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Background: Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels predict coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. We investigated LDH isoenzyme levels to identify the tissue responsible for serum LDH elevation in patients with COVID-19. Methods: Hospitalised COVID-19 patients with serum LDH levels exceeding the upper reference limit included. LDH isoenzymes were detected quantitatively on agarose gels. The radiological severity of lung involvement on computed tomography was scored as 0-5 for each lobe (total possible score, 0-25). Disease severity was determined using the World Health Organization (WHO) clinical progression scale. Results: In total, 111 patients (mean age, 59.96 ± 16.14), including 43 females (38.7%), were enrolled. The serum levels of total LDH and all five LDH isoenzymes were significantly higher in the severe group. The levels of all LDH isoenzymes excluding LDH5 positively correlated with the WHO score. LDH3 levels correlated with chest computed tomography findings (r2 = 0.267, p = 0.005). On multivariate analysis, LDH3 was an independent risk factor for the deterioration of COVID-19. Conclusions: LDH3 appears to be an independent risk factor for deterioration in patients with COVID-19. LDH elevation in patients with COVID-19 predominantly resulted from lung, liver and muscle damage.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and cystic fibrosis (CF) are chronic conditions that profoundly impact quality of life. OSA, characterized by repeated episodes of upper airway collapse, can exacerbate CF symptoms due to nocturnal airway obstruction. Recent studies highlight the prevalence of OSA in CF patients, especially in adults, and its detrimental effects on health and quality of life. From April 2019 to December 2021, we conducted a study with 104 bronchiectasis patients at Marmara University Pendik Training and Research Hospital. After exclusions, 70 participants (35 CF and 35 non-CF) were included. Sleep parameters were assessed with polysomnography, and depressive mood was evaluated using the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). Daytime sleepiness was measured using the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS). The statistical analyses included t-tests, chi-square tests, and logistic regression. Among the CF patients, depressive mood was significantly associated with female sex (OR: 4.28, 95% CI: 1.27–12.04) and anemia (OR: 7.87, 95% CI: 1.50–41.27). Higher ESS scores indicated greater daytime sleepiness in the depressive groups (p = 0.051). Depressive CF patients also had a significantly longer disease duration and more frequent annual exacerbations. No significant differences were found in total sleep time, sleep efficiency, or sleep stages between the depressive and non-depressive groups. A lower forced vital capacity (FVC) was observed in the depressive CF patients, although not significantly. Depression is prevalent among adult CF patients with OSA, with significant associations with female sex and anemia. These findings underscore the need for integrated care addressing both physical and mental health aspects, including interventions for respiratory symptoms, anemia management, and sleep quality enhancement to improve overall quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: With the significant increase in the life expectancy of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, many individuals now reach adulthood and develop specific coping strategies to maintain their physical and mental well-being. This study aims to evaluate coping styles and their relationship with mental health and Health-Related Quality of Life (H-RQoL) in adult CF patients. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Thirty adult CF patients completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale to assess anxiety and depression, the Cystic Fibrosis Questionnaire—Revised to evaluate quality of life, and the Brief Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced questionnaire to assess coping strategies. RESULTS: Twelve individuals (40%) met the diagnostic criteria for being at risk of experiencing anxiety and/or depression. Anxiety risk group exhibited lower life quality scores in the domains of vitality, emotional functioning, and role limitations (P = .027, P = .001, and P = .001, respectively). Patients reporting depressive symptoms had lower scores in emotional functioning and role limitations domains of quality of life (P = .005 and P = .018, respectively). Multivariate analysis indicated that depression and anxiety scores were significant predictors of emotional quality of life. In terms of coping strategies, “acceptance” was the most commonly preferred, while “substance use” was the least preferred strategy among all participants. Patients at risk of anxiety and/or depression often chose “avoidance” as their coping strategy. CONCLUSION: Anxiety and depressive symptoms are prevalent and associated with poorer H-RQoL in adult CF patients. These patients preferred to employ giving up strategy when dealing with the disease. Therefore, it is essential to screen adult CF patients for mental health risks and to work on improving their coping strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Drug-related problems (DRPs) result in serious problems among hospitalized patients, high rates of morbidity and mortality, and increased healthcare costs. This study aimed to identify DRPs by clinical pharmacist-led medication review in hospitalized probable patients with coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the COVID-19 inpatient services of a tertiary university hospital in Türkiye for 3 months (between March 2020 and June 2020) and included hospitalized confirmed or probable COVID-19 patients. The World Health Organization and Turkish Ministry of Health Guidelines case definitions were used to define confirmed and probable COVID-19 patients. Six clinical pharmacy residents provided medication review services during their education and training. DRPs were classified based on the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe V9.00. The physician's acceptance rate of clinical pharmacists' recommendations was assessed. Results: Among 202 hospitalized patients with probable or confirmed COVID-19, 132 (65.3%) had at least one drug-related problem. Two hundred and sixty-four DRPs were identified. Drug selection (85.6%) and dose selection (9.2%) were the most common causes of these problems. Among the 80 clinical pharmacist interventions, 48.8% were accepted by the physicians. Conclusion: Clinical pharmacists identified a significant number of DRPs during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those related to drug interactions and drug safety, such as adverse drug reactions. This study highlights the importance of detecting and responding to DRPs in the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Lifelong anticoagulation is the cornerstone of the chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) treatment regardless of the additional pulmonary endarterectomy, balloon pulmonary angioplasty, or medical treatment alone. Aim of this study was to evaluate the rate of oral anticoagulant preferences and document direct oral anticoagulants’ (DOACs’) safety, efficacy in the CTEPH population. Methods Patients’ demographic data obtained from database between September 2011 and April 2018. In-hospital events, death, venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence, bleeding events and anticoagulant therapy transition were recorded. Results We reviewed 501 CTEPH patients who observed 9.0 ± 8.5 years. All-cause death, all bleeding, recurrent VTE was observed in 15.6%, 31% and 12%. Forty-one patients (8.2%) were diagnosed as inoperable. Of all, 15.2% of operable patients remained as residual. All-cause mortality rates were 13.8% (57 pts.) in the warfarin group as compared with 9.7% (13 pts.) in rivaroxaban group (HR: 1.61, 95% CI, 0.89–2.99; p : 0.11). Higher bleeding events occurred with warfarin group (27.1%) as compared with rivaroxaban (24.6%; HR: 1.28, 95% CI, 0.86–1.88; p : 0.22). Major bleeding was significantly higher with warfarin group (HR: 1.94, 95% CI, 1.05–3.62; p : 0.03). Subgroup analysis of all-cause death revealed that this significance dominated by the rate of death according to bleeding events; warfarin versus those seen with rivaroxaban (4.85% vs. 2.2%; HR: 4.75, 95% CI: 1.12–20.16; p = 0.03). The rate of recurrent VTE was found 8.9% in the rivaroxaban group, 10.9% in warfarin group (HR: 1.21, 95% CI, 0.64–2.23; p : 0.55). Conclusion DOACs could be a safe and effective alternative for lifelong anticoagulant therapy in CTEPH patients. Rivaroxaban produced similar rates of thromboembolism and non-relevant bleeding compared to those associated with warfarin. The main difference was found with major bleeding that it was mainly associated with the death rate according to major bleeding. Using DOACs might be a more reasonable way to prevent bleeding events without increasing thromboembolic risk.

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the muscle thickness, strength, and diaphragmatic function and relate them with clinical findings. Patients and methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted with 54 participants (27 males, 27 females; mean age; 24.5±5.3 years; range, 18 to 45 years) between January 2017 and October 2017. Of the participants, 31 were adult CF patients, and 23 were age-and sex-matched controls. Patient demographics, 6-min walk distance, body mass index (BMI), and fat-free mass index (FFMI) were evaluated. Each patient underwent pulmonary function tests. Quadriceps femoris thickness and diaphragm thickening fraction were assessed by ultrasonography. Upper extremity strength was measured with a handheld dynamometer. Results: There was no difference between the patients’ and controls’ BMI (p=0.052). However, patients’ FFMI was lower than the controls’ (p=0.010). The FFMI correlated with pulmonary function tests. Patients’ both right and left quadriceps femoris muscles were thinner than the controls (p=0.001 and p=0.001, respectively). Patients with pancreatic insufficiency had thinner muscles than patients without pancreatic insufficiency. The control group had a stronger handgrip than CF patients (33.5±10.1 vs. 24.5±9.2 kg, p=0.003). Conclusion: Peripheral muscle wasting and weakness and lower functional capacity are highly prevalent in CF patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Right heart functions are affected in patients with bronchiectasis as a result of pulmonary hypertension induced by chronic hypoxemia. Pulmonary artery wall thickness has recently been introduced as a sign of intensive and prolonged inflammation. The aim of this study was to analyze right ventricular and right atrial functions and to measure pulmonary artery wall thickness in patients with cystic fibro sis-b ronch iecta sis in comparison to those with noncystic fibro sis-b ronch iecta sis and healthy individuals. Methods: We studied 36 patients with cystic fibro sis-b ronch iecta sis, 34 patients with noncystic fibro sis-b ronch iecta sis, and 32 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Lung function tests were performed. All subjects underwent comprehensive echocardiographic evaluation including conventional, tissue Doppler, speckle-tracking, and pulmonary artery wall thickness measurements. Results: Right ventricular global longitudinal strain and global longitudinal right atrial strain during ventricular systole decreased in cystic fibro sis-b ronch iecta sis group compared with noncystic fibro sis-b ronch iecta sis and control groups (P < .001, both). Conversely, pulmonary artery wall thickness was increased in cystic fibro sis-b ronch iecta sis group in comparison to other groups (P < .001). Moreover, right ventricular global longitudinal strain was lower and pulmonary artery wall thickness was higher in patients with airflow obstruction (P < .001 and P = .025, respectively) than in those without. Only right ventricular global longitudinal strain was significantly correlated with pulmonary function test parameters. The negative effect of cystic fibrosis on right ventricular and right atrial functions was independent of age, gender, and disease duration. Conclusion: Our study showed that right ventricular and right atrial functions were deteriorated and pulmonary artery wall was thickened in cystic fibro sis-b ronch iecta sis patients more than noncystic fibro sis-b ronch iecta sis patients. Right ventricular global longitudinal strain detected subclinical right ventricular dysfunction and was associated with the severity of pulmonary disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Behçet's disease (BD) is a unique systemic vasculitis mainly involving veins, in contrast to other vasculitides. Prior studies have shown that pulmonary arteries (PAs) have a similar structure to systemic veins. In this study we aimed to assess PA wall thickness by transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) in BD patients compared with healthy controls (HCs) and patients with non-inflammatory pulmonary embolism (NIPE). Methods Patients with BD (n  = 77) and NIPE (n  = 33) and HCs (n  = 57) were studied. PA wall thickness was measured from the mid-portion of the main PA with TTE by two cardiologists blinded to cases. Results PA wall thickness was significantly lower in HCs [3.6 mm (s. d. 0.3)] compared with NIPE [4.4 mm (s. d. 0.5)] and BD [4.4 mm (s. d. 0.6)] (P  < 0.001 for both). PA wall thickness was similar between BD and NIPE (P  = 0.6). Among patients with BD, PA wall thickness was significantly higher in patients with major organ involvement compared with mucocutaneous limited disease [4.7 mm (s. d. 0.4) vs 3.7 (0.4), P  < 0.001], HCs and NIPE (P  < 0.001 and P  = 0.006, respectively). PA wall thickness was comparable between patients with vascular and non-vascular major organ involvement [4.6 mm (s. d. 0.5) vs 4.7 (0.3), P  = 0.3]. Conclusion We observed that PA wall thickness was significantly higher in BD with major organ involvement compared with patients with only mucocutaneous limited disease, HCs and NIPE. These results suggest that increased PA wall thickness may be a sign of severe disease with major organ involvement in BD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]