Medical Specialties Commons^™

Trans-Radial Coronary Intervention (Tci) Using 5-Fr Versus 6-Fr Guiding Catheters In The Setting Of Acute Coronary Syndrome (Acs)., Ahmed Amro, Mohammad Amro, Amal Sobeih, Obadah Aqtash, Hisham Hirzallah, Majd Kanbour, Adee El-Hamdani, Alaa Gabi, Yazan Numan, Mark Studeny, Mehiar El-Hamdani

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Background:

As in any vascular access the size of guiding catheter is an operator preference. Although multiple studies showed the use of 5-Fr versus 6-Fr guiding catheters for Transradial coronary intervention (TCI) have similar vascular safety profile and can be performed safely and successfully with both of them, the data comparing the 5-Fr vs 6-Fr guiding catheters for TCI in terms of fluoroscopy time, procedure time and contrast amount in the setting of ACS is limited. We conducted this study to compare the use of 5-Fr versus 6-Fr guiding catheters for TCI in the settings of ACS.

Method:

Our study …

Angiogram Negative Subarachnoid Hemorrhage In The Setting Of Sexual Intercourse And Chronic Cannabis Use, Dakota T. May, Dominika Lozowska

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Etiology of unprovoked subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is predominantly from cerebral aneurysm rupture and manifests classically as a thunderclap headache. Orgasmic cephalgia may herald SAH given that 4-12% of SAH sufferers were found to have engaged in prior sexual activity.(1) Precipitating causes of SAH leading to aneurysmal rupture may be the rise in blood pressure caused by physical activity. A conventional angiogram (CTA) is used to reveal a source of the bleed and but occasionally this is normal, and is labelled angiogram-negative SAH or non-aneurysmal SAH. In those cases digital subtraction imaging (DSA) is needed for verification. Herein we discuss an …

Rare Sarcomatoid Carcinoma Of The Liver In A Patient With No History Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Case Report, Kevat B. Patel, Rita H. Hawarny, Elizabeth Saunders, Marc Hettlinger, Niru Nahar

Marshall Journal of Medicine

Sarcomatoid carcinoma is a rare malignant tumor of unknown pathogenesis characterized by poorly differentiated carcinoma tissue containing sarcoma-like differentiation of either spindle or giant cell and rarely occurs in the gastrointestinal tract and hepatobiliary-pancreatic system.¹ Primary hepatic sarcomatoid carcinoma accounts for only 0.2 % of primary malignant liver tumors, and 1.8% of all surgically resected hepatocellular carcinomas.² The majority of hepatic sarcomatoid carcinoma cases appear to occur simultaneously with hepatocellular or cholangiocellular carcinoma.³ The preferred treatment for hepatic sarcomatoid carcinoma is surgical resection and the overall prognosis is poor.⁴ This case depicts a 62-year-old female whom …

Transplanted Adult Human Hepatic Stem/Progenitor Cells Prevent Histogenesis Of Advanced Hepatic Fibrosis In Mice Induced By Carbon Tetrachloride, Yanzhen Bi, Xiyu Liu, Chuanping Si, Ye Hong, Yongke Lu, Pengfei Gao, Yonghong Yang, Xiaobei Zhang, Yibo Wang, Huabao Xiong, Zhongping Duan, Yu Chen, Feng Hong

Pharmacology, Physiology and Toxicology

Transplantation of adult human hepatic stem/progenitor cells (hHSPCs) has been considered as an alternative therapy, replacing donor liver transplantation to treat liver cirrhosis. This study assessed the antifibrotic effects of hHSPCs in mice with fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) and examined the actions of hHSPCs on the fibrogenic activity of human hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) in a coculture system. Isolated hHSPCs expressed stem/progenitor cell phenotypic markers. Mice were given CCl₄ (twice weekly for 7 weeks) and hHSPC transplantation weekly. CCl₄ induced advanced fibrosis (bridging fibrosis and cirrhosis) in mice, which was prevented by hHSPC transplantation. …

Effects Of Exercise On Eeg Activity And Standard Tools Used To Assess Concussion, David M Devilbiss, Jena L Etnoyer-Slaski, Emily Dunn, Christopher R Dussourd, Mayuresh V Kothare, Stephen J Martino, Adam J Simon

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

A variety of cognitive assessment tools are used to determine the functional status of the brain before and after injury in athletes. Questionnaires, neuropsychological tests, and electroencephalographic (EEG) measures have been recently used to directly assess brain function on and near the playing field. However, exercise can affect cognitive performance and EEG measures of cortical activity. To date, little empirical evidence exists on the effects of acute exercise on these measures of neurological function. We therefore quantified athlete performance on a standardized battery of concussion assessment tools and EEG measurements immediately before and after acute exercise to simulate conditions of …

Improving Discharge Communication With Outpatient Providers On The Hospitalist Service, Nicholas Clark, Julia Simmons, Angela Etzenhouser, Troy Richardson, Patrick Brady, Eugenia K. Pallotto

Posters

Describes a quality improvement project to increase two-way discharge communication between pediatric hospitalists and primary care providers from 7% to >80% within 18 months.

Practice Variations In Sedated Echocardiography And Impact On Repeat Echocardiography In Non-Refractory Kawasaki Disease, Nicholas Clark, Troy Richardson, Jennifer E. Schuster, Anitha Parthiban, Henry T. Puls

Posters

This study discovered significant variation among children's hospitals in the use of sedated echocardiiography for children <30 months of age with non-refractory Kawasaki disease prior to the American Heart Association 2017 Kawasake disease guideline update. Consideration should be given to performing sedated echocardiography as it may reduce the need for repeat echos without impacting length of stay or total costs.

Cuff-Less Methods For Blood Pressure Telemonitoring., Dylan M. Bard, Jeffrey I. Joseph, Noud Van Helmond

Department of Anesthesiology Faculty Papers

Blood pressure telemonitoring (BPT) is a telemedicine strategy that uses a patient's self-measured blood pressure (BP) and transmits this information to healthcare providers, typically over the internet. BPT has been shown to improve BP control compared to usual care without remote monitoring. Traditionally, a cuff-based monitor with data communication capabilities has been used for BPT; however, cuff-based measurements are inconvenient and cause discomfort, which has prevented the widespread use of cuff-based monitors for BPT. The development of new technologies which allow for remote BP monitoring without the use of a cuff may aid in more extensive adoption of BPT. This …

Regional Variation In Comorbid Prediabetes And Diabetes And Associated Factors Among Hypertensive Individuals In Rural Bangladesh, Pakistan, And Sri Lanka, Liang Feng, Aliya Naheed, H. Asita De Silva, Imtiaz Jehan, Rubhana Raqib, Md Tauhidul Islam, Nathasha Luke, Anuradhani Kasturiratne, Hamida Farazdaq, Sahar Senan, Tazeen Jafar, Cobra-Bps Study Group

Community Health Sciences

We aimed to explore the cross-country variation in the prevalence of comorbid prediabetes or diabetes and determine the sociodemographic, lifestyle, and clinical factors, especially body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference, associated with comorbid diabetes in individuals with hypertension in rural South Asia. We analyzed cross-sectional data of 2426 hypertensive individuals of ≥40 years from 30 randomly selected rural communities in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Prediabetes was defined as fasting plasma glucose (FPG) between 100 and 125 mg/dL without use of antidiabetic treatment and diabetes as FPG ≥126 mg/dL or use of antidiabetic medication. The prevalence (95% CI) of …

Does It Matter Whether You Or Your Brain Did It? An Empirical Investigation Of The Influence Of The Double Subject Fallacy On Moral Responsibility Judgments, Uri Maoz, Kellienne R. Sita, Jeroen J. A. Van Boxtel, Liad Mudrik

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Despite progress in cognitive neuroscience, we are still far from understanding the relations between the brain and the conscious self. We previously suggested that some neuroscientific texts that attempt to clarify these relations may in fact make them more difficult to understand. Such texts—ranging from popular science to high-impact scientific publications—position the brain and the conscious self as two independent, interacting subjects, capable of possessing opposite psychological states. We termed such writing ‘Double Subject Fallacy’ (DSF). We further suggested that such DSF language, besides being conceptually confusing and reflecting dualistic intuitions, might affect people’s conceptions of moral responsibility, lessening the …

Recent Progress In The Theranostics Application Of Nanomedicine In Lung Cancer., Anubhab Mukherjee, Manash Paul, Sudip Mukherjee

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) causes around 80% to 90% of deaths. The lack of an early diagnosis and inefficiency in conventional therapies causes poor prognosis and overall survival of lung cancer patients. Recent progress in nanomedicine has encouraged the development of an alternative theranostics strategy using nanotechnology. The interesting physico-chemical properties in the nanoscale have generated immense advantages for nanoparticulate systems for the early detection and active delivery of drugs for a better theranostics strategy for lung cancer. This present review provides a detailed overview of the …

The Effect Of Antihypertensive Dosing On Hypertension In Children With Chronic Kidney Disease, Benjamin A. Matta, Uri S. Alon, Bradley Warady Md, Tarak Srivastava, Darcy Weidemann

Posters

Background

Hypertension (HTN) is a highly prevalent and major risk factor for poor cardiovascular and renal outcomes in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Previous research suggests that HTN is underdiagnosed and undertreated in children with CKD. To our knowledge no studies have investigated the effect of antihypertensive (antiHTN) dose on blood pressure (BP) control in this population.

Objective

To determine the effect of antiHTN dose on HTN status in children with CKD.

Methods

Study population: 255 participants studied in the Chronic Kidney Disease in Children (CKiD) study at their 3rd visit, taking at least 1 antiHTN drug.

Cumulative Drug Dose Index …

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Co-Morbidity In Patients With Fibromyalgia: A Single-Center Retrospective Analysis And Literature Review, Edwin S. Meresh, Hewa Artin, Cara Joyce, Steven Birch, David Daniels, Jack H. Owens, Alvaro J. La Rosa, Murali S. Rao, Angelos Halaris

Biostatistics Collaborative Core: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Background: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic medical condition characterized by widespread pain, sleep disturbance, and cognitive dysfunction. Sleep disorders are thought to play a prominent role in the etiology and symptomatic management of FM, specifically obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). In order to provide collaborative care, we need a better understanding of any overlapping presentation of FM and OSA. We conducted a site-wide review of patients from 2012–2016 to identify FM patients diagnosed with OSA.

Methods: Charts were reviewed in patients aged 18 and above from 2012–2016 using ICD codes from a clinical data repository. Intersection of patients with a diagnosis …

Team-Based Care And Patient Satisfaction In The Hospital Setting: A Systematic Review, Kristen K. Will, Melissa L. Johnson, Gerri Lamb

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Limited research examining the relationship between team-based models of care and patient satisfaction in the hospital setting is available. The purpose of this literature review was to explore this relationship as well as the relationships between team composition, team-based interventions, patient satisfaction, and other outcomes of care when measured as part of the study.

Methods: A systematic appraisal of research studies published through February 2017 was conducted using PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Embase, Ovid, gray literature and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were 1) experimental (randomized control trials), quasi-experimental, or non-experimental (cross-sectional) study design; 2) team-based care interventions; 3) hospital …

Suffering In Silence: Is Gastroparesis Underdiagnosed?, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

In this introduction to Volume 6, Issue 2, the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews offers additional comment to the clinical review of diabetic gastroparesis authored by Farmer and colleagues (p. 148), regarding the problem of undiagnosed disease. Increased awareness of this entity and appropriate questioning regarding symptoms of diabetic gastroparesis in the primary care setting may prevent the “suffering in silence” experienced by many patients with this complication.

Utilization Of Acupuncture Services In The Emergency Department Setting: A Quality Improvement Study, John R. Burns, Jessica J. F. Kram, Vashir Xiong, Jeanne M. Stark Casadont, Tiffany A. Mullen, Nancy Conway, Dennis J. Baumgardner

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: Patients often present to the emergency department (ED) for pain. As opioid fatalities rise, alternative treatments are warranted for pain management. Acupuncture, a nonpharmacological treatment involving the insertion of needles into skin or tissue at specific points within the body, may help to decrease acute pain. Our study aimed to assess the utilization and impact of acupuncture in the ED for acute pain management.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of purposefully collected quality improvement data. Patients who were ≥18 years old and who presented to the ED at an urban medical center in Wisconsin during 2017 were offered …

Variation And Change Over Time In Promis-29 Survey Results Among Primary Care Patients With Type 2 Diabetes, Juell Homco, Kristin Rodriguez, David R. Bardach, Elizabeth A. Hahn, Suzanne Morton, Daren Anderson, David Kendrick, Sarah Hudson Scholle

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose: We sought to describe results of patient-reported outcome measures implemented among primary care patients with diabetes and explore factors associated with changes in scores over time.

Methods: Two organizations serving diverse patient populations collected the PROMIS-29 survey at baseline and 3-month follow-up for patients with type 2 diabetes. Bayesian regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between patient characteristics and changes in PROMIS-29 scores. Exploratory analyses assessed relationships between goal-setting and changes in scores.

Results: The study population reported substantially more problems with physical functioning (mean: 42.5 at Site 1 and 38.9 at Site 2) and pain interference …

Diabetic Gastroparesis: Perspectives From A Patient And Health Care Providers, Adam D. Farmer, Caroline E. Bruckner-Holt, Susanne Schwartz, Emma Sadler, Sri Kadirkamanthan

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Gastroparesis is defined as a delay in gastric emptying in the absence of mechanical obstruction in the stomach. Gastroparesis has a number of causes, including postsurgical, secondary to medications, postinfectious, idiopathic, and as a complication of diabetes mellitus, where it is underrecognized. The cardinal symptoms of diabetic gastroparesis are nausea, early satiety, bloating, and vomiting. Diabetic gastroparesis is more common in females and has a cumulative incidence of 5% in type 1 diabetes and 1% in type 2 diabetes. It is associated with a reduction in quality of life and exerts a significant burden on health care resources. The pathophysiology …

Medically Tailored Meals As A Prescription For Treatment Of Food-Insecure Type 2 Diabetics, Leslie J. Rabaut

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is an immense burden to the health of our population and to our current health care system, and the weight of this burden is only projected to multiply in coming years. A nutritious diet is an indispensable aspect of diabetes treatment, and the lack of access to food engenders poor disease-state control, which correlates with increased health care utilization. Interventions aimed at improving access to food through medically tailored meals (MTMs) have demonstrated effectiveness in improving the health of food-insecure type 2 diabetic patients and reducing health care costs. Further studies are necessary to increase the …

Improving Bronchiolitis Care Across Multiple Care Settings Using A Deimplementation Bundle, Amanda Nedved, Kathleen Berg, Troy Richardson, Amanda Montalbano, Matthew B. Johnson

Posters

Despite the availability of a bronchiolitis CPG; variation in care practices still existed at our institution. The aim of our quality improvement (QI) project was to increase overall adherence with our institutional CPG in patients 60 days to 24 months of age diagnosed with bronchiolitis in the urgent care centers (UCC), emergency departments (ED), and general inpatient units from a baseline of 40.9% to 60% by the end of two bronchiolitis seasons.

Family Medicine Clerkship Students’ Experiences With Team-Based Care, Ivy A. Click, Jodi Polaha, Jason B. Moore

ETSU Faculty Works

Interprofessional team-based care has the potential to improve patient outcomes, improve access to care, decrease costs, and improve team satisfaction. In recent years, efforts to implement team-based care have grown with the adoption of the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) and an increasing focus on value-based payment models. To better prepare our learners for this future, we introduced a formal team-based care curriculum in our three family medicine residency programs and one pediatric program. In addition to curricula for residents, we developed a team-based care didactic for family medicine clerkship students, presented by an interprofessional team of faculty. This session will …

Gracilis Myocutaneous Flap For Perineal Defect Reconstruction After Left Hemivulvectomy For Locally Invasive Vulvar Cancer – A Case Report And A Literature Review, Nicolae Bacalbasa, Irina Balescu, Andreea Mereuta, Alina Tanase, Adriana Ghelmene, Mihaela Vilcu, Iulian Brezean

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Performing radical surgery for locally advanced vulvar cancer is usually associated with the occurrence of large perineal defects. In order to provide a better healing process of the perineal wound, different reconstructive techniques have been proposed.

We present the case of a 63-year-old female patient diagnosed with locally advanced vulvar cancer for which a left hemivulvectomy with bilateral inguinal lymph node dissection was performed. After completion of the resection phase, the reconstruction with gracilis myocutaneous flap was performed. The patient developed a non-union of the flap. However, it slowly healed without any surgical re-intervention.

Gracilis myocutaneous flap seems to be …

Xanthogranulomatous Pyelonephritis: Presentation And Management, Răzvan C. Petca, Răzvan I. Popescu, Cristian Mareș, Claudia Mehedințu, Bogdan Mastalier, Dumitru Cristinel Badiu, Nicoleta Măru, Vlad D. Constantin, Aida Petca

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGP) is characterized by the presence of lipid-laden foamy macrophages with both acute and chronic phase inflammatory cells. The aim of the study is to present our experience about patients with Xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis. 29 patients were evaluated through a complete anamnesis and the preoperative management included routine blood and biochemical tests, urine culture and renal ultrasound, intravenous urography and computed tomography (CT). All patients underwent open nephrectomy followed by the pathological exam. The main symptoms of these patients were fever and flank pain. Preoperative laboratory tests revealed anemia, leukocytosis and increasing levels of blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and …

The Effect Of Glucosamine, Chondroitin And Harpagophytum Procumbens On Femoral Hyaline Cartilage Thickness In Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis– An Mri Versus Ultrasonography Study, Florentin Ananu Vreju, Paulina Lucia Ciurea, Anca Rosu, Beatrice Andreea Chisalau, Cristina Dorina Parvanescu, Sineta Cristina Firulescu, Adina Turcu Stiolica, Andreea Lili Barbulescu, Stefan Cristian Dinescu, Cristiana Iulia Dumitrescu, Roxana Mihaela Dumitrascu, Cristina Criveanu, Lucretiu Radu, Mihai Tusaliu, Daniela Dumitrescu

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Background: the evaluation of cartilage thickness has become possible with new techniques such as musculoskeletal ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imagining (MRI), making the evaluation of the treatment response and the progression of the disease more accurate. Objective: to evaluate the efficacy of a Symptomatic Slow Acting Drug for Osteoarthritis using both US and MRI for measuring cartilage thickness at baseline and after 1 year. Methods: The study included the clinical evaluation of 20 patients at baseline, at 6 and 12 months as well as imaging exams (US and MRI) at baseline and after 1 year. Measurements …

Cardio Metabolic Risk Factors For Atrial Fibrillation In Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: Focus On Hypertension, Metabolic Syndrome And Obesity, Mihnea-Alexandru Gaman, Elena-Codruta Dobrica, Emilia G. Pascu, Matei-Alexandru Cozma, Mirela-Elena Epingeac, Amelia M. Gaman, Anca M. Pantea Stoian, Ovidiu G. Bratu, Camelia C. Diaconu

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Objective. Atrial fibrillation (AF) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has been little explored so far. However, there are several cardio metabolic risk factors for AF in T2DM patients, such as arterial hypertension, obesity or the metabolic syndrome. Our objective was to evaluate cardio metabolic risk factors for AF in T2DM patients. Methods. We studied the medical records of T2DM patients hospitalized in the Internal Medicine department of an emergency referral hospital in Bucharest, Romania. The study was observational, retrospective and carried out between January-June 2018. Results. The study group included 221 T2DM patients (with a mean age of 68.65 …

Early Maladjustment Schemas In Individuals With And Without Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Fazlolah Mirdrikvand, Mohamad Ali Sepahvandi, Siamak Khodarahimi, Simin Gholamrezaei, Mojtaba Rahimian Bougar, Pejman Shafikhani

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Objective. This study explored Early Maladjustment Schemas (EMSs) among individuals with and without type 2 diabetes mellitus and examined potential moderating roles for gender, level of education, and occupation.

Methods. The sample included 371 adult participants (120 patients with diabetes and 251 individuals without diabetes), from Shiraz City, Fars province; Iran. The Young Schema Questionnaire-Short Form (YSQ-SF) was used to assess early maladjustment schemas.

Results. Findings showed that patients with type 2 diabetes had significantly higher scores than controls on a number of EMSs, including abandonment, failure, vulnerability, enmeshment, self-sacrifice, entitlement, and insufficient self-control schemas as well as the over-vigilance …

The Correlation Between Histopathological And Ultrasound Findings Regarding Cesarean Section Scars – A Three-Year Survey Study, Oana D. Bălălău, Nicolae Bacalbașa, Cristian Bălălău, Carolina Negrei, Bianca Gălățeanu, Octav Ghinghină, Cristina Răduță, Liana Pleș, Anca D. Stănescu, Vasile A. Dumitru

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

The cesarean operation represents a major surgery, with a higher risk of postoperative complications and longer postoperative recovery than vaginal delivery.

Due to the increasing frequency of cesarean sections, the ultrasound imaging of the uterine scar has become a particularly useful tool in identifying its potential long-term complications. This should be done pre-conceptively and quarterly or whenever necessary during pregnancy.

Currently, there are only few histopathological studies on the uterine scar, trying to assess the myometrial repair and certain factors that influence the quality of the scar.

The study was performed on a batch of 123 patients with previous C-sections, …

Microbiota Signatures In Type-2 Diabetic Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease - A Pilot Study, Gratiela P. Gradisteanu, Roxana A. Stoica, Laura Petcu, Ariana Picu, Adrian P. Suceveanu, Teodor Salmen, Diana S. Stefan, Cristian Serafinceanu, Mariana Carmen Chifiriuc, Anca P. Stoian

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

The human microbiota is paramount for normal host physiology. Altered host-microbiome interactions are part of the pathogenesis of numerous common ailments. Currently, much emphasis is placed on the involvement of the microbiome in the pathogenesis of type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), impaired glucose tolerance, and other metabolic disorders (i.e. obesity). Several studies found highly significant correlations of specific intestinal bacteria with T2DM. A better understanding of the role of the microbiome in diabetes and its complications might provide new insights in the development of new therapeutic principles.

Our pilot study investigates the microbiota patterns in Romanian type-2 diabetic patients with diabetic …

Brain Image Clustering By Wavelet Energy And Cbsso Optimization Algorithm, Hasan Hosseinzadeh, Mohammad Sedaghat

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

Previously, the diagnosis of brain abnormality was significantly important in the saving of social and hospital resources. Wavelet energy is known as an effective feature detection which has great efficiency in different utilities. This paper suggests a new method based on wavelet energy to automatically classify magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain images into two groups (normal and abnormal), utilizing support vector machine (SVM) classification based on chaotic binary shark smell optimization (CBSSO) to optimize the SVM weights.

The results of the suggested CBSSO-based KSVM are compared favorably to several other methods in terms of better sensitivity and authenticity. The proposed …

Postpartum Depression And Thyroid Dysfunction– Should Pregnant Women Be Screened For Thyroid Disorders?, Anca A. Simionescu, Erika Marin

Journal of Mind and Medical Sciences

The relationship between thyroid dysfunction and postpartum depression has been investigated for quite some time now, but no consensus has been reached regarding the need for screening for thyroid function during pregnancy. This paper aims to investigate whether thyroid hormone screening in pregnancy might contribute to the diagnosis of postpartum depression.

Depression was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) - one of the most widely used measures in detecting postpartum depression and anxiety. Thyroid function was measured using the commonly recommended thyroid laboratory tests.

A structured questionnaire was given to 61 patients closely monitored during their pregnancy and …