Zülfikar Akelma

Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University & Ankara Bilkent City Hospital · Pediatric Allergy and Immunology

b> Introduction: Despite the increasing prevalence of fruit and vegetable allergies in childhood over the past decades, the clinical course of reaction types and tolerance remain unclear. Our aim was to evaluate the clinical course, demographic characteristics, and tolerance rate of allergic reactions induced by fruits or vegetables. Methods: We co...

Background: There is a lack of information about which risk factors accompany food allergy (FA) in infants with atopic dermatitis (AD). We hypothesized that we would be able to predict FA through risk factors in infants with AD. Methods: This prospective descriptive cross-sectional study was performed with infants aged 1-12 months with newly dia...

Purpose: Asthma is a chronic disease that causes frequent hospital admissions, medication use and impaired quality of life. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect on insulin resistance of ICS in children with asthma using ICS in the prepubertal period. Materials and Methods: Asthmatic children receiving at least one month of maint...

Aims: Vitamin D deficiency results from malabsorption in Celiac disease (CD), and it may also be involved in the pathogenesis of CD. There is no clarity regarding vitamin D deficiency in CD. We investigated the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in children with CD compared with controls. Methods: The database of the Turkish Ministry of Health was...

Introduction: The coronavirus 2019 disease (Covid-19) pandemic led to a number of measures being introduced in many countries worldwide. Lockdowns were imposed on individuals aged <18 years, education was delivered online, and mask-wearing a mask was made compulsory in public places, resulting in an unprecedented period for children. Real-life dat...

Introduction: A few studies have already investigated preschool children with asthma during the pandemic. The purpose of this research was to investigate how preschool children with asthma were affected by the precautionary measures adopted during the pandemic. Methods: Preschool children with asthma aged 18-60 months evaluated in our clinic in...

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, relapsing, inflammatory skin disease. In this study, the relationship between the severity of AD and the quality of life (QoL) of patients and their families were evaluated; also, the factors that predict the severity of AD and the QoL index were determined. Methods: Infants with AD were enrolled...

Introduction: A number of measures were began due to coronavirus 2019 disease (Covid-19) pandemic in many countries worldwide. A lockdown was applied for aged <18 years, education was continued online, and wearing a mask became mandatory in public places, which created an unprecedented period for children. Real-life data is limited showing how chil...

Background: There is insufficient clarity regarding whether or not drugs used in asthma cause behavioral problems in children. Methods: A total of 155 individuals, categorized into an asthma group (n = 95) and a control group (n = 60), were enrolled in the current prospective controlled study. The asthma group consisted of patients receiving tre...

Background : During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic period, the use of emergency services with pediatric non-COVID patients has decreased considerably. We aimed to examine whether there was a change in the demographic data, triage profile, causes, management, and cost of pediatric emergency department (PED) visits of non-COVID pati...

Background The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological, demographic, clinical characteristics and laboratory findings of pediatric COVID-19 patients. Methods Patients with a positive COVID-19 nasopharyngeal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test between 11 March 2020 and 31 December 2020 were evaluated. Results During the study period...

Background: Fetuin A is an inhibitor of insulin action and have been found to be related with subcutaneous lipid accumulation and insulin resistance. The relation of cardiac lipid accumulation, fetuin A and insulin resistance parameters in obese children is not well-known. The aim of the study was to evaluate the relation of serum fetuin A levels...

Background/purpose: Cost-effectiveness studies about rotavirus (RV) vaccination programs were performed in many countries due to the severe economic burden of RV infections. This study is an economic evaluation performed to assess the potential for introducing the RV vaccine to the Turkish National Immunization Program. Methods: In this retrospe...

Aim: the aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of Turkish mothers in teething period and the factors affecting teething. Materials and methods: This study was performed by filling in questionnaire forms with a face-to-face interview technique with the mothers of 792 patients presenting to the outpatient clinics of pediatrics of Fa...

Pediatric eczema is a common disease which causes economic and social burden. Its incidence differs among the societies, with an incidence reported to reach up to 20% in developed countries. Eczema is the first allergic disease seen in the childhood, and it is recognized as a precursor for the development of atopic diseases such as asthma, allergic...

Asthma exacerbations lead to frequent emergency visits and hospitalizations, and are associated with high morbidity and occasionally mortality. New therapeutic strategies are needed. We sought to investigate whether the addition of high-dose inhaled budesonide to standard therapy would shorten the length of stay (LOS) in hospital of children admitt...

Unlabelled: Vitamin D has been linked with immunity, and the immunomodulatory role of this molecule in regulating key elements of the immune system has become an area of intense scientific investigation. We designed a case-control study to investigate whether neonates with early-onset neonatal sepsis (EONS) had lower levels of vitamin D. The prima...

Differential diagnosis of primary headache disorders can be challenging for physicians. Although the association of headache with acute carbon monoxide intoxication is very well-defined, in refractory nonspecific headaches associated with chronic low dose exposure to carbon monoxide, CO intoxication is usually overlooked, mostly due to vague sympto...

Conventional intubation for pulmonary management in children with a difficult airway may be very challenging even in skilled hands. Rapid advancements in respiratory care have reduced the incidence of difficult tracheal intubation and the incidence of complications have decreased accordingly. However, serious unexpected complications still occur in...

La intubacion convencional para la asistencia respiratoria en ninos con via aerea dificultosa puede ser un desafio incluso en manos expertas. Los rapidos avances en la atencion respiratoria han reducido la incidencia de intubacion traqueal dificultosa y por ende las complicaciones. Sin embargo, en algunos pacientes, todavia ocurren complicaciones g...

Abstract Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the early clinical signs of neonatal pneumothorax. Methods: A case-control study at a level III referral center from 2006 to 2012 was conducted. For each neonate with pneumothorax (Group I), one control subject (Group II) was identified by selecting an infant born within the...

Apart from gastroenteritis, rotavirus has been rarely implicated with some cutaneous disorders such as generalized maculo-papular exanthema, infantile acute hemorrhagic edema and Gianotti-Crosti syndrome. We report a 30-month old toddler boy who developed erythematous macular skin eruptions during the course of rotavirus gastroenteritis. To our kno...

Inflammation of a salivary gland is an uncommon condition in the neonatal period, and an isolated form of submandibular acute inflammatory sialadenitis is an exceptionally rare phenomenon. Among various conditions that might lead to submandibular acute inflammatory sialadenitis, maternal use of drugs during pregnancy should be questioned as there m...

Apart from gastroenteritis, rotavirus has been rarely implicated with some cutaneous disorders such as generalized maculopapular exanthema, infantile acute hemorrhagic edema and Gianotti-Crosti syndrome. We report a 30-month old toddler boy who developed erythematous macular skin eruptions during the course of rotavirus gastroenteritis. To our know...

To investigate the characteristic features of transient neonatal feeding intolerance (TNFI) during the hospitalization for birth in the maternity ward. A prospective follow-up study. Maternity ward and neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in an academic medical center. Term (≥ 37-weeks gestation) infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit...

Background The role of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in childhood asthma remains unknown. This study aimed to measure the serum levels of NGAL in children with asthma and to investigate the correlation between NGAL and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1), a good indicator of airway remodeling in children with asthma. Met...

Background The aetiology of chronic urticaria is usually considered idiopathic. There is a paucity of research both on the prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection in the aetiology of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CU) in children and also on which patients H. pylori should be investigated. Methods All paediatric and adult patients who presente...

Loculated hydrocephalus is a condition in which discrete fluid-filled compartments form in association with the ventricular system of the brain. Multiloculated hydrocephalus is a subgroup of this entity involving more than one segment of the ventricular system. Abnormal descent of the cerebellar components can cause multiloculated hydrocephalus due...

Alobar holoprosencephaly (AHP) is a serious malformation of the central nervous system characterized by complete failure of cleavage of the prosencephalon resulting in fusion of the cerebral hemispheres and a massive single ventricular midline fluid collection. Secretion of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone syndrome (SIADH) is a disorder of fluid-...

The compliance of parents with child passenger safety (CPS) has been mainly explained by their level of knowledge. Social, ethnic and cultural factors have not been investigated in detail. This study investigated the rate of compliance of parents with CPS guidelines, as well as the factors hindering it. Parents of infants aged 2-10 days were enroll...

Background: Bedside chest radiographs used for the confirmation of diagnosis of pneumothorax in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are routinely obtained in the supine position. However, pneumothoraces may not appear in the classically described forms on these radiographs, resulting in a delayed diagnosis. Objective: To assess the utility o...

Previous studies have shown that platelets are involved in the inflammatory process. Mean platelet volume (MPV) has been frequently used as an inflammatory marker in various diseases associated with inflammation. The role of MPV in children with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CU), however, has not yet been evaluated. In this study we compared MPV l...

Periodic fever syndromes are a group of disorders sharing similar symptoms, characterized primarily by regularly recurring fevers. PFAPA syndrome, one of the members of this group of disorders, is a clinical entity of unknown etiology which is frequently seen in the early childhood. Currently, the pathogenesis and the genetic basis of most of the d...

An umbilical cord hernia is a rare midline abdominal defect. These masses may be easily overlooked at birth, which may result in an intestinal injury due to careless proximal application of the cord clamp. Herein, we present a newborn infant with an umbilical cord hernia who was managed by primary closure of the lesion.

Background: The role of osteopontin (OPN) has not been elucidated in childhood asthma. Objective: Our purpose was to investigate whether OPN levels change due to allergic inflammation in pre-school and school-age children. Methods: In this prospective, cross-sectional study, 42 healthy children and a total of 51 children with asthma were recru...

Background: The contribution of platelets to the inflammatory response via several platelet derived mediators is well recognized. The role of mean platelet volume (MPV) in infectious and inflammatory disorders, however, has not yet been well-established. While some of the previous studies demonstrated that MPV acted as a positive acute phase react...

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the role of S100B protein and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) in children with carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning. Methods: In this prospective, case-controlled study, children with CO poisoning were recruited. Patient demographics features and Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) were recorded. Blood samples we...

The prevalence of asthma and other allergic diseases has increased markedly in the last few decades. Oxidative stress plays a central role in asthma pathogenesis, and reduced daily consumption of antioxidants is positively correlated with increased risk of asthma. Zinc (Zn) and selenium (Se) are the main antioxidant elements. In our study, we aimed...

Background: There are no studies on clinically significant transaminase elevation due to rotavirus gastroenteritis in the literature. Also, there are significant discrepancies among previous studies regarding the prevalence of increased serum transaminase levels in rotavirus infection. Methods: Patients investigated for rotavirus by stool antige...

Follow-up of premature infants in the outpatient clinics after graduation from the NICU, is a challenging issue for both parents and doctors. With an increasing number of survival of the premature infants, maintaining the quality of life and timely diagnosis of the late-onset complications have become the focus of care after discharge from the hosp...

Although cerebral sinovenous thrombosis (CSVT) is a rare condition in the neonatal period, high rates of morbidity and mortality necessitate the establishment of an early diagnosis. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) plays a central role in the folate cycle and mutations of MTHFR are associated with vascular disease. While the C677T common...

We aimed to evaluate the association between serum lipocalin-2 level and clinical and metabolic parameters in obese children. The study included obese children with a body mass index (BMI) >95th percentile who presented to Kecioren Teaching and Research Hospital with the complaint of weight gain and healthy children with a BMI <85th percentile. The...

Left atrial size can be considered an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The measurements of left atrium may be used to assess obesity, which is an important risk factor of cardiovascular diseases. It is aimed to determine the factors that effect to the left atrial size, which is an indicator of cardiac risk in obese children with...

Childhood growth hormone deficiency (GHD) decreases left-ventricular (LV) mass, but impairment of cardiac function has never been documented. The objective of this study was to assess the cardiac effects of GHD and recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) treatment using conventional echocardiography and tissue Doppler imaging. Complete two-dimensio...

Routine use of Doppler echocardiography for the initial diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) might allow early detection and, hence, prevention of rheumatic recurrences. This study sought to determine the incidence of subclinical carditis in ARF patients. The study included 80 patients (64 migratory polyarthritis, 16 rheumatic chorea) who were...