Chlamydia trachomatis and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia in married women in a Middle Eastern community

The objective of this study was to determine the association between vaginal Chlamydia infection and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia [CIN]. Data were collected in a case-control study for 60 patients with CIN in biopsy and 85 control subjects with normal colposcopy and biopsy. Serum antibodies to C. trachomatis were associated with an increased risk for CIN [odds ratio [OR] = 7.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5-35.2]]. There was also a significant association between presence of inclusion bodies for C. trachomatis and CIN [OR = 5.5; 95% CI 2.4-12.4]. These results indicate a strong association between CIN and chlamydial cervicitis

[Epidemiologic characteristics of patients with gestational trophoblastic tumors in selected teaching hospitals in Tehran, Iran: 1992-2002]

Background: the aim of this study is to explain the epidemiologic characteristic of the patients with Gestational Trophoblastic Tumors [GTT]. GTT is among the rare human malignancies that can be cured even in the presence of widespread metastasis. Although persistent GTT usually occurred after molar pregnancy, it can occur after term pregnancy, abortion and ectopic pregnancy

Materials and Methods: in a descriptive study based on existing data, we reviewed the records of 85 cases of GTT in Imam Hossein, Taleghani and Mirza Koochak Khan teaching hospitals in Tehran during 1992 to 2002 .The epidemiologic variables taken into consideration include: age, parity score, antecedent pregnancy, mean serum Beta Human Chorionic Gonadotropin [HCG] level before therapeutic interventions, clinical manifestations, probable metastasis and staging

Results: mean age of the patients with GTT was 30.8 with standard deviation[SD] of 10.9 .80% of them were multipara and 80% developed GTT following molar pregnancy .64.3% of cases were in stage 1 [limited to uterus] and the other 35.7% of cases had distance metastasis to lung[16.7%], brain[8.2%], liver[8.2%], kidney[2.4%] and other sites. surprisingly, levels of [beta]HCG were less than 5000mIU/mL in more than half of the patients before therapeutic interventions

Conclusions: in this study most cases of GTT occurred after molar pregnancy, while it could be prevented by following [beta]HCG levels .More over, mean level of serum [beta]HCG was too low even in the presence of metastasis which needs further investigations

HPV infection among patients with high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and squamous cell carcinoma of cervix

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer of the women worldwide. It is also an important cause of cancer-related mortality in women, after breast cancer. Nearly half million of new cases are identified yearly. The incidence rate in developing countries is greater than the developed countries. Epidemiologic studies have shown that the association of genital human papilloma virus [HPV] with cervical cancer is strong, independent of other risk factors, and consistent in several countries. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of HPV in patients with high grade cervical intraepithelial neoplasia [CINIII, CIN II] and squamous cell carcinoma [SCC] of cervix. Hundred specimens from patients with SCC and CINIII, CIN II, confirmed by histological review, referring to Mirza Koochak Khan Hospital from 1999-2004 were enrolled in a cross sectional study. Polymerase chain reaction was utilized for identification and typing of HPV DNA. To increase the sensitivity of HPV detection, nested PCRs were performed using MY09/MY11 as outer and GP5/GP6 as inner primers. It was possible to extract 77 of 100 specimens that HPV DNA was detected in 47 of 77 specimens. Infection with HPV was present in 32 specimens [86.5%] among SCC patients and in 15 specimens [37.5%] among CINIII, CIN II patients. The most frequent HPV types in SCC patients were HPV 16 and 18 [59.38%] and then 33 [34.38%] and in CINIII, CIN II patients was 16 [53.33%] and 18 [40%]. the most frequent co-infection in both groups was HPV 16 and 18 which was present in 40.62% and 26.7% of cases respectively. The most frequent HPV types in patients with SCC and CINIII, CIN II was 16 and 18 that is identical to many other countries infection pattern