Browsing by Author "Incekas, Caner"

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Assessment of Pain, Joint Range of Motion, and Balance in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis
(2023) Dag, Muhlis Yigitcan; Ergun, Ahmet; Incekas, Caner; Afsar, Sevgi Ikbali
Evaluation of the COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test
(2023) Sanli, Ozlem Oguc; Kuscu, Ozlem Ozkan; Incekas, Caner; 0000-0001-7899-0233; 0000-0001-9019-423X
Introduction: Coronavirus disease, is an infectious disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2. The gold standard method to diagnose is the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction test. Rapid antigen tests can also be used for diagnosis. This study aims to compare the results of these two methods.Materials and Methods: Between November 2021 and July 2022, the study included 1811 patients who visited the emergency depart-ment with coronavirus-related symptoms and signs. Respiratory samples from these patients were simultaneously evaluated using both reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and rapid antigen tests. The reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction tests were conducted using the BioSpeedy SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction kit (Bioeksen-Turkiye), while the rapid antigen tests were performed using the RapidForTM SARS-CoV-2 Ag (Vitrosens-Germany).Results: The comparison of the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction test and rapid antigen test results showed a 90.67% sensitivity, 98.28% specificity, 91.27% positive predictive value, 98.15% negative predictive value, and 97.02% (1757/1811) accuracy. Qualitative results of both tests exhibited a very good agreement (Kappa= 0.892, p< 0.001). According to the reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction test, the sensitivity of the rapid antigen test was found to be 100% in 28 samples with a cycle threshold <17, 100% in 78 samples with a cycle threshold <20, 98.33% in 120 samples with a cycle threshold <22, and 96.28% in 215 samples with a cycle threshold <25.Conclusion: When the results of the study are evaluated, it is seen that the use of the rapid antigen test for screening purposes and confirmation of patients with negative test results by Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction will provide advantages in terms of both time and cost. Due to the low sensitivity and high positive predictive value of the vitrosens rapid antigen test, we think that this test can be used in the first stage to accelerate the diagnosis of patients with high viral load, who are more likely to be infectious, to prevent transmission and to start their treatment quickly.
Herpes Zoster Infections in Solid-Organ Transplant Recipients
(2023) Sari, Nuran; Erol, Cigdem; Yalcin, Tugba Yanik; Azap, Ozlem Kurt; Arslan, Hande; Karakaya, Emre; Altinel, Cemile Tugba; Sezgin, Atilla; Incekas, Caner; Haberal, Mehmet; 0000-0002-4879-7974; 37885293; AAD-5466-2021
Objectives: Herpes zoster infections can be complicated and mortal in solid-organ transplant recipients. In our study, we investigated herpes zoster infections in solid-organ transplant recipients.Materials and Methods: Until June 2022, our center has performed 3342 kidney, 708 liver, and 148 heart transplants. Herpes zoster infections were investigated in 1050 adult solid-organ transplant recipients from January 1, 2011, to June 31, 2022. We studied 44 patients diagnosed with herpes zoster infections.Results: Of the 44 patients with herpes zoster, 32 had kidney, 7 had heart, and 5 had liver transplant procedures. Crude incidence rate was 5.2%.,with 9.7% being heart, 5.1% being kidney, and 3.9% being liver transplant recipients; 72.7% were male patients. The median age was 47.5 years, and 61% of patients were aged >45 years. Postherpetic neuralgia was significantly higher in patients older than 45 years (P = .006). The median duration to infection posttransplant was 16.5 months. The dermatomes of patients were 43.2% thoracic. Sacral dermatome involvement was significantly higher in heart transplant patients than in other transplant recipients (P = .015). We reviewed specific findings of the Tzanck test in 36.4% of the patients. There was concomitant infection in 15.9% of the patients, and 6.8% had pneumonia. Acute neuritis was more common in kidney transplant recipients (65.6%). The mean duration of acute neuritis/neuralgia was longest in liver transplant recipients (13.5 months; P = .047). Postherpetic neuralgia was detected as high as 24%.Conclusions: Early specific and supportive treatment is important for transplant recipients with herpes zoster infections. Appropriate antiviral prophylaxis regimens and vaccination strategies for varicella zoster (chickenpox) and herpes zoster infections should be implemented in the vaccination schedule of solid -organ transplant candidates to prevent herpes zoster infections and complications.
Relationship Between Perioperative Factors and Splenic Artery Steal Syndrome After Orthotopic Liver Transplant: A Retrospective Clinical Study
(2023) Kuscu, Ozlem Ozkan; Kus, Murat; Incekas, Caner; Ozmete, Ozlem; Ergenoglu, Pinar; Yildirim, Sedat; Torgay, Adnan; Haberal, Mehmet; 37885290
Objectives: After orthotopic liver transplant, ischemia of biliary tract and graft loss may occur due to impaired hepatic arterial blood flow. This situation with hypersplenism and impaired hepatic arterial blood flow is defined as splenic artery steal syndrome. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between perioperative factors and splenic artery steal syndrome in orthotopic liver transplant patients. Materials and Methods: Forty-five patients who underwent orthotopic liver transplant between 2014 and 2022 were included in the study. The data for the patients were obtained from the hospital database, including the intraoperative anesthesiology and postoperative intensive care records. Results: Eleven patients were diagnosed with splenic artery steal syndrome. Patients with splenic artery steal syndrome had higher need for intraoperative vasopressor agents (P = .016) and exhibited lower intraoperative urine output (P = .031). In the postoperative intensive care follow-up, patients with splenic artery steal syndrome had higher levels of C-reactive protein during the first 48 hours (P = .030). Conclusions: Intraoperative administration of vasopressor drugs, low urine output, and early postoperative high C-reactive protein levels were associated with the development of splenic artery steal syndrome in patients undergoing orthotopic liver transplant. Future studies should focus on investigation of biomarkers associated systemic hypoperfusion that may contribute to the development of splenic artery steal syndrome.