Biallelic KITLG variants lead to a distinct spectrum of hypomelanosis and sensorineural hearing loss

Background

Pathogenic variants in KITLG, a crucial protein involved in pigmentation and neural crest cell migration, cause non‐syndromic hearing loss, Waardenburg syndrome type 2, familial progressive hyperpigmentation and familial progressive hyper‐ and hypopigmentation, all of which are inherited in an autosomal dominant manner.

Objectives

To describe the genotypic and clinical spectrum of biallelic KITLG‐variants.

Methods

We used a genotype‐first approach through the GeneMatcher data sharing platform to collect individuals with biallelic KITLG variants and reviewed the literature for overlapping reports.

Results

We describe the first case series with biallelic KITLG variants; we expand the known hypomelanosis spectrum to include a ‘sock‐and‐glove‐like’, symmetric distribution, progressive repigmentation and generalized hypomelanosis. We speculate that KITLG biallelic loss‐of‐function variants cause generalized hypomelanosis, whilst variants with residual function lead to a variable auditory‐pigmentary disorder mostly reminiscent of Waardenburg syndrome type 2 or piebaldism.

Conclusions

We provide consolidating evidence that biallelic KITLG variants cause a distinct auditory‐pigmentary disorder. We evidence a significant clinical variability, similar to the one previously observed in KIT‐related piebaldism.

Turkish health field periodical editors' Views on publication process and ethical problems

Objective

We aimed in this study to investigate views and suggestions of health field editors about the publication process and ethical problems.

Materials and Methods

The study involved 42 journal editors who accepted to participate in the study. The data were collected through 70-item "Editor Views Questionnaire" which was developed by the researchers in line with the related literature.

Results

The editors who participated in the study were asked about their views about the most common problems they encountered related to publication ethics; the top three problems indicated by the editors included unjustified authorship (40.5%), duplicate publication (33.3%), and falsification (26.2%). An analysis of the problems encountered in the initial evaluation stage revealed the top three issues as articles that did not follow the writing rules of the journal (33.3%), unqualified articles (30.1%), and negligence of the author(s) (14.3%). Views in relation to the problems about the referee evaluation stage included evaluations that were not completed within the time given (28.6%), insufficient importance attached to the evaluation (23.9%), and inability to find sufficient number of referees (16.7%).

Conclusion

some editors were found to encounter violation of publication ethics, to experience problems in the revision stage, and not to feel fully independent in their contribution to article publication and thus the improvement of the journal quality. Identification of journal editors' views and problems is an important step for the solution to these problems; it could thus contribute to improving the quality of publication process and journal quality.

Usefulness of elevated red cell distribution width for predicting systemic inflammatory response syndrome after extracorporeal circulation

OBJECTIVES

Cardiac surgical operations performed by using extracorporeal circulation (ECC) lead to a systemic inflammatory response (SIR). Sometimes SIR may turn into a severe state, the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) that usually has a poor outcome with no specific clinical tools described for its prediction. Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a routine hematological parameter. It has been proposed as a marker of morbidity and mortality in various clinical conditions. We aimed to investigate the relationship between high RDW and SIRS which is triggered by ECC.

METHODS

Eleven hundred consecutive patients who underwent elective heart surgery with the use of ECC were retrospectively analyzed. A total of 19 patients fulfilled the described SIRS criteria and 20 consecutive patients were selected as the control group. RDW and other laboratory parameters, preoperative clinical status, operative data and postoperative data were compared between the SIRS and the control groups.

RESULTS

Baseline characteristics of the patient groups were similar. Significant mortality was found in the SIRS group; 18 (94.73%) patients and 2 (10%) patients in the control group (p < 0.002). RDW was found to be significantly higher in the SIRS group vs the control group (15.02 ± 2.03 vs 13.01 ± 1.93, respectively, p < 0.003). Multiple logistic regression analyses showed an association between high RDW levels and SIRS development (OR for RDW levels exceeding 13.5%; 95% confidence limits of 1.0-1.3; p < 0.04). Total operation time and the need for inotropic support were also found to be significant against the SIRS group (p = 0.049).

CONCLUSION

Increased RDW was significantly associated with increased risk of SIRS after ECC. The results of this study suggest that paying attention to RDW might provide valuable clinical information for predicting SIRS development among patients who are candidates for open heart surgery, without incurring additional costs.

May long term oxcarbazepine treatment be lead to secondary hyperparathyroidism?

Background and Purpose

The adverse effects of newer antiepileptic drugs are not well-known. This study assessed the impact of oxcarbazepine (OXC) treatment on bone turnover.

Methods

Forty-four children with idiopathic focal (and/or secondarily generalized) epilepsy who had been treated with OXC for more than 1 year were compared with 33 healthy, age- and sex-matched children. Serum calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, parathyroid hormone, osteocalcin, calcitonin, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and bone mineral density were measured to evaluate and compare bone mineralization between the two groups.

Results

The serum levels of calcium, osteocalcin, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and bone mineral density did not differ significantly between the study and control groups. However, serum levels of parathyroid hormone, alkaline phosphatase, phosphorus, and calcitonin differed significantly between the two groups.

Conclusions

These findings suggest that OXC treatment leads to secondary hyperparathyroidism with high-turnover bone disease and/or impaired intestinal calcium absorption.