[ effect of using partnership care model on the quality of life in the school-age children with beta-thalassemia]

Thalassemia is one of the most common human genetic diseases that affects quality of life. The present research attempted to investigate the effect of Partnership Care Model on the quality of life of school-age children with beta -thalassemic. Present experimental study was performed on 72 thalassemic children who were randomly divided into two equal groups, intervention and control [36 each]. The questionnaires of demographic data and children's Quality of Life inventory [peds-QOL] were used as instruments. After gathering data in the pre-test stage, participant Care Model was implemented for children and parents in the intervention group according to its four steps [Motivation, Readying, Involvement and Evaluation] for two months. The post test was carried out three months after the intervention. There was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups in the terms of demographic characteristics and QOL [P>0.05]. After the intervention, independent t-test showed a significant difference between the means of peds QOL dimensions between groups [P<0.001]. Moreover, the paired t-test showed a significant difference in the peds QOL dimensions of the intervention group before and after intervention [P<0.001]. Overall, our findings revealed that the Partnership Care Model was effective on the increasing quality of life in the school-age children with beta -thalassemia

Comparison between deferoxamine and combined therapy with deferoxamine and deferiprone in iron overloaded thalassemia patients

Iron overload is the main cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with beta thalassemia major. Effective and convenient iron chelation remains one of the main targets of clinical management of thalassemia major. The combined treatment with deferoxamine and deferiprone could have an increased chelation efficacy and allow drug doses and toxicity to be reduced. Eighty patients with thalassemia major were randomized to receive one of the treatments: deferoxamine given in combination with deferiprone and deferoxamine alone. Changes in serum ferritin and any toxicity were determined. After one year, the mean serum ferritin [ +/- SD] in deferoxamine alone group decreased from 2945 [ +/- 591] ng/ml to 2,451 [ +/- 352] ng/ml [p<0.001]. In the group treat with deferoxamine and deferiprone, a dramatical decline was noticed from 2986 [ +/- 612] ng/ml to 2,082 [ +/- 221] ng/ml [p<0.001]. A significant improvement was observed after 6 months of combination therapy. The main side-effects were skin reactions [deferoxamine alone], nausea and arthralgia [combined therapy]. Combination therapy is a practical and effective procedure to decrease severe iron overload in patients with beta thalassemia major

Iron status in febrile seizure: a case-control study

Data on the relationship between iron deficiency anemia and febrile convulsions are controversial. The aim of this study was to determine the association between iron deficiency anemia and febrile convulsions among children. This case-control study was conducted during 2006-2007, on 90 children with febrile seizures [case] and 90 febrile children without seizures [control] referred to the Amirkola children hospital [a referral hospital in the north of Iran]. Two groups were matched for age and sex. In all children hemoglobin [Hb] level, hematocrit [Hct], mean corpuscular volume [MCV], mean corpuscular hemoglobin [MCH] and plasma ferritin [PF] were determined and the data collected were analyzed statistically using the t-test. The mean PF and TIBC levels were not significantly different in the febrile seizure compared to the reference group; neither were differences in Hb levels statistically significant between two groups. However MCV and MCH were significantly higher in the febrile seizure group [p<0.05] compared to reference group. Plasma ferritin levels were not significantly lower in children with febrile seizures in comparison with the children in control group. It seems that iron insufficiency does not play a role in pediatric febrile seizures

Molecular identification of Candida albicans isolated from the oncology patients at four university hospitals in Mazandaran province [2005-6]

Early detection of Candida species in body site could improve the survival of the immunosuppressed patients by allowing the initiation of specific treatment while the fungal biomass is still low. The aim of this study was the identification of Candida albicans isolated from the oncology patients by molecular methods. Sixty two of Candida albicans isolated identified by phenotypic methods [color of colony on CHROMagar medium, germ-tube formation in horse serum, chlamydospore formation on Cornmeal agar with 1% Tween 80]. DNA was extracted by using a glass bead/phenol-chloroform method. The oligonucleotide primer pairs [NL1/NL4] were used to amplify a 620bp fragment of D1/D2 region of large submit [26s] ribosomal DNA gene. PCR-products were electrophoresed in a 1.5% agarose gel. Eighteen PCR-amplified products sequenced and results were evaluated by online BLAST software. Multiple sequence alignment was performed by using online CLUSTAL-W [version 1.83] software. The BLAST search revealed that all of products were Candida albicans. All sequences showed >99% similarity when compared with known reference sequences at the Gene-Bank. Four different strains were obtained of albicans species, including: AA 1622b [13 samples], 24698 [3 samples], TA 62 [1 samples] and 551 FC [1 sample]. A total of 131 nucleotide exchange sites were revealed. The dominant species by phenotypic approaches was Candida albicans. In addition, identification of Candida albicans by [26S] rDNA sequencing was 100% concordant to the results obtained by the phenotypic methods

Assessment of IVIG treatment in children and its complications [Babol; 1999-2004]

IVIG is used in patients incapable of producing antibodies and in autoimmune disorders. IVIG infusion rarely causes undesirable reactions due to the speed of infusion. So, this study was performed to determine the indications and complications of IVIG infusion. This descriptive study was performed on 265 patients, hospitalized in Amirkola pediatric hospital, needing IVIG infusions, from October 1999 to June 2004. Data was analyzed by SPSS. T-test, chi square and fisher exact test were used to compare drug complications based on age and speed of infusion in two genders. In this research, 265 patients with 871 infusions were studied. One hundred and thirty one patients [49.4%] were male and 134 [50.6%] were female. Two patients [0.7%] had autoimmune hemolytic anemia, one patient [0.3%] had ataxia telangectasia, 9 patients [3.4%] had refractory seizure, 2 patients [0.7%] had guillain-barre syndrome, 83 patients [31.3%] had immune thrombocytopenic purpura, 46 patients [17.3%] had kawasaki, 51 patients [19.2%] had immunodeficiency and 72 patients [27.1%] were premature neonates. Among the studied patients, 17 infusions [1.95%] had complications, which were mild in 14 patients [82.5%], moderate in 2 patients [11.7%] and severe in 1 patient [5.8%]. Complication was the same in both genders, and it had a significant difference with the speed of drug infusion [P<0.05]. The most common cause of IVIG infusion is immune thrombocytopenic purpura. Complications are usually mild and had relationship with the speed of drug infusion