[Effects of using mitomycin-C in treatment of benign esophageal strictures]

Using bouginage or balloon dilatation is the standard treatment for benign esophageal strictures. About two-thirds need repeated dilatations. For preventing recurrent strictures, many medications such as mitomycin-C have been used. Mitomycin-C is a special antibiotic with anti-neoplastic characteristics, which inhibits fibroblast proliferation, reduces collagen production and decreases scar formation. In this study, 12 patients with benign esophageal stricture during Azar 1386 to Bahman 1387 in Imam Khomeini Endoscopy Department were included. Esophageal endoscopy was done and mitomycin-C was applied on the place of stricture using a cotton ball. Then, response to treatment was categorized in three groups of complete response, partial response and non-response to treatment. Average number of using mitomycin-C was 4 +/- 3 times. Mean interval between endoscopies before using mitomycin-C was 3.5 +/- 1 weeks and after using this agent was 8.5 +/- 4.3 weeks. There were 4 cases of complete response, 5 cases of partial response and 3 patients of non-response. Conservative treatments in management of benign esophageal strictures are preferred to more invasive treatments. However, it seems using a topical solution of mitomycin-C carries better responses and reduces the rate of recurrent dilatations

[QTc interval changes in patients with moderate to severe brain injury]

Brain trauma is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality, especially in the urban and industrial societies. Risk factors that increase the mortality of the patients are aging, other organs trauma and cardiac arrhythmia. Some of the ECG abnormalities following traumatic brain Injury are tachy-arrhythmia, brady-arrhythmia, increased QTc interval and changes in ST segment. Traumatic brain patients also show subarachnoid hemorrhage [SAH] and increased QTc intervals. Our aim in this study is to evaluate QTc interval changes in patients with moderate to severe brain injury. This retrospective study was performed on 200 patients with moderate to severe head injury, who were admitted in Al-Zahra and Kashani hospitals, in Isfahan city, Iran between years 2004-2006. QTc interval [based on Bazett formula] and level of consciousness [based on Glasgow coma scale] were obtained from the patients' files. Data were analyzed using student t-test and Chi-square test. The most common injury in the patients was intracranial hemorrhage [ICH]. Our study did not show any correlation between age and level of consciousness with QTc interval [P>0.05]. The most common cause of mortality in our patients was subarachnoid hemorrhage [SAH]. There was no significant correlation between causes of injury and patient's mortality [P>0.05]. Evaluating QTc intervals from the files of the patients who were died showed that they had longer QTc interval compared to the alive patients' [P<0.01]. QTc interval was longer in women compared to men [P<0.05]. A direct correlation was seen between decreased level of consciousness and QTc interval elongation [P<0.001]. Our findings show that QTc interval can be used as a good index for mortality in the patients with moderate to severe brain injury. QTc interval prolongation has correlation with severity of consciousness loss and mortality

[Evaluation of TP[53] oncoprotein expression in mucoepidermoid carcinoma of salivary glands and it's relation with grading]

Mucoepidermoid carcinoma is the most common malignancy in salivary glands. This tumor has a variable biologic potential, so it was first divided into two groups: one with malignant behavior and the other with benign behavior and good prognosis. The purpose of this study was evaluation of TP[53] oncoprotein and its relation to different grades of mucoepidermoid carcinoma. This retrospective study included 22 paraffin embedded mucoepidermoid carcinoma samples stained by H and E. The samples were classified into low grade, intermediate grade and high grade. Then, new sections were made and stained by immunohistochemistry method [IHC method] for TP[53] marker. Finally, the relation between the two methods was statistically [ANOVA and Kendall test] analyzed. Seven sections of normal salivary gland tissue were also used as control group. All control cases were negative for TP[53] marker while 68.2% of mucoepidermoid carcinoma samples were positive. A significant relation was revealed between histological grade and nuclear TP[53] staining by IHC method. Parallel to increasing histologic grade of salivary gland mucoepidermoid carcinoma, TP[53] expression is also increased so that immunohistochemistry technique is helpful for determination of the biologic behavior of salivary gland mucoepidermoid corcinoma and prognosis of patients

[Assessment of the effecctiveness of sucralfate in reducing pain of tonsillectomy patients]

Pain is one of the serious complications in patients after tonsillectomy. It is essential to use a medication which reduces the pain with least side effects, cost, and availability. The purpose of this study was to study the effectiveness of sucralfate in reduction of pain and dosage of acetaminophen post tonsillectomy. This was an analytic study performed as a clinical trial. In this study, 60 patients [older than 7 years] admitted to Shaheed Sadoughi hospital, Yazd undergoing tonsillectomies were chosen randomly and divided into two groups; case and control. Both groups received 40 mg/kg/day Amoxicillin and 10 mg/kg/dose Acetaminophen syrup. The case group was administered 1 gr/ 10 cc sucralfate, while the control group was given 10 cc dimethicone every six hours. The severity of sore throat was assessed using a visual analog scale [from 0 to 5] and the frequency of acetaminophen use on the first, second and third day, post operatively. For statistical analysis of results, t.test and alpha =95% with P value <0.05 was used and analyzed by SPSS. The difference between the intensity of sore throat in the two groups was significant. [P.value <0.0001]. The difference in the mean amount of acetaminophen consumed was also significant [P.value <0.0001]. The results of the study were in line with other similar studies which prove that sucralfate by coating the tonsillar bed sore acts as an effective analgesic. Considering the efficacy of sucralfate in reduction of post tonsillectomy pain and its few side effects including cost effectiveness and availability, sucralfate usage is recommended in tonsillectomy patients, post operatively