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All children, particularly those with special needs, have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study explored the experiences of children with learning disabilities (LD) during the COVID-19 Pandemic. A criterion sample of twenty-three children ages 7 to 10 (M = 8.56, SD = 1.12) from Turkey was interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the collected data. Three themes were generated: (1) Perceived changes in Children's Daily Lives, (2) Educational Process, and (3) Support During the Pandemic. Overall, findings from the present study provided insights into children's experiences with LD during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Adolescents' emotional problems and excessive social media use could deteriorate their self-esteem. The aim of the present study was to investigate the contributions of adolescents' emotional problems and social media addiction to their self-esteem, with the particular interest of testing the mediating role of the social media addiction on the association between emotional problems and self-esteem. Participants were 221 adolescents (49.3% female) aging from 13 to 17 years (M = 15.86, SD = 0.91). Participants reported on their emotional problems, social media addiction, and self-esteem. Results from regression analyses showed that the higher levels of emotional problems and social media addiction were related to lower levels of self-esteem. In addition, social media addiction partiality mediated the association between emotional problems and self-esteem indicating that the adolescents with higher levels of emotional problems tended to report higher levels of social media addiction and, in turn this tendency was related to lower levels of self-esteem., Author(s): Ibrahim H. Acar [sup.1] , Gökçen Avcilar [sup.1] , Gözde Yazici [sup.1] , Selen Bostanci [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.28009.33, 0000 0004 0391 6022, Department of Psychology, Faculty of [...]

OBJECTIVE: Radiation dermatitis is one of the most common radiotherapy-related side effects. There is no gold standard treatment for this side effect, which drastically affects patients' quality of life. Nevertheless, patients often use over-the-counter products. Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort) is one of the most commonly used homemade remedies. In this work, we investigated whether Hypericum perforatum oil augments radiation sensitivity in a rat radiodermatitis model. METHODS: Radiation dermatitis was induced in 16 male Sprague-Dawley rats by administration of single fraction 30 Gy external radiotherapy. Rats were randomly assigned to control and Hypericum perforatum oil-treated arms. Starting on the third day before and up to 14 days after radiotherapy, the Hypericum perforatum oil arm was treated with 100 µl of Hypericum perforatum oil 3 times a day. Rats were observed for two weeks to assess acute skin changes, and irradiated rat skin samples were examined histomorphologically by scoring the presence of scarring, the severity of inflammation, and the extent of inflammation. RESULTS: More skin reactions were observed in the Hypericum perforatum-treated arm. In the histomorphological examination, the Hypericum perforatum oil-treated arm had higher scores than the control arm in terms of the presence of scarring, the severity of inflammation, and the extent of inflammation. CONCLUSION: Our results showed that Hypericum perforatum oil exacerbated radiation dermatitis, and caution should be exercised while recommending it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE Brain metastases (BM) are a serious cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with solid tumors. Due to improvements in local and systemic therapies, there is a need for novel prognostic factors. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the oncological results and current prognostic factors for BM in patients with breast and lung cancer, receiving cranial radiotherapy (RT). METHODS Medical records of 147 patients who were diagnosed with lung or breast cancer and underwent cranial RT at our clinic between 2011 and 2021 were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS The median follow-up was 15 months (3-90 months). Local control rates for irradiated BM were 80% and 76% in patients receiving stereotactic RT and whole brain RT, respectively. Leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) developed in 24 patients (16%) during follow-up and, 87.5% of them had an infratentorial lesion. The 1- and 2-year overall survival (OS) and, intracranial progression-free survival rates were 57% and 36%, 30%, and 17%, respectively. Low- and intermediate-risk BM-velocity (BMV) is associated with better OS. None of the patients experienced severe (=grade 3) acute toxicity. CONCLUSION Primary tumor histology, number, and localization of BM, treatment modality, extracranial disease status, development of radionecrosis, LM during follow-up, and BMV are important prognostic factors on survival in BM of patients diagnosed with lung and breast cancer. In the age of precision medicine, it is more crucial than ever to define and validate novel prognostic factors. Our findings contribute to justifying the addition of radionecrosis and BMV to predictive models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE Epileptic seizures are prognostic for low-grade gliomas. However, the impact of anti-epileptic drug use (AED) on outcomes is unclear. We aimed to evaluate the impact of epileptic seizures and AED use on tumor control and survival rates after radiotherapy (RT) in patients with World Health Organization Grade II glioma. METHODS A total of 182 patients who underwent RT either early after surgery or in case of progression were retrospectively evaluated. The primary end point was the impact of seizures on overall survival (OS), local control (LC), and progression-free survival (PFS) rates. The secondary end point was the impact of AED use on these rates. RESULTS Median follow-up was 80 months. The number of patients with epileptic seizures at the time of diagnosis was 113 (62%). The 2-, 5-, and 10-year OS, LC, and PFS rates were significantly higher in patients with seizures (p=0.022 and p=0.001, respectively). When patients that did and did not use AED were compared, OS, LC, and PFS rates were similar. Besides, using AEDs in patients without seizures did not affect the OS, LC, and PFS rates. Carbamazepine use was associated with higher OS and PFS rates with a non-significant increase in LC. Phenytoin use yielded an increase in the PFS and LC rates in the first 2 years which turned to opposite after the 6th year. CONCLUSION Seizures at the time of diagnosis and using AEDs for the treatment of seizures both increase survival rates in patients with Grade II glioma. Patients using carbamazepine had increased survival rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To assess the validity and reliability of the EORTC-QLQ-HN35 in Turkish head and neck cancer (HNC) patients. METHODS EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-HN35 scales were completed by patients at the beginning, middle and end of radiotherapy. Internal consistency was assessed by Cronbach alpha and test-retest reliability by intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). Content validity was based on expert opinion and patient reviews. RESULTS Eighty patients were included in this study. Mean age was 59±10.7 years. Overall internal consistency was satisfactory (a=0.926). Overall test-retest reliability was satisfactory and ICCs ranged between 0.77 and 0.84. Correlations between corresponding domains of QLQ-C30 and HN35 showed satisfactory convergent validity (r=0.61 to r=0.73). Assessments based on expert opinions and patient reviews also favored the content validity of the scale. CONCLUSION The Turkish version of the QLQ-HN35 scale is a valid and reliable tool to evaluate the health-related quality of life in patients with HNC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate of loco-regional recurrence and secondary primary tumors is high in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC). Although surgery is very effective in the management of these patients, total resection is rarely possible due to anatomic and functional constraints. In patients not amenable to surgery, chemoradiotherapy plays a major role and stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is the treatment of choice based on its advantage of high therapeutic ratio. Recent advances in immunotherapeutic agents also provide promising results in many tumor sites and may have advantages in the treatment of recurrent HNC. Concurrent use of these agents with SBRT is still being investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of the present study was to investigate dosimetric and mechanical stability of CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System (Accuray Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, USA) in short- and longterm period. METHODS: Output factor measurements and automated quality assurance (AQA) tests performed on CyberKnife unit 2009-2013 at radiation oncology department of Hacettepe University, Turkey, were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: According to the analysis, more than 95% of the output measurements over 5 years were within the tolerance limit ὄ2%. In AQA test analysis, 144 AQA test results were within the tolerance limit from 2009 to 2011. However, 7 of the 51 measurements taken in 2012, and 4 of the 47 measurements performed in 2013 exceeded 1 mm radial error. CONCLUSION: Output and AQA data of CyberKnife system indicate that it is quite stable in daily and long-term period. Nevertheless, daily measurements should be performed on CyberKnife unit since high radiation dose per fraction is usually delivered to target volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aim to test the changes of coagulation parameters after the TBI by thromboelastography. Eleven patients who underwent TBI between march 2005 and march 2006 in our department were included in this study. Blood samples were taken from all patients immediately before the delivery of TBI and 12 hours after the completion of TBI. Complete blood counts, partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), prothrombin time (PT), and the fibrinogen levels were measured. FIB-EXTEM, extrinsic (TEG-EXTEM), intrinsic (TEG-INTEM) clotting pathways, and platelet functions were measured by rotational thromboelastogram (ROTEM). All measured parameters were compared by using wilcoxon paired test. There was no difference in the PT, a PTT, thrombin and thrombocyte counts before and after TBI. However, maximum clot firmness was decreased after TBI in FIBTEM measurement (18.6 vs 15.5, p<0.05). The clot formation time was also significantly prolonged (115.8 vs 121.7 seconds, p<0.05 ) and maximum clot firmness was decreased in EXTEM measurements. The fibrinogen levels were significantly decreased after TBI. Our results demonstrated that the clot formation was significantly decreased in the early period after TBI. Prolongation of clot formation time and decrease in maximum clot firmness in extrinsic pathway after TBI indicates disturbance in platelet functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 45-year-old woman with metastatic renal cell carcinoma to the nasal septum was presented in this study. Metastatic neoplasms of the paranasal region are so rare that they have been usually reported as case reports. Although there are reported cases of renal cell carcinoma to the paranasal sinuses, this case was unique in that it is an isolated metastasis to the nasal septum. The clinical presentation, radiologic and pathologic investigations, and the treatment of patient with surgery and chemotherapy with sunitinib malate (Sutent) were discussed.