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OBJECTIVE There is still a group of patient that have unpredictable risk for the development of contrast nephropathy (CN). There is also an effort to find more effficient strategies to prevent CN. Carvedilol, metoprolol and nebivolol seem to have theoretical potentials for the prevention of CN. In this study, we aimed to investigate their effects on the prevention of CN. We also aimed to define the risk factors associated with the development of CN in our study group. METHODS In this prospective, cross-sectional study, the patients were divided into four groups according to whether they were taking 25 mg/day carvedilol (n:56), 5 mg/day nebivolol (n:60), 50 mg/day metoprolol (n:68) or none (n:63). We made analysis to determine the agents' efficiency on the prevention of CN. We also performed multiple logistic regression analysis including all groups to define the risk factors associated with CN. RESULTS The incidents of CN were the lowest in the carvedilol group (4%) while the worst performance occurred in those taking metoprolol (10%). The difference between the groups in terms of the development of CN did not reach statistical significance (p>0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed age (p=0.003), higher triglyceride levels (p=0.011) and family history of coronary artery disease (p=0.038) to be the predictors of CN. CONCLUSION In this study, we didn't find any relation between the development of CN and carvedilol, metoprolol or nebivolol usage. We found age, higher levels of triglyceride and family history of coronary artery disease to be risk factors for predicting CN.

Objective There are still contradictory data in the literature whether patients with acromegaly are under risk in terms of atherosclerotic heart disease. Increased arterial stiffness develops before atherosclerosis and is evaluated to be a risk factor for atherosclerosis. Mean platelet volume (MPV) is currently gaining interest as a new independent cardiovascular risk factor. There are contrasting views about arterial stiffness in patients with acromegaly. There is no report in literature studying MPV in acromegaly patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate MPV and arterial stiffness in patients with acromegaly. Methods This study was designed as an observational cross-sectional, case-controlled study. Twenty-eight patients with acromegaly and 22 healthy volunteers were recruited for the study. The arteriography device Mobil-O-Graph® (IEM GmbH. Stolberg, Germany) which can perform oscillometric measurements was used to measure arterial stiffness. The Mann-Whitney U test, Student's t-test, Spearman's nonparametric correlation analysis and the chi-square test were used to statistical analyze. Results Aortic pulse wave velocity (PWV) value was found to be 6.41 ± 2.12 m/s in the patient group with active acromegaly and 5.24 ± 1.04 m/s in the healthy control group. The difference was statistically significant (p=0.03). The mean MPV value was found to be 9.68 ± 1.11 in the patient group with active acromegaly and 8.53 ± 1.18 in the healthy control group. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (p=0.004). In patients with acromegaly, a positive correlation was found between MPV and insulin-like growth hormone-I (IGF-1) level (p=0.021, r=0.434). Conclusion We determined an increase in aortic PWV and MPV in patients with acromegaly. In conclusion, evaluation of MPV and arterial stiffness in future studies could be beneficial in determining the risks for cardiovascular disease in patients with acromegaly.