Pericardial tuberculosis with an emphasis on empiric therapy in endemic areas for tuberculosis [a case report]

Pericardial tuberculosis [TB] is rare, but has particularly severe complications and a high mortality rate when not treated. Prompt treatment of pericardial TB is important and can be life-saving. We report a 13-year-old girl with massive pericardial effusion and negative workup for TB, who was empirically treated with an excellent response

Effect of kinesiotaping and stretching exercise on forward shoulder angle in females with rounded shoulder posture

Background: Rounded shoulder posture is a common abnormal posture in upper quarter. Kinesiotape is a new intervention that recently used in rehabilitation. There are no studies have examined the effect of kinesiotape on rounded shoulder posture. Therefore the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of scapular kinesiotaping and pectoralis minor stretching exercise on forward shoulder angle in female subjects with rounded shoulder posture

Methods: Twenty female students aged between 18 to 25 years old with rounded shoulder posture participated in this study. Then, the subjects were randomly and equally assigned to two groups: the stretch group and the stretch plus kinesiotape group. Both groups were trained for doing home exercise to stretch Pectoralis minor bilaterally for two weeks. Kinesiotape group received kinesiotape on scapular area additionally. Forward shoulder angle was measured in four sessions including pre-intervention [first session], immediately after the first intervention [second session], fourth day [third session] and at the end of two weeks [fourth session]. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA [4×2] was used for data analysis

Results: kinesiotape group showed significant within-group decrease in forward shoulder angle between first session with three other sessions [P

Conclusion: scapular kinesiotaping along with pectoralis minor stretching exercise improved rounded shoulder posture in subjects of the present study. kinesiotape is suggested as a complementary treatment with immediate effects on postural correction of rounded shoulder

Isokinetic evaluation of quadriceps strength in open and closed kinetic chains in patients with anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Strength of knee extension and squat were compared between anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed [ACLR] patients and healthy subjects. Twenty ACLR and twenty control subjects were participated in this non-exprimental study. Isokinetic peak strength of knee extension and squat in involved and uninvolved side of the ACLR patient and control group were measured. Concentric and eccentric knee extension strength of the involved leg was decreased but squat strength showed no difference. In spite of return to sport activity and normal squat strength weakness of knee extensor muscles in the involved side of the ACLR patient was existed

[Outcome of hamstring ligament harvest for Anterior Cruciate Ligament reconstruction with allograft versus autograft: a clinical trial]

The goal of this study was to evaluate, functional capacity of the knee in flexion and internal rotation after hamstring ligament harvest for Anterior Cruciate Ligament [ACL] reconstruction. Fifty patients [male and 18-45 years old] with isolated ACL injury, randomly allocated in two equal groups [in one group, ACL reconstruction was performed with Tibialis Posterior allograft and in another group with quadruple hamstring ligament auto graft] and before and 6 months after surgery in both groups isokinetic flexion strength and isometric internal rotation strength of knee evaluated with Biodex System 4 dynamometer and rotational torque recorder, in order. Isokinetic flexion strength evaluated in sitting and prone position; the later position was performed for deep flexion strength evaluation. Also subjective and objective assessment of all patients pre operatively and 6 months post operatively was documented with International Knee Documentation Committee [IKDC] questionnaire. In this study for first time, rotational torque strength of knee was recorded with new design measure, from isometric aspect and not isokinetic. Although significant improvements in IKDC scores, flexion and internal rotation capacity of the knee were observed in both groups, post operatively in respect to pre operatively; there was no significant difference between 2 groups. [P<0.05 or more than 95% confidence Interval of the difference]. This study demonstrates that ACL reconstruction surgery, improves knee performance in flexion and internal rotation, regardless of hamstring tendon harvesting. Considering potential complications of allograft [for example: transfer of harmful diseases from donor to recipient], it is logical to use hamstring auto graft ligament for ACL reconstruction surgery. Because result of this study is not longstanding follow up and limited to male sex, for more worthfull conclusion, we suggest future study in both sex and with long duration of follow up.

study of cerumen hepatitis B infection in chronic hepatitis B patients by real-time PCR

The hepatitis B is a viral infection that causes a big problem globally. About 2 billion people worldwide are infected and there are now about 400 million HBV-DNA carriers around the world. HBV infection is the ninth cause of death worldwide and infects about 350 million new cases each year in the world. HBV-DNA can be spotted in different body secretions and fluids, including serum, saliva, tears, urine, amniotic fluid index, and cerumen isolated. This is a case - control study on the population of 140 participants [70 patients with chronic hepatitis B as cases and 70 healthy volunteers community as a control]. The presence of HBV-DNA in their serum and ears cerumen using qualitative PCR and quantitative molecular detection Real-Time PCR [BioRad-CFX system] was determined. Copy of serum HBV were detected in 98.5% of case group and 7% of healthy population [control group]. In case group, 61 patients [87.2%] had HBV-DNA in their cerumens and 5control subjects [about 7%] were positive for HBV-DNA in their cerumens. All patients group and two subject [2.8%] of control group, were positive in HBsAg test. Average HB virus genome load in cerumen and serum of chronic HBV patients [group] were 8.98x10[6] and 3.60x10[8] copies per ml of the sample respectively. Like other body secretions, Ear cerumen is constantly produced and is subject to a pathogen such as HBV infection. The possiblity of disease transmission seems unlikely through Cerumen, however considering the average copy of HBV genome in the cerumen, no doubt, it can be claimed that there is a potential transmission risk of HBV infection

Knowledge and attitude towards stroke risk factors, warning symptoms and treatment in an iranian population

To assess the baseline knowledge regarding stroke risk factors, symptoms, treatment and information resources in an Iranian urban population. A community-based face-to-face interview survey was conducted in the Shiraz urban area in Iran. A total of 385 potential participants between the ages of 15 and 83 years were randomly selected from people referred to Motahari Clinic, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz. All the participants answered the 63 questions about different aspects of stroke. SPSS software version 15 was used to analyze the data. The 385 participants completed the face-to-face interview. The most common risk factors for stroke identified by respondents were hypertension [342; 88.8%] and smoking [338; 87.8%]. The most common warning signs of stroke were abdominal pain [370; 96.1%] and chest pain [338; 88.7%]. This study shows that the knowledge of and attitude towards stroke risk factors in the general population of Shiraz are adequate. By using the public media and school education, it is possible to promote the level of the population's knowledge of and attitude towards stroke