[Studying of knowledge and attitudes of non medical staffs of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences about first aid and basic CPR in 2011]

According to the official statistics, cardiac arrest and accidents are included respectively as the first and second causes of death in Iran. Giving first aid to victims by trained people present at the scene causes less damage to the injured. This research was performed in order to study the current state of knowledge and attitudes of staffs of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences about first aid and CPR. In this descriptive survey, all non-medical staffs [in headquarter and subordinate units] of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences were studied in city of Sari in 2012. A total of 320 persons were selected and studied with stratified sampling using Cochran formula. By using a self-administered standardized questionnaire, data was collected in three parts: demographic information, knowledge and attitudes assessment. In order to evaluate validity and reliability, it was used of the opinion of public education experts of Red Crescent society and also university professors. However, the results of Cronbach's alpha coefficient [questions related to knowledge and attitudes r=0/83 and r=0/88 respectively] showed an acceptable internal consistency. The comparison of average score between the two groups indicated there were significant differences between the trained and untrained groups about knowledge of first aid [P<0/05, t=2/535]. However, significant differences were not observed between attitudes of two groups' average score towards first aid [0/05< P, t=0/618]. According to the results, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences as one of the monitoring system and responsible organization for promoting health should improve the knowledge and awareness of its personnel. Since the staffs' information should keep up to date with appropriate retraining methods, appropriate educational programs should be launched for nonmedical staffs of the university. In this regard, one of the most important measures for officials is to pay more attention to promoting and training of first aid skills of the personnel

[Disease-free survival of breast cancer patients and identification of related factors]

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women especially in eastern Mediterean region. Disease-free survival is common to evaluate the treatment of cancers. Several factors have been determined as prognostic factors for disease-free survival in studies. In this cross-sectional study, during 2005-2007, 153 women with breast cancer were treated in Fayazbakhsh hospital, Tehran. These patients had no metastasis at the time of diagnosis. Patients underwent MRM or BCS surgery. All patients followed until 2011 April. Metastases were diagnosed with x-ray, Biochemical methods, ultrasound with oncologist confirmation. A Cox's regression with time to first event variable was used to determine the prognostic factors. Kaplan-Myer method was used to estimate the survival function. All statistical methods ran in R software version 2.10. Out of 133 patients, 25[18.8%] died and 108[81.2%] were alive. Out of alive patients, 99[74.4%] without metastasis and 9 patients[6.8%] experienced a metastasis. Using Kaplan-Myer estimation showed that disease-free survival was 64 months, and five years rate of disease-free was 72 percent. Increasing in disease-free survival was associated with low grade of tumor, low number of involved lymph nodes, ER negative and HER2 negative. Odds ratio of metastasis or death for HER2 positive was 2.46 times of HER2 negative. Patients with grade 3 had risk of metastasis 1.69-fold of grade2. The result of this study showed that HER2, ER, Grade and number of involved lymph nodes were prognostic factors. Age, size of tumor and PR were not identified as prognostic factors

Treatment and prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer Five year multi-center study

To study the response rate for common chemotherapy regimens, and the progression free survival analysis in ovarian cancer in Tehran. Ninety-eight women with confirmed ovarian cancer who had surgery, followed by chemotherapy at the 3 hospitals in [Fayazbakhsh, Shohadayee Tajrish, and Imam-Hossein], Tehran, Iran, between 1997 and 2003 were enrolled in this retrospective descriptive study. Data regarding age, pathologic variations, surgical procedures, chemotherapy regimens, response rates, and time to progression of the disease were collected. Response rate was evaluated for 51 patients with epithelial cancer. From a total of 98 patients, there were 81 [82.6%] epithelial, 12 [12.2%] germ cell, 4 [4.1%] granulosa cell tumors, and one case of lymphoma. Staging with optimal residue was performed for 18 patients. Stage III was the most common stage [44.9%]. In 71.4% of patients, complete or partial response was seen, while the other patients showed stable, or progressive disease. The most important prognostic factors were the initial stage [p=0.034], and the extent of surgical procedure [p=0.045]. Median disease-free survival was 52.6 months. Although, higher response rate was produced by taxane-based regimen in comparison with cisplatin-cyclophosphamide regimen [78.2% versus 71.4%], but it was not statistically significant [p=0.275]. Median age [49.6 years] of our patients is lower than expected. Besides, a large proportion of the patients are referred in advanced stages. New chemotherapy practically has made no significant higher response rate

Clinicopathological features of primary central nervous system lymphoma

To investigate the anatomic location, immunologic, and clinicopathological features of patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma [PCNSL]. From May 1993 to December 2004, at Shohada Hospital, Tehran, Iran, the clinical data of 110 PCNSL patients, including the age, sex, duration of symptoms, radiological findings, site of tumors, immune status, and history of immunocompromised state [such as organ transplantation, radiotherapy, steroid therapy or AIDS] were assessed. The mean age of the patients with PCNSL was 47.02 +/- 15.8 years. There were 42 female and 68 male patients. One hundred and six cases [96.3%] were diagnosed as B-cell lymphoma. Most of the PCNSL in our study are unifocal. More than 70% of tumors were in a cerebral hemisphere and periventricular location, usually involving the corpus callosum or basal ganglia. No patients had been in immunocompromised states. Symptoms of increased intracranial pressure or changes in personality, vision, or motor function are most common. Seizures are seen in approximately 10% of patients. The number of PCNSL cases showed a gradual rise in incidence. The results of this single hospital 12-year survey of PCNSL are in agreement with data from other single institutions and regional surveys concerning clinical features. However, in contrast with the literature, most of our patients were immunocompetent. The age at diagnosis is also lower than in most reports