[ comparative study between visual functions of affected and unaffected eyes in acute unilateral optic neuritis]

Optic neuritis causes some deficits in visual function in the affected eye and there are some differences in these functions between the affected and unaffected eyes. The purpose of the study is to compare visual functions of both eyes to demonstrate the minimum and maximum value of affection in patients with acute unilateral optic neuritis. Thirty patients [23 female, 7 male aged between 18 and 45 years] who 22 patients with retro-bulbar and 8 patients with anterior optic neuritis, enrolled in the study and their affected and unaffected eyes underwent visual function assessments. Visual acuity [VA], contrast sensitivity [CS], color vision [CV], and visual field [VF] [consist of MA and PSD] were examined for both eyes of all the patients and the significance of the differences between two eyes were calculated and compared by Independent T-test. According to our results, all the investigated visual functions consist of VA [t-test, t=7.29, P=0.00], CS [t-test, t=9.20, P=0.00], CV [t-test, t= -21.95, P=0.00], MD [t-test, t=5.29, P=0.01] except PSD [t-test, t=0.67, P=0.71] were affected by optic neuritis and there was a significant difference between the affected and unaffected eyes [P<0.01]. The most significant difference were found for contrast sensitivity with letters [P=0.00] and there wasn't any significance in the difference between two eyes for PSD parameter in VF [P=0.71]. Considering the most significant difference of contrast sensitivity between affected and unaffected eyes in patients with acute unilateral optic neuritis, it is suggested to pay more attention to the test in evaluating, diagnosis and follow up patients with acute unilateral optic neuritis

Study of the sensitivity of neisseria gnorrhoeae to ciprofloxacin

Background and Purpose: Gnorrhoeae is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the developing and developed countries. This bacterium has gained some resistance agaist several antibiotics used as promary medication in the past deccade; therefore, the use of ciprofloxacin has been recommended. On the basis of reportsd on the reducation of this bacterium to ciprofloxacin, this study in conducted to determine its sensitivity

Methods and Materials: This descriptive research was conducted on the population of patients admitted to medical laboratories in Mashad, Iran, who were suspicious of having Neisseria Gnorrhoeae. They were selected by convenient sampling. 1348 cases with urethral discharge were examined from 2003 to 2004; two swaps were taken for smear and culture. After colony growth and the identification of the Neisseria Gnorrhoeae, antibiogram was performed via disc diffusion with penicilin, tetracyclin, erythromycin, and ciprofloxacin discs. Then the minimal inhibitory concentration was deetermined for ciprofloxacin

Results: 71 cases of Neisseria Gnorrhoeae were identified, of which 16.9% were sensitive to penicilin, 25.3% to tetracyclin, 67.6% to erythromycin, and 70.3% to ciprofloxacin. 6 cases were resistant to ciprofloxacin and their MIC ranged from 1 to 16 microgr/ml

Conclusion: Since ciprofloxacin is currently the primary treatment for Neisseria Gnorrhoeae, it seems that with the increased resistance obsered in the present study, ciprofloxacin can no longer be considered as the preferred antibiotic against Neisseria Gnorrhoeae. Therefore, self treatment without medical prescription is strongly prohibited

Etiology and antibacterial resistance of bacterial urinary tract infections in children's medical center, Tehran, Iran

Urinary tract infection [UTI] is a common bacterial illness in children. Knowledge of the antimicrobial resistance patterns of common uropathogens in children according to local epidemiology is essential for providing clinically appropriate, cost effective therapy for UTI. The aim of this study was to determine the distribution of urinary tract infections in a referral hospital, Children's Medical Center, and determination of in vitro susceptibility of these organisms to antimicrobial agents. Of the 1231 bacterial isolates the most frequent isolates were Escherichia coll [38.66%], Klebsiella spp. [22.25%], Coagulase-negative staphylococci [10.1%], Pseudomonas spp. [8.7%], enterococci [8.28%], Enterobacter spp. [4.1%], staphylococcus aureus [3.24%], and proteus mirabilis [2.9%]. Among Enterobacteriaceae, 79.80% of E. coli were amikacin-sensitive. Of Gram-positive cocci, 66.66% of staphylococcus aureus were vancomycin-sensitive. Our data show the original distribution of uropathogens from UTIs in children referred to Children's Medical Center in Tehran and the emergence of multidrug resistant strains