[Effectiveness and complications of ESWL in the treatment of renal pelvis stones in the children less than 8 years of age in Sanandaj, Iran 2007-2015]

Background and Aim: Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy [ESWL] has revolutionized the treatment of kidney stones in children. However, use of this technology has several complications which cast doubt on its safety and effectiveness. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and complications of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy in the treatment of renal pelvis stones in the children less than 8 years of age

Material and Method: This retrospective study included children less than 8 years of age with renal pelvis stones who had been referring to Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj, between 2007 and 2015. Data of the patients, such as age, sex, clinical status, stone free rate, days of hospitalization, response rate to treatment and complications were obtained from the patients' medical records. We used a checklist to collect data of 35 children less than 8 years of age [including 37 kidneys] with renal pelvis stones who had been treated with ESWL in Tohid Hospital. SPSS software and descriptive statistics [absolute and relative frequency, mean and standard deviation] were used for data analysis

Result: The sizes of the stones were between 8 and 25 mm. Thirty three patients [94.5%] were treated after one ESWL session and two patients [5.5%] were treated after two ESWL sessions. Six patients [16.2%] developed fever due to urinary tract infection; in two cases free stones lodged in ureter and 8 cases [21.6%] required hospitalization after ESWL. Hematuria occurred in all cases. Subcapsular hematoma was not observed in the patients. Blood transfusion was not given to the patients. The effectiveness of ESWL and stone free rate had inverse relationship with the age of the patients and sizes of the stones

Conclusion: In this study extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy was an extremely effective method for the treatment of renal pelvis stones in children and major and irreversible complications were not common. ESWL was more suitable for the treatment of the stones of less than 20 mm

[Effect of oral vitamin c on anemia, uremia and blood pressure in patients with chronic renal failure receiving hemodialysis]

Vitamin C deficiency is a common in hemodialysis patients. Evidences indicated that oxidative stress is associated with Vitamin C deficiency. Oxidative stress plays an important role in the progression of anemia, uremia and hypertension in the patients with chronic renal failure that receiving hemodialysis. The purpose of this study was to determine the vitamin C effects on systolic blood pressure, hemoglobin, hematocrit, blood urea and creatinine. In a randomized clinical trials with registry number IRCT:2387 in Emam Reza and Besat University Hospitals in 2009, fifty six hemodialysis patients who met the inclusion criteria were selected by simple randomization method. These subjects were divided in two groups randomly: The experimental group who received oral vitamin C 250 mg, three times per week until two months. The amounts of blood pressure, hemoglobin, hematocrit, blood urea and creatinine tests were compared before and after the intervention. Finally the results were analyzed statically with T test by considered P-value less than 0.05. The level of hemoglobin and blood pressure was higher in experimental compared to control not significantly. While the blood urea and creatinine was insignificantly lower after intervention. These results show a statistical significance difference due to increasing of hematocrit level by using of oral vitamin C [P<0.05]. There is association between supplementation with oral vitamin C in hemodialysis patient and systolic blood pressure, hemoglobin, hematocrit, blood urea and creatinine. Therefore further studies are needed to determine the clinical benefits of antioxidants interventions in hemodialysis patients

[Evaluation of three cement type on FRC post retention]

One of the challenges of restoring endodontically treated teeth with fiber reinforced composite [FRC] posts is their debonding from root canal dentin. Different factors such as cement type, effect the post retention. According to the controversies in this regard, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of three luting cements on retention of FRC posts in the root canal. In this in-vitro study 30 selected root canal treated premolar teeth were randomly allocated to three experimental groups. After post space preparation, RTD fiber posts, with 10mm length and 2 mm diameter, were cemented in the canal with one of the following luting agents: zinc phosphate [Harvard], Glass-Ionomer [GC] and resin cement Maxcem [Kerr]. They were then fixed and force was applied using Instron 5500 machine. The Data was subjected to ANOVA for statistical analysis. The observed retention in studied groups was as follows: resin cement 127 +/- 18.5 [MPa], zinc phosphate 102 +/- 29.7 [MPa] and glass-ionomer 51 +/- 14.8 [MPa]. In order to increase the retention of FRC posts, cementation with resin cements is recommended

[ effect of oral vitamin C on fatigue in hemodialysis patients at selected hospitals of army university medical science in 2009]

Fatigue is a debilitating symptom or side effect experienced by many patients on dialysis therapy. Fatigue has a considerable effect on quality of life in these patients. The purpose of this study was determination of the vitamin C effect on fatigue measure. We investigated 56 hemodialysis patients who complained of fatigue and admitted at Emam Reza and Besat University Hospitals in 2009. The inclusion criteria: 1]Subjects diagnosed with chronic renal failure and received regular hemodialysis treatment for at least six month, 2] Aged 18 years or older, 3] conscious alerts and oriented, 4] Without other systemic diseases causing or increasing levels of fatigue such as chronic heart, liver and pulmonary diseases, cancer, mental retardation and chronic psychological disease, 5] Ability to communicate verbally and give informed consent and participate in this study. The exclusion criteria: the patients were excluded when supplementation with vitamin c in oral or injection form and adverse reaction occurred. The patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly and equally in number assigned to Case and Control Groups. Case group members received oral vitamin C for two month, 250 mg, three times per week. The patients conducted fatigue severity questionnaires before and after of intervention. The results were statistically analyzed with T-test and P-value under 0.05. The fatigue score of the patients in the case group before intervention was 5.29 and after it were 3.94 while in the control group, the fatigue score of the patients were 5.007 and 4.93 before and after of intervention respectively. These results shows a statistical significance in decrease of fatigue score with [P<0.05] by using of oral vitamin C. We thing that the oral vitamin C in hemodialysis patient who complaint of fatigue is helpful

[ effect of oral vitamin C on fatigue in hemodialysis patients at selected hospitals of army university medical science in 2009]

Background: fatigue is a debilitating symptom or side effect experienced by many patients on dialysis therapy. Fatigue has a considerable effect on quality of life in these patients. The purpose of this study was determination of the vitamin C effect on fatigue measure

Materials and Methods: we investigated 56 hemodialysis patients who complained of fatigue and admitted at Emam Reza and Besat University Hospitals in 2009. The inclusion criteria: 1] Subjects diagnosed with chronic renal failure and received regular hemodialysis treatment for at least six month, 2] Aged 18 years or older, 3] Conscious alerts and oriented, 4] Without other systemic diseases causing or increasing levels of fatigue such as chronic heart, liver and pulmonary diseases, cancer, mental retardation and chronic psychological disease, 5] Ability to communicate verbally and give informed consent and participate in this study. The exclusion criteria: The patients were excluded when supplementation with vitamin c in oral or injection form and adverse reaction occurred. The patients who met the inclusion criteria were randomly and equally in number assigned to Case and Control Groups. Case group members received oral vitamin C for two month, 250 mg, three times per week. The patients conducted fatigue severity questionnaires before and after of intervention. The results were statistically analyzed with T-test and P-value under 0.05

Results: the fatigue score of the patients in the case group before intervention was 5.29 and after it were 3.94 while in the control group, the fatigue score of the patients were 5.007 and 4.93 before and after of intervention respectively. These results show a statistical significance in decrease of fatigue score with [P<0.05] by using of oral vitamin C

Conclusions: we think that the oral vitamin C in hemodialysis patient who compliant of fatigue is helpful

[Prevalence of HCV infection in thalassemic and hemodialysis patients in Kerman Province-Iran]

People with thalessemia and chronic renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis are prone to blood-born infections, especially hepatitis C due to the long-term transfusion. Recently, hepatitis C has been one of the main health concerns in these patients. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatitis C and its risk factors in these groups of patients in Kerman province of Iran. HCV RNA in blood sample of 384 patients [203 hemodialysis cases and 181 thalassemia cases] was evaluated. One hundred thirty [130] out of 384 were infected by HCV. Infected male was predominant [83%].It seems that the frequency of hepatitis C infection in Kerman is higher than the other provinces of Iran. Therefore more attention should be paid to screen of blood before transfusing for these group of patients

Does whole body exposure to GSM-950 MHz electromagnetic fields affect acquisition and consolidation of spatial information in rats?

This study was planned to examine the effects of whole-body exposure to GSM-950 MHz electromagnetic fields [EMFs] on acquisition and consolidation of spatial memory in rats using a water maze task. In experiment 1, the animals were given two blocks of five trials per day for three consecutive days in a water maze task. The interval between blocks was 4h. Before each training session, the animals were exposed to 950 MHz EMFs for 45 min with lower-[0.835 mW/cm[2]] or higher-power [1.166 mW/cm[2]] densities. In experiment 2, the animals were given two blocks of 5 trials with a 3 min interval between blocks. Immediately after the last trial, they were exposed to EMFs for 45 min with lower-or higher-power densities. In both experiments, 48 h after the last training day a 60 s probe test was done. Results from experiment1 [pre-training exposure to EMFs] indicated no significant differences in performances of exposed and non-exposed groups either during acquisition [learning] or during probe test [memory retention]. Results from experiment 2 [post training exposure to EMFs] also indicated no significant differences among groups during acquisition or probe test. In these experiments, no effect of exposure to 950 MHz on acquisition or consolidation of spatial navigation of rats in a water maze was detected

comparison of the level of serum concentration of Gro-A chemokine in diabetic type-2 patients and healthy people: a short communication

Type-2 diabetes mellitus is the most common type of diabetes, but the main cause of which is yet to be identified. One of the symptoms of diabetes is delay in healing of the wounds. Chemokines play key roles in both the regulation of immune system functions and regeneration of the damaged tissues. Growth-regulatory oncogen [Gro] is an angiogenesis chemokine. Therefore, we dicided to compare the serum level of Gro-alpha chemokine in diabetic patients and healthy people. In this descriptive study respondents were 45 diabetic and 45 healthy people referred to Ali Ibn Abitaleb hospital in Rafsanjan. The level of Gro-alpha was detected by ELISA. Data were analysed using SPSS version 12. T-test was used to compare continuous data. Although there were differences between diabetic and healthy people based on the serum level of Gro-alpha chemokine, this difference was not significant. Based on our results, it can be concluded that diabetic patients are unable to produce enough Gro-alpha and this can be the reason for the delay in healing of the wounds. Furthermore, to assess the role of this chemokine more number of samples are needed for examination

Bacteriologic study of blood culture in children and neonates with bacterimia and septicemia

The use of antibiotics for life threatening infections depends on periodic study of resistance patterns among isolated organisms in various settings and age groups especially in the era of increasing resistance. This study was performed to determine the microbiological characteristics of blood stream isolates in the neonates and children as a high risk population at a community hospital located in the southern Tehran. All neonates and children up to 12 years of age admitted with presumptive diagnosis of sepsis or bacteremia were enrolled to this cross sectional, descriptive study. Blood cultures were monitored on a daily basis and suspicious samples were further subcultured in appropriate media; using the usual differential techniques and antimicrobial sensitivity tests. Results were recorded and expressed as percentages using excel software. One hundred and seven positive blood cultures were identified among 500 enrolled patients. Positive blood cultures were more common in the neonates than children [56 vs 51]. Gram positive organisms were more common than gram negative ones [61% vs 39%] with coagulase negative staphylocoscci [CONS] as the most common isolate in gram positive and Ecoli as the most prevalent gram negative organism. Apart from vancomycin, first generation of cephalosporins showed the best activity against CONS, however aminoglycosides showed promising for gram negative organisms. It was concluded that type of organisms and their sensitivity patterns are quite different in our community hospitals versus referral centers, still similar to other general children hospitals albeit with higher resistance rates

Preparation, characterization and mucoadhesive evaluation of chitosan coated liposomes containing cyclosporine A

The aim of this study was to prepare and characterize chitosan coated liposomes containing cyclosporine A [CyA]. For this purpose, negatively charged liposomes containing CyA were prepared by solvent evaporation method. Liposomes were then added dropwise to chitosan solution [0.25% w/w] for coating. Morphology, mean size and encapsulation efficiency of chitosan coated liposomes were evaluated. To assess the mucoadhesive properties of this drug delivery system, percent of mucin adsorption onto the surface of coated liposomes was determined. The in vitro immunosuppressive effects of CyA encapsulated in the formulated liposomes were also determined on human T-cells by MTT [3- [4, 5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] test. Liposomes were multilamellar vesicles [MLVs]. Mean diameter of chitosan coated liposomes was 2.76 micro m and zeta potential of them was positive [45.3 mV]. Encapsulation efficiency of coated liposomes was 86.11% +/- 2.36 and they were stable during two months. The average of IC50 or the half maximal inhibitory concentration for MLV liposomes was 3.08 2-10 M. According to the mucin adsorption results, this particulate system showed suitable mucoadhesive properties. From these results, it was concluded that the surface modification of liposomes by chitosan coating could increase the prospects of their usefulness as oral drug delivery systems for CyA

[Cancer incidence in Iran in 2002 an international estimation]

During the past century, because of an improvement in the socio-economic conditions in the society and as a consequence a change in the predisposing or risk factors, incidence of diseases has undergone a real change. A decrease in the incidence of infectious diseases and an increase in the incidence of non-infectious diseases and accidents are the major reasons for this changer which has specially affected the developing countries. Presently, cancer is the second most common cause of morbidity and mortality. Control and reduction of the expenses of these types of diseases need planning and execution of a national cancer, but planning such a programme requires valid and authentic information. Such information is only possible through the registration of cancer cases. This paper provides information obtained from five provinces in the country about cancer to evaluate the incidence of it in the country, and comparison of with Globocan as an international reference about the incidence of cancer. By using statistical methods and establishing simple means about the incidence of cancer in Ardabil, Golestan, Mazandaran, Kalanshehr and Tehran according to age and gender, the incidence of cancer in the country was established. At least 50820 new cancers occur in the country yearly out of which 53% are found in males. The five major cancers to ASA in males were stomach [26.1], esophagus [17.6], colorectal [8.2], bladder [8], leukaemia [4.8], and in females were breast [17.1], esophagus [11.4], stomach [11.1], colorectal [6.7] and uterus 4.5 per 10[5]

Preparation of biodegradable microspheres encapsulated with Cyclosporine A and evaluation of some factors affecting microsphene properties

Poly [D, L lactide-co-glycolide][PLGA] is a biocompatible-biodegradable polymer used as a drug delivery carrier. Also, Cyclosporine A [CyA] is the immunosuppressant that its commercial dosage forms have some disadvantages such as low bioavailability, kidney, liver and neural toxicity and variation of blood concentration after adminstration. The aim of this study was to prepare microspheres containing CyA by using different grades of PLGA.Microspheres were prepared by Solvent Evaporation Method using three grades of PLGA including PLGA [50:50], PLGA [65:35] and PLGA [85:15]. Various characteristics of microspheres such as morphology, size and encapsulation efficiency were evaluated. The mean diameter and particle size distribution of microspheres were measured by particle size analyzer. Release profile of CyA from microspheres was also studied. Complementary studies were carried out by IR [Infrared Spectroscopy] and DSC [Differential Scanning Calorimetery] to evaluate the drug and polymer interaction.SEM studies showed that microspheres were spherical in shape and the small CyA was loaded as islands on the surface of microspheres. Microsphere size was varied between 1 to 25 um with microspheres of PLGA [50:50] having the minimum size. Encapsulation efficiency was varied from 75% to 90% and encapsulation efficiency of PLGA [50:50] microspheres was different compared to other grades significantly. Profile of release was biphasic, with an initial rapid phase during first 5 days followed by a continuous and slower rate thereafter. Microspheres made from grades 50:50 and 85:15 showed the highest and the lowest amount of release, respectively. IR spectra for drug, polymer and microsphere did not indicate any chemical interaction between the components of microsphere and DSC thermograms suggested that CyA is present in its amorphous state.In conclusion, in this study suitable microspheres especially with PLGA [50:50] were prepared which allow the controlled release of CyA over a prolonged period of time and could be used as a slow release particulate drug deliverysystem and according to microsphere size intact absorption of microspheres after oral administration is expected

[Comparing the anxiety between adolescents living in parental home and those living in institutions]

With regard the high prevalence of anxiety in adolescents and the influence of environment on it, this research was designed to evaluate and compare the anxiety level between the adolescents who living in parenteral home and those who were institutionalized. The number of samples was 268 [134 in parenteral home and 134 in institutionalized group]. The Cattell Anxiety Questionnaires was used as the device of study. The statistical analysis was performed by the significance bearing discrepancy between two independent ratios [z test]. The results showed meaningful difference in sever anxiety scores between adolescents living in parental home and in institutions, a significant difference between boys within different life place [P<0.01] and girls within those groups was observed [P<0.001]. Also meaningful difference between boys and girls without considering their life place in moderate [P<0.04] and severe anxiety scores was demonstrated [P<0.001]. The results suggest that institutionalized adolescents and girls are more sensitive to anxiety