Vascular Involvement in Behcet's Disease: An Evaluation of 147 Cases and Literature Review

Objectives

Behcet's disease (BD) is characterized by systemic vasculitis with inflammation that can affect various body organs. In BD, vasculitis primarily manifests with venous involvement, distinguishing it from other forms of systemic vasculitis.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the demographic and clinical characteristics of 147 patients diagnosed with vascular BD in our center.

Results

Vascular BD cases accounted for 25.0% (147 out of 589) of all BD patients. A statistically significant correlation was found between gender and vascular involvement that was seen predominantly in males (76.9%). In 71 patients, a vascular event developed during follow-up for BD, while in 76 patients the disease was diagnosed after the occurrence of a vascular event (51.7%). The most common vascular event was deep vein thrombosis in the lower extremities (69.4%). Arterial involvement was primarily observed in the pulmonary arteries (12.9%). Patients with lower extremity deep vein thrombosis tended to be younger, while those with pulmonary artery involvement were typically older. Overall, veins were affected 4.5 times more frequently than arteries.

Conclusion

The prevalent type of venous involvement was deep vein thrombosis in the lower extremities. Thrombotic events in BD cannot be solely attributed to abnormalities in thrombotic factors. The treatment of thrombotic events in BD remains contentious, with anticoagulant efficacy being debated and immunosuppressive therapy representing the primary treatment approach. Behcet's disease should be considered when a young male patient presents with an arterial or venous vascular event, especially if it is recurrent.

Neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio as a predictor of severe postoperative edema and ecchymosis in open rhinoplasty surgery

Purpose: This study investigated the relationship between preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and severe postoperative edema and ecchymosis after open rhinoplasty. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out retrospectively in 165 ASA I-II patients aged 18-45 years who underwent open rhinoplasty in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The patients were grouped based on their scores on the edema and ecchymosis scales. The degree of edema and ecchymosis was considered “minimal” (Group M) in those scoring 0-2 points and “severe” (Group S) in those scoring 3-4 points. Periorbital edema and ecchymosis of the patients in both groups were scored based on the digital photographs taken on the 1st postoperative day. Results: There was no significant difference in the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients grouped according to the degree of edema and ecchymosis. The optimal cut-off value of NLR was 2.1 (AUC = 0.747, Sensitivity = 0.666, Specificity = 0.707) for edema and 1.5 (AUC = 0.747, Sensitivity = 0.869, Specificity = 0.470) for ecchymosis. Multivariable analyzes for the development of edema and ecchymosis identified NLR (4.67 [2.38-9.40] and 6.54 [3.02-15.08, respectively) as a statistically significant independent prognostic factor. Conclusion: This study identified preoperative NLR as a predictor value of severe postoperative edema and ecchymosis after open rhinoplasty.

Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio is a prognostic predictor in emergency department patients with cutaneous adverse drug reaction

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in emergency department (ED) patients with cutaneous adverse drug reactions to identify the severe patients at an early stage.

METHODS

In this retrospective study, patients aged 18 and over who admitted to the ED of a university hospital with the diagnosis of cutaneous adverse drug reaction were included. For included patients, clinical findings and ED admission complete blood count results were recorded. The primary outcome was hospitalization and the secondary outcome was the type of drug reaction.

RESULTS

A total of 135 patients were included in the study. The median age of patients was 50 (36-64) years. There was no significant difference between the patients hospitalized and discharged from the ED in terms of age and gender (p = 0.340 and p = 0.762, respectively). There was no significant difference between hospitalized and discharged patients in terms of complete blood count parameters (p > 0.05, for all). The median NLR of hospitalized patients was significantly higher than that of patients discharged from the ED (6.13 vs. 3.69, p = 0.006). The median NLR of the patients with erythema multiform/Steven Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrosis was significantly higher than the NLR of the patients with maculopapular and fixed drug eruptions (p = 0.022 and p = 0.015, respectively). The area under the curve value of NLR in predicting hospitalization was 0.640 (0.546-0.734). For 8.4 of NLR cutoff value, specificity was 83.9%.

CONCLUSION

NLR is a useful and simple prognostic parameter as an indicator of systemic inflammatory involvement in ED patients with cutaneous adverse drug reactions. NLR is a useful parameter for deciding which patient will be admitted to the hospital in that patient group.

Predicting postoperative pain with neutrophil/ lymphocyte ratio after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

Background

Postoperative pain is well known and usually disturbing complication of arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Inflammation plays an important role in the development and progression of postoperative pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictability of postoperative pain through the correlation of neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with inflammation. In addition, the correlation of parameters such as operative time, tear size, age and gender with postoperative pain was evaluated.

Methods

Sixty three patients, who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair, were evaluated in this single-center-based retrospective study. The American Society of Anaesthesiologists I and II risk groups were determined as the inclusion criteria. NLR was calculated using preoperative one day hemogram values in all patients. The amounts of analgesic use and Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) scores at the 12th, 24th and 48th hours and on the 3rd and 7th days were recorded. Multivariate linear regression analysis was used to correlate postoperative NRS scores with multiple independent factors, including preoperative NLR, sex, age, tear size, repair type, operative time, block time, postoperative analgesic intake and length of hospital stay.

Results

Sixty three patients with a mean age of 59.4 years (range, 40-72 years) were evaluated. The mean tear size was 2.8 cm (range, 1-5 cm), the mean operative time was 84.1 min (range, 35-135 min), the mean duration of block was 7.6 hours (range, 4-12 hours) and the mean length of hospital stay was 1.7 days (range, 1-3 days). There was no significant correlation between age, sex, tear size, repair type, operative time and postoperative NRS (p > 0.2). The preoperative NLR was found to be a strong predictor of postoperative NRS (p < 0.001, rho = 0,864). There was a correlation between the NLR and mean analgesic intake (p = 0,03). The duration of block was decreased in patients with a NLR above 2, while it was prolonged in patients with a NLR below 2 (p = 0.04, rho = -0,725).

Conclusion

The preoperative NLR was found to be a strongest factor predicting high acute pain levels after arthroscopic rotator cuff surgery. Likewise, NLR was also predictive of postoperative block time and analgesic consumption.