Birth weight and risk of childhood acute leukaemia

Studies of risk factors for acute leukaemia are inconclusive. This case-control study was done In West Azerbaijan province, Islamic Republic of Iran, to determine the relationship between birth weight and acute leukaemia in children aged under 15 years. For every patient 2 age- and sex-matched controls were selected from hospital and community populations. Of 130 cases diagnosed over the period 2003-2009/108 [83.1%] had lymphoblastic and 22 [16.9%] myloblastic type. Significantly more of them were male than female [55.4% versus 44.6%]. In a multivariate logistic regression model variables significantly associated with acute leukaemia were: birth weight [OR = 2.25], birth order [OR = 2.25], birth place [OR= 7.93], history of chickenpox [OR - 0.46] and mothers' education [OR = 3.23]. The risk of acute leukaemia increased significantly with increasmg birth weight in the total group and among girls, but not among boy

Assessment of women's satisfaction with reproductive health services in Urmia University of Medical Sciences

We assessed women's satisfaction with the reproductive health services in the population laboratory of Urmia University of Medical Sciences in 2003. A random sample of 600 married women aged 15-49 years completed a satisfaction questionnaire based on Bruce's criteria. Overall 76.2% of women were satisfied and 15.8% were completely satisfied with the total reproductive health service; however 34.0% of women were unsatisfied or completely unsatisfied with their health care provider. Factors that needed be improved were: providing all modern contraception methods in the health centres; using educational materials [e.g. pamphlets and brochures] at reproductive health consultations; and improving information given to clients to ensure informed choice of family planning method

CT patellar cortex tilt angle: a radiological method to measure patellar tilt

The role of patellar tilt in the anterior knee pain is indisputable. Traditionally, the lateral patellofemoral angle of Laurin has been defined in both the axial view and CT images for measuring the tilt of patella. We present a new angle, which is independent of the morphology of patella and directly relates to clinical assessment of the tilt, which is appreciated from palpation of the edges of the patella. 38 patients with anterior knee pain and forty normal control subjects were examined using CT scan of patellofemoral joint in 15 degrees of knee flexion. The amount of lateral patellar tilt was quantitatively assessed using the lateral patellofemoral angle, as described by Laurin et al, and the newly defined patellar cortex tilt angle. This angle is subtended by the line drawn along the posterior femoral condyles and the one parallel to the subchondral bone of patellar cortex. The fifteen-degree tilt was taken as normal cut-off point for patellar cortex tilt angle in the control group. In patients, the average tilt of patella, using the patellar cortex tilt angle was 15.26 versus 7.05 in the control group. Using Student's t test, the difference between the two means was significant [P<0.001]. The sensitivity and specificity of patellar cortex tilt angle were 40 and 90 percent, respectively There was a moderate agreement between our presented test and the lateral tilt angle test [kappa=0.40, P<0.001]. Our results indicate that patellar tilt can also be detected using patellar cortex tilt angle. We need more specific studies to determine the validity of the test