Irish Journal of Medical Science

OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed to evaluate the link between sleep characteristics and type 2 diabetes of middle-aged and elderly individuals. METHODS: Twenty thousand four hundred ninety-seven individuals enrolled in National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES) form periods of 2005-2008 were included in this study, and 3965 individuals aged 45 years and older with complete data were detected. Variables related to sleep characteristics were analyzed by univariate analysis to identify the risk factors of type 2 diabetes, the logistic regression model was used to test for the tendency across the sections of sleep duration, and the link between sleep duration and risk of type 2 diabetes was manifested as odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI)...

BACKGROUND: The Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS 2) proved the benefit of vitamin and mineral supplementation in preventing advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AREDS 2 supplements are indicated for patients with either bilateral intermediate AMD (AREDS category 3) or unilateral neovascular AMD (AREDS category 4). AIMS: The aims of this telephone survey were to identify the rate of adherence of patients to AREDS 2 supplements and the factors associated with non-compliance in these patient groups...

We present the case of a pregnant 32-year-old woman who presented with a giant fetal facial tumour at 22 weeks. The mass, initially 4 × 3.5 × 3 cm in size, was largely cystic with a small solid component. It subsequently increased to 9 × 9 × 10 cm. Significant compression effects on the fetal orbit, temple and infratemporal fossa, with potential compression of the optic nerve, were noted on ultrasound and MRI. The cyst required drainage twice in the pregnancy: firstly to reduce the compression effects and secondly to facilitate caesarean delivery...

BACKGROUND: The timely assessment of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) marking chronic heart failure risk in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) helps to reduce patients' mortality. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the potential of wrist pulse signals for use in the cardiac monitoring of patients with CHD. METHODS: A total of 419 patients with CHD were assigned to Group 1 (BNP < 95 pg/mL, n = 249), 2 (95 < BNP < 221 pg/mL, n = 85), and 3 (BNP > 221 pg/mL, n = 85) according to BNP levels...

BACKGROUND: According to the available literature, studies examining the relationship between theory of mind (ToM) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a small sample size and are few in number. AIMS: This study aims to investigate the relationship between the potential presence of PTSD in Syrian refugee amputees living in Turkey, ToM skills measured by Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET), and variables related to amputation. METHOD: Our 69 follow-up amputee patients answered a socio-demographic and amputation data form, and the RMET, PTSD checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) completed a ToM task...

BACKGROUND: Surgical nurses face the risk of psychological problems while trying to cope with the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. AIM: This study aimed to determine levels of COVID-19-related fear and burnout and affecting factors in surgical nurses. DESIGN: The study has a descriptive, cross-sectional design. METHODS: The study sample included 321 nurses working in surgical units and operation rooms in Turkey...

BACKGROUND: Measuring and monitoring safety (MMS) is critical to the success of safety improvement efforts in healthcare. However, a major challenge to improving safety is the lack of high quality information to support performance evaluation. AIMS: The aim of this study was to use Vincent et al.'s MMS framework to evaluate the methods used to MMS in Irish hospitals and make recommendations for improvement. METHODS: The first phase of this qualitative study used document analysis to review national guidance on MMS in Ireland...

BACKGROUND: Food production sites have been a high-risk location for SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks worldwide since early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Ireland has a high population rate of COVID-19 vaccination, but reports from food production sites suggest uptake is lower amongst workers despite prior outbreaks at these workplaces. AIMS: To study COVID-19 vaccination rates, intent to undertake future vaccination and hesitancy reasons in food production workers. METHODS: Data regarding vaccination status was collected via an online survey from workers at 8 food production sites in Ireland; those who were unvaccinated were asked for reasons for being unvaccinated and likelihood to future vaccination...

BACKGROUND: Patients with advanced prostate cancer have a poor prognosis, and well-tolerated new treatment strategies are required to improve survival outcomes. Apalutamide is a novel androgen signalling inhibitor developed to be used in combination with continuous androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for the treatment of patients with advanced prostate cancer. Based on evidence from two phase 3 pivotal clinical trials in non-metastatic castration-resistant (nmCRPC; SPARTAN) and metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC; TITAN), ADT plus apalutamide significantly extends overall survival compared with the standard of care...

BACKGROUND: Under Sect. 15 of the Public Health (Alcohol) Act 2018, Ireland has banned alcohol advertising in or on the sports area during a sports event, except for branded clothing. The restrictions commenced on 12th November 2021, but concerns have been raised that alcohol branding continues to feature in the now-prohibited sporting area. AIM: To examine the frequency and nature of alcohol brand references in or on the sporting area during two rugby union tournaments played in Ireland after Sect...

BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS: The American Diabetes Association/European Association for the Study of Diabetes recently recommend the preferential use of continuous glucose monitoring(CGM) over self-monitoring of blood glucose for the management of type 1 diabetes (T1DM). For most adults with T1DM, the recommended target time in range is > 70% with < 4% time below range. In Ireland, CGM use has become increasingly popular since 2021. We aimed to audit adult CGM use and analyse CGM metrics in our cohort of adults with diabetes attending a tertiary diabetes centre...

BACKGROUND: Urachal remnants are a rare congenital defect resulting from failure of obliteration of a fibrous tube that connects the umbilicus to the bladder dome during embryological development. Oftentimes a urachal remnant will go undiagnosed, but occasionally a patient may present with a variety of symptoms, ultimately leading to the identification of the remnant. Given its rarity, there is very limited literature available on the management of symptomatic urachal remnants, especially in adults...

BACKGROUND: The annual conference of the Irish College of Ophthalmologists (ICO) is a key calendar event for ophthalmology research in Ireland. AIMS: We investigated whether there were identifiable trends across various domains for the last twelve ICO meetings. Our objectives were to assess subspeciality and training centre representation, as well as the characteristics of the first author to include gender and stage of training. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of paper and poster presentations from the ICO annual conference yearbooks was conducted...

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is a common cause of cancer-related deaths. About 1/3 of all cases present with distant metastasis, with the liver as the leading site and the lung as the most common extra-abdominal site. AIMS: It was aimed to evaluate the clinical characteristics and the outcomes of colorectal cancer patients with liver or lung metastasis who had received local treatments. METHODS: This is a retrospective, cross-sectional, and descriptive study...

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic granulomatous mastitis (IGM) is a rare inflammatory breast disease, in which there is no clear established treatment algorithm. Several physicians keep away from using immunosuppressive (IS) treatments in routine clinical practice. AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate the rates of drug-free remission of the patients with IGM in a period of 3-year follow-up. METHODS: This retrospective study conducted with 55 biopsy-proven IGM patients, who were followed up between February, 2011, and November, 2021, in rheumatology outpatient clinic of Gulhane Training and Research Hospital...

We present key information from international registries in relation to primary total hip arthroplasty. The specific questions of interest include which bearings are superior in total hip arthroplasty (THA), which fixation types are optimal, do any specific implants perform better than others, and what is the latest update in the hip fracture setting? This is a comprehensive review of the major English-speaking hip arthroplasty registries across the globe. Key trends and developments in implant performance are identified and presented in the current article...

BACKGROUND: Although some previous studies have indicated that the triglycerides and glucose (TyG) index is associated with an increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), there are still few studies in this field. AIMS: The goal of this study was to assess whether the TyG index is associated with the presence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease NAFLD in overweight and obese women. METHODS: Overweight and obese women aged 20 to 65 years were enrolled in a cross-sectional study and allocated into the groups with and without NAFLD...

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a potentially fatal illness marked by the abrupt development of jaundice, coagulopathy, and hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in persons having no previous history of hepatic disease. It is a relatively uncommon illness, having an incidence of 1 to 8 per million people. Hepatitis A, B, and E viruses have been documented as the most prevalent etiologies of acute liver failure in Pakistan and other developing nations. However, ALF may also occur secondary to toxicity caused by the unmonitored overdosing and toxicity of traditional medicines, herbal supplements, and alcohol...

OBJECT: To investigate the diagnostic value of pseudocapsule ring hyperenhancement in contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) of focal renal lesions. METHOD: Ninety eligible patients admitted were selected as the study subjects. The incidence rate of annular hyperenhancement in different benign and malignant focal lesions during angiography and the shape of annular enhancement were counted. The correlation between the occurrence of benign and malignant renal tumors and annular hyperenhancement and unenhanced areas was also analyzed...

BACKGROUND: Currently, there is no definitive cure for fibromyalgia. Instead, treatments focus of reducing symptoms and disability. AIMS: This randomized controlled study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of perceptive rehabilitation and soft tissue and joint mobilization on the severity of symptoms and disability in fibromyalgia compared with a control group. METHODS: A total of 55 fibromyalgia patients were randomized into three groups: perceptive rehabilitation, mobilization, and control...