatric centers. Patients were included if they had an incidental PF lesion suspected of being a tumor, and diagnosed before the age of 20 years. We analyzed treatment strategy, pathology, and outcome of operated and non-operated cases., Results: Seventy children (31 females) with a mean age of 8.4 ± 6.1 years were included. The three most common indications for imaging were headaches (16, assumed to be unrelated to the lesions), workup of unrelated conditions (14), and unspecified reasons (14). Twenty-seven patients (39%) were operated immediately, and 43 followed, of which 12 were eventually operated due to radiological changes, 28.9 ± 16.2 months after diagnosis. The most commonly found pathology was pilocytic astrocytomas (21 of 39 operated cases). Almost 10% were found to be malignant tumors including medulloblastomas (5) and ATRT (1)., Conclusion: Incidental PF lesions in children include both benign and malignant tumors. While certain lesions may be followed, others may require surgical treatment. Specific treatment decisions are based on initial radiological appearance, change in radiological characteristics over time, location, and evolving symptoms. The surgical risks must be balanced vis-à-vis the risk of missing a high-grade tumor and the very rare risk of malignant transformation.

Purpose: The miniaturized percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mPNL) can be performed by using a very wide range of different access sheaths (14-22 Fr).It has been well known that tract size is one of the main parameters affecting the complication rates in PNL. We aimed to compare 21 Fr with 16.5 Fr mPNL tract sizes in adult patients., Material and Methods: From May 2013 to April 2018, 604 patients with kidney stone underwent mPNL in our department. The study was designed as retrospective and match-pair analysis was the preferred method for the formation of groups.  The 21 Fr mPNL cases were matched with 16.5 Fr mPNL cases at a 1:1 ratio, according to the patients' age, gender, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, stone characteristics (stone size, opacity and localization) and hydronephrosis. Patients with solitary kidney, renal anomalies, musculoskeletal abnormalities, and pediatric patients (< 18 years old) were excluded from the study. Both groups (21 Fr and 16.5 Fr) were compared in terms of demographics, stone characteristics, operative data and post-operative outcomes., Results: A total of 260 patients were included in the study (130; 21 Fr mPNL group and 130; 16.5 Fr mPNL group). The operation time was significantly shorter in 21 Fr group (21 Fr; 85.2±37.5, 16.5 Fr; 101.7±37.7 minutes, p: 0.001). Complete stone clearance rates were 76.9% and 62.3% in 21 Fr and 16.5 Fr mPNL, respectively (p: 0.01). There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of overall operative and post-operative complications. However, in subgroups analysis, post-operative fever was higher in 16,5 Fr mPNL (4 patients in 16.5 Fr, no patients in 21 Fr group, p: 0.044); steinstrasse, renal colic and post-operative JJ stent requirement rates were higher in 21 Fr mPNL procedure (p: 0.018, p: 0.031 and p: 0.046, respectively). The hospitalization time was significantly higher in 21 Fr (p: 0.01)., Conclusions: Although 21 Fr mPNL procedure has advantages such as better success rates and shorter operation time, some post-operative complications (steinstrasse, renal colic, post-operative JJ stent requirement) are against of 21 Fr mPNL when compared with 16.5 Fr mPNL procedure. Further randomized prospective studies with larger patient volume are needed to confirm these results.

Purpose: To evaluate patients, diagnosed with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, according to patient specific parameters including hemoglobin level, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), body mass index (BMI) and cigarette smoking and to identify if any of these parameters matters in terms of recurrence prediction., Methods: 231 patients who have undergone transurethral resection of the bladder (TURB) between January 2015 and January 2018 and diagnosed with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) were included. Patient demographic characteristics including age, sex, BMI and cigarette smoking were assessed. Hemoglobin, creatinine and eGFR values were recorded. Follow-up was performed according to the European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines' recommendations. Recurrence and progression during follow-up were recorded., Results: 231 patients were included in the study. Median patient BMI, Hb levels, and eGFR values were 26.51 kg/m2 (IQR 5.48), 14,2 g/dL (IQR 2.50), and 83.25 ml/min/1.73m2 (IQR 27.83), respectively. Among all patients, 105 (45%) were ex-smokers and 78 (33%) were current smokers, 41 had anemia (17.7%), 37 (16%) patients were obese; 104 (45%) had mildly impaired renal function and 34 (14.7%) had impaired renal function. During follow-up, 67 (29%) patients had disease recurrence and 21 (9.1%) had disease progression (9.1%). Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed significant relationship between recurrence and obesity, impaired renal function and cigarette smoking., Conclusions: Recurrence is a commonly encountered unfortunate consequence of NMIBC, and obesity, renal failure, history of smoking and anemia seem to increase the rate of recurrence among bladder cancer patients.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine the duration that antibiotherapy should have in order to make total prostate-specific antigen (tPSA) levels decrease to normal ranges in patients without prostatitis symptoms but with total PSA levels around 4.01-9.9 ng/dL., Methods: A total of 129 male patients were enrolled and divided into either study group (N.=102) or control group (N.=27). The study group received a 21-day treatment with ofloxacin 400 mg/day, while the control group did not receive any treatment. tPSA and free PSA levels were measured on the 7th, 14th and 21st day, and at the 3rd, 6th, and 12th month of the study. tPSA levels and the number of patients whose tPSA levels decreased ≤4.0 ng/dL levels was recorded and analyzed for statistical significance., Results: At 7, 14, and 21 days mean tPSA values were all lower than baseline values and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). Of 102 patients 31, 38 and 36 patients had decreased tPSA levels at 7, 14, and 21 days, respectively. But when we compared 7th day mean tPSA levels with days 14 and 21, we found no statistical differences (P>0.05). Sixty-six patients had persistently high tPSA levels and 64 of them underwent prostate biopsy. Prostate cancer was detected in 8 of them (12.5%)., Conclusions: A seven-day course of antibiotherapy is enough to normalize PSA levels in gray-zone patients. If recurrence of PSA increase is seen during follow-up, antibiotherapy can be useful again in those patients who previously benefited from it, while it will prove unnecessary in those who did not have their tPSA level normalized by it.

Unlabelled: Fifteen patients with small testicular masses not suspected to be malignant were included in the study, and permanent and frozen section analyses were evaluated. As a result frozen analysis, preoperative externalization of the suspected malignancy with a physical examination, ultrasonographic evaluation, and serum tumor marker analysis were concluded as key points for accurate decision making between TSS and radical orchiectomy., Background: We aimed to determine the safety, efficacy, and the concordance of permanent and frozen section analysis (FSA) of testis-sparing surgery (TSS) in patients who had small testicular masses that were not suspected to be malignant., Patients and Methods: Fifteen patients who underwent TSS were included in the study. TSS was performed for the patients who had testicular lesions <25 mm and testicular lesion volume <30% of the whole testis. All patients had normal serum tumor marker levels and ultrasonographic evaluation did not indicate malignancy. Surgery was performed via an inguinal approach with temporary cord occlusion and FSA of the lesions. Benign findings allowed for TSS, and cancer prompted total orchiectomy., Results: The mean patient age was 25.33 (range, 20-36) years. The predominant complaint was swelling (9 patients). The mean lesion diameter was 16 mm (range, 5-26 mm). Fourteen of all cases (93%) had benign pathology and underwent TSS. Only 1 patient, whose FSA revealed malignant formation, underwent radical orchiectomy. Final pathology of this patient was seminoma. Complete histopathologic concordance was observed between the results of frozen and permanent sections. TSS was performed with no intra- or postoperative complications. After a mean follow-up of 23 months (range, 6-44 months) all patients, except 3 who were lost to follow-up, were free of disease., Conclusion: The main key points for accurate decision-making between TSS and radical orchiectomy are intraoperative FSA and preoperative externalization of possible suspected malignancy with physical examination, ultrasonographic evaluation, and serum tumor marker analysis., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Context and Objective: Lasers are widely used in treating symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia. In current practice, potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) lasers are the most common type of laser systems used. The aim here was to evaluate the rapid effect of high-power laser systems after application of hypericin., Design and Setting: Experimental animal study conducted in the Department of Urology, Gülhane Military Medical Academy, Ankara, Turkey, in 2012., Methods: Sixteen rats were randomized into four groups: 120 W KTP laser + hypericin; 120 W KTP laser alone; 80 W KTP laser + hypericin; and 80 W KTP laser alone. Hypericin was given intraperitoneally two hours prior to laser applications. The laser incisions were made through the quadriceps muscle of the rats. The depth and the width of the laser incisions were evaluated histologically and recorded., Results: To standardize the effects of the laser, we used the ratio of depth to width. These new values showed us the depth of the laser application per unit width. The new values acquired were evaluated statistically. Mean depth/width values were 231.6, 173.6, 214.1 and 178.9 in groups 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The most notable result was that higher degrees of tissue penetration were achieved in the groups with hypericin (P < 0.05)., Conclusions: The encouraging results from our preliminary study demonstrated that hypericin may improve the effects of KTP laser applications.