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Background: This study aimed to investigate whether there are some differences between pediatric and adult patients with appendicitis., Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 279 pediatric and 275 adult patients with respect to demographics, past medical history, duration of symptoms, laboratory and radiological findings, operation notes, pathological reports, length of hospital stay and post-operative outcomes., Results: No significant differences were found with respect to gender, rates of perforation and negative appendectomy, laboratory findings, and overall outcomes between children and adults. However, our study suggests that the diagnosis is more difficult in children, the most preferred radiologic diagnostic methods are abdominal ultrasound and plain X-ray in children vs. computed tomography in adults, air-fluid levels and right-sided scoliosis are more commonly detected on X-ray in children, appendiceal perforation is more common at both extreme of ages, the appendix is perforated earlier and length of hospital stay is longer in children, and misdiagnosis at first admission in children and advanced age in adults were the risk factors associated with the complications., Conclusion: The present study found some important differences between childhood and adulthood appendicitis. If these differences are considered when evaluating the patients, more desired outcomes can be achieved for both clinicians and patients.

Background: Neonatal sepsis is one of the leading causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality in the newborn period. The purpose of this study was to compare a rapid bed-side test against central laboratory analysis for CRP in newborn infants with suspicion of sepsis., Methods: We included 23 newborn infants with suspected or proven sepsis (group 1). Age and gender matched 40 infants without sepsis were assigned as controls (group 2). A total of 116 blood samples (58 samples from each group) were drawn from the peripheral vein for C-reactive protein (CRP) measurements. For the NycoCard CRP tests, 5 microL of whole blood and the same amount of serum was used to determine the CRP value (wCRP-N and sCRP-N). As the reference CRP test, serum concentrations of CRP (CRP-Lab) were simultaneously measured by immunonephelometric method requiring 1 mL of serum sample. CRP values > or = 10 mg/L were considered positive for all three tests., Results: It was found that the median values of wCRP-N (18.9 mg/L), sCRP-N (25 mg/L), and CRP-Lab (22.2 mg/L) of group 1 were higher than group 2 (wCRP-N: 1.1 mg/L, sCRP-N: 5 mg/L, and CRP-Lab: 2.9 mg/L) (p < 0.001). Nycocard-CRP were positively correlated with CRP-Lab. With considering CRP-Lab positive at > 10 mg/L, both CRP-NycoCard tests have high sensitivity and specificity, although sCRP-N has slightly higher predictive values. Passing-Bablok regression and Bland-Altman analysis showed that NycoCard tests have no statistically significant systematic proportional bias., Conclusions: Nycocard-CRP tests have high predictive values, require a very small amount of blood, and results can be obtained quickly. Determinations of CRP concentrations by NycoCard-CRP test seems to be helpful in distinguishing septic and aseptic newborns.

The effect of single dose povidone-iodine on serum thyrotropin and thyroxine levels and urinary iodine excretion in 30 preterm, 40 full-term newborns and 50 infants at Dr. Sami Ulus Children's Hospital was studied. There was no significant change of thyroid function in any of the groups (p>0.05). Urinary iodine excretion in preterm and full-term groups elevated significantly (p<0.05). The authors conclude that patients who receive single dose povidone-iodine for skin disinfection are not at risk for thyroid disorders.

To evaluate the extent of renal parenchymal injury following high energy shock wave (HESW) application we measured the urine levels of two renal tubular brush border enzymes: leucine aminopeptidase (LAP) and gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) the day before, 24 hours and 7 days after extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in 23 patients. All patients had caliceal stones and were treated with a Dornier MPL 9000 lithotriptor under sedoanalgesia. Creatinine concentration of each sample together with total shock wave effect (TSWE) values were also assessed and comparatively evaluated with enzymuria levels. Our results indicated a statistically significant rise in urinary excretion of both enzymes after 24 hours following lithotripsy (p < 0.05). All these values returned to normal limits within 7 days after ESWL (p > 0.05). Transient tubular damage due to HESW was found to be related to TSWE values assessed in our group.