Balkan Medical JournalPub Date : 2025-07-14DOI: 10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-4-144
Haiyan Tong, Haipeng Tong
{"title":"Chronic Encapsulated Expanding Hematoma of the Calf Mimicking a Soft Tissue Tumor: A Rare Case with a 30-Year History.","authors":"Haiyan Tong, Haipeng Tong","doi":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-4-144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-4-144","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8690,"journal":{"name":"Balkan Medical Journal","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144625310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Balkan Medical JournalPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-01-09DOI: 10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2024.2024-10-100
Kaan Can Demirbaş, Cem Çakmak, Seha Saygılı, Nur Canpolat, Özgür Kasapçopur
{"title":"Who Will Care for Our Children? Understanding the Lower Preference Rates for Pediatrics in Türkiye","authors":"Kaan Can Demirbaş, Cem Çakmak, Seha Saygılı, Nur Canpolat, Özgür Kasapçopur","doi":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2024.2024-10-100","DOIUrl":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2024.2024-10-100","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8690,"journal":{"name":"Balkan Medical Journal","volume":" ","pages":"376-379"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12240231/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142943469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Balkan Medical JournalPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-03-28DOI: 10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2024-12-7
Smrithy Sivadas K, Renita Lorina Castelino
{"title":"Rhinoentomophthoromycosis: An Enigma in Itself","authors":"Smrithy Sivadas K, Renita Lorina Castelino","doi":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2024-12-7","DOIUrl":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2024-12-7","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8690,"journal":{"name":"Balkan Medical Journal","volume":" ","pages":"369-370"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12240223/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143727660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Development of an Artificial Intelligence Algorithm for Colposcopic Recognition of Cervical Features - Introduction of an Annotation Protocol","authors":"Georgi Danielov Prandzhev, Grigor Angelov Gortchev, Dobromir Dimitrov Dimitrov, Radoslav Iliev Miltchev, Slavcho Tomov Tomov","doi":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2024-12-35","DOIUrl":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2024-12-35","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8690,"journal":{"name":"Balkan Medical Journal","volume":" ","pages":"373-375"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12240225/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143690996","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Balkan Medical JournalPub Date : 2025-07-01Epub Date: 2025-01-08DOI: 10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2024.2024-11-4
Mesut Engin, Yusuf Ata, Ufuk Aydın, Hasan Arı, Tamer Türk
{"title":"A Novel Approach for the Treatment of Subclavian Steal Syndrome in a Patient Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting","authors":"Mesut Engin, Yusuf Ata, Ufuk Aydın, Hasan Arı, Tamer Türk","doi":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2024.2024-11-4","DOIUrl":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2024.2024-11-4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8690,"journal":{"name":"Balkan Medical Journal","volume":"42 4","pages":"383-384"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12240211/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144574757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Balkan Medical JournalPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-2-49
Mengqi Zhang, Daoxin Wang, Jing He, Junnan Peng
{"title":"Association Between the Glucose-to-Lymphocyte Ratio and 28-Day Mortality in Patients with Mechanical Ventilation.","authors":"Mengqi Zhang, Daoxin Wang, Jing He, Junnan Peng","doi":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-2-49","DOIUrl":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-2-49","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The association between the glucose-to-lymphocyte ratio (GLR) and adverse outcomes in intensive care unit patients receiving mechanical ventilation (MV) has not been clearly established.</p><p><strong>Aims: </strong>To examine the link between GLR and 28-day mortality in MV patients and to develop an interpretable machine learning model to predict mortality risk.</p><p><strong>Study design: </strong>A retrospective study.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data were obtained from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV (MIMIC-IV, version 3.1) database. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and restricted cubic spline (RCS) curves were employed to assess the relationship between GLR and mortality. Patients were categorized into high and low GLR groups for Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Subgroup analyses were performed to evaluate the association across different patient populations. Selected variables were used to construct eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), support vector machine, Naive Bayes, and k-nearest neighbors models. Model interpretability was assessed using SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 5,738 patients met the inclusion criteria. RCS analysis indicated a nonlinear relationship between GLR and 28-day mortality. Patients with elevated GLR had significantly higher 28-day mortality rates (hazard ratio > 1, <i>p</i> < 0.05). Among the models, XGBoost demonstrated the best performance, achieving an area under the ROC curve of 0.969 and an F1-score of 0.963. SHAP analysis identified Acute Physiology Score III, GLR, and lactate as the three most important predictors.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>GLR is nonlinearly associated with 28-day mortality in patients undergoing MV and may serve as a valuable prognostic marker. The interpretable XGBoost model confirmed the significant association between GLR and short-term mortality.</p>","PeriodicalId":8690,"journal":{"name":"Balkan Medical Journal","volume":"42 4","pages":"358-366"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12240220/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144574758","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Erratum.","authors":"","doi":"10.4274//balkanmedj.galenos.2025.e001","DOIUrl":"10.4274//balkanmedj.galenos.2025.e001","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8690,"journal":{"name":"Balkan Medical Journal","volume":"42 4","pages":"385"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12240212/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144574761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Balkan Medical JournalPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-2-93
İdris Demirsoy
{"title":"Tau Pathology in the Medial Temporal Lobe and Neocortex: Implications for Cognitive Unimpaired in Cognitively Unimpaired Older Adults.","authors":"İdris Demirsoy","doi":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-2-93","DOIUrl":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-2-93","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The accumulation of proteins such as amyloid-beta and tau, which disrupt normal cellular processes, characterizes Alzheimer's disease (AD). Cognitive decline is strongly linked to tau pathology, which initially manifests in the medial temporal lobe (MTL).</p><p><strong>Aims: </strong>To investigated the association between cognitive performance and regional tau accumulation, as measured by positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, in cognitively normal older adults. Understanding this relationship is critical for early intervention before noticeable cognitive decline emerges.</p><p><strong>Study design: </strong>Retrospective study.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Tau PET scans were conducted on 440 participants enrolled in the anti-amyloid treatment in asymptomatic Alzheimer's (A4) study. The participants, aged 65-85, were cognitively unimpaired and had complete demographic and genetic profiles. Tau levels in the MTL and temporal neocortex (NEO) was quantified using composite metrics. Cognitive function was evaluated using the preclinical Alzheimer's cognitive composite (PACC) and its individual components. Multiple linear regression models were applied to determine the associations between tau burden and cognitive outcomes, including interaction terms to evaluate the moderating roles of sex and apolipoprotein E (APOE)-ε4 genotype.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The average participant age was 71.8 years (standard deviation = 4.84), with females comprising 58% of the sample. Greater tau accumulation in both tauMTL and tauNEO regions was significantly associated with lower cognitive scores. Specifically, reduced PACC scores (<i>p</i> < 0.001) corresponded with higher tau levels in both regions, primarily influenced by declines in Delayed Logical Memory and Free and Cued Selective Reminding test scores. Additionally, tauNEO levels were modestly linked to Mini-Mental State Examination scores. The effects of sex and APOE-ε4 status were minimal.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Elevated tau deposition in the MTL and NEO is associated with diminished cognitive function, particularly in memory and processing speed domains. Notably, tau accumulation in the MTL showed a strong association with poorer outcomes on memory-related cognitive measures. The limited influence of sex and APOE-ε4 genotype highlights tau pathology as a key contributor to early cognitive decline in preclinical AD.</p>","PeriodicalId":8690,"journal":{"name":"Balkan Medical Journal","volume":"42 4","pages":"329-338"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12240214/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144574765","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Balkan Medical JournalPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-4-69
Fahmida Haque, Benjamin D Simon, Kutsev B Özyörük, Stephanie A Harmon, Barış Türkbey
{"title":"Generative Artificial Intelligence in Prostate Cancer Imaging.","authors":"Fahmida Haque, Benjamin D Simon, Kutsev B Özyörük, Stephanie A Harmon, Barış Türkbey","doi":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-4-69","DOIUrl":"10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2025.2025-4-69","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common cancer in men and has a significant health and social burden, necessitating advances in early detection, prognosis, and treatment strategies. Improvement in medical imaging has significantly impacted early PCa detection, characterization, and treatment planning. However, with an increasing number of patients with PCa and comparatively fewer PCa imaging experts, interpreting large numbers of imaging data is burdensome, time-consuming, and prone to variability among experts. With the revolutionary advances of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical imaging, image interpretation tasks are becoming easier and exhibit the potential to reduce the workload on physicians. Generative AI (GenAI) is a recently popular sub-domain of AI that creates new data instances, often to resemble patterns and characteristics of the real data. This new field of AI has shown significant potential for generating synthetic medical images with diverse and clinically relevant information. In this narrative review, we discuss the basic concepts of GenAI and cover the recent application of GenAI in the PCa imaging domain. This review will help the readers understand where the PCa research community stands in terms of various medical image applications like generating multi-modal synthetic images, image quality improvement, PCa detection, classification, and digital pathology image generation. We also address the current safety concerns, limitations, and challenges of GenAI for technical and clinical adaptation, as well as the limitations of current literature, potential solutions, and future directions with GenAI for the PCa community.</p>","PeriodicalId":8690,"journal":{"name":"Balkan Medical Journal","volume":"42 4","pages":"286-300"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12240228/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144574763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}