Effectiveness of muscle strengthening exercises on the clinical outcomes of patients with knee osteoarthritis: A randomized four-arm controlled trial.

Background: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the major causes of dysfunction that reduces patients' quality of life. The aim of current study was to investigate the effectiveness of muscle strengthening exercises on the clinical outcomes of patients with knee OA. Methods: We conducted a single-blind clinical trial on 96 patients with mild to moderate knee osteoarthritis. Patients were randomly assigned to 4 groups with 24 patients and followed-up for 8 weeks. Quadriceps, hamstring and both hamstring and quadriceps strengthening exercises were received by the first (G1), second (G2) and third (G3) groups, respectively. The fourth group (G4) was the control group and did not receive any intervention. The main outcome variables were pain, physical function and morning stiffness. This study was retrospectively registered at irct.ir (Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials) with the code IRCT20220206053950N2, 2022-09-07. Results: Our findings demonstrated a significant impact of interventions on VAS score, pain, and stiffness (All, p < 0.001). Nonetheless, the effect of interventions was not significant for physical function (P = 0.78). After adjusting for the potential confounders, similar results were observed. Besides, the results of Dunnett post hoc test showed that either G1 or G3 had the most decrease in VAS and WOMAC-morning stiffness scores compared to G2 and G4. Conclusion: Based on the evidence from the present study, we can recommend a combination of quadriceps and hamstring strengthening exercises as the most effective intervention to reduce pain and morning stiffness in patients with OA.

Clinical Manifestations of Behçet's Disease: A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction: Behçet's Disease (BD) is a systemic vasculitis, highly prevalent in Eastern Asia to Mediterranean countries. Iran is among the countries with the highest prevalence of BD, and previous studies in different countries have shown a broad range of clinical manifestations of the disease. The present study is conducted to evaluate the prevalence of the clinical manifestations of BD in patients referring to rheumatology clinics of two distinct referral hospitals in Tehran and Zanjan, Iran. Methods: In this retrospective, cross-sectional study, the medical records of patients with BD were reviewed, and age at onset, sex, the delay between the onset of symptoms and diagnosis, clinical manifestations, HLA B27, HLA B51, HLA B5, haematuria, proteinuria, leukocyturia, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), and pathergy phenomenon were included in the study. The collected data were analysed by χ2 test using SPSS 23. Results: A total of 188 patients (Male/female ratio = 1.47) were included in the study with mean ± SD age at onset of 27.98 ± 10.47 years and a mean ± SD of delay between the onset of symptom and diagnosis of 5.70 ± 7.16 years. The most common clinical manifestation was mucosal involvement (85.1%), followed by the ocular lesion (55.3%) and skin manifestations (44.7%). The Pathergy phenomenon was observed in 98 patients (52.1%). Moreover, 45.2% had positive HLA B5, followed by HLA B51 (35.1%) and HLA B27 (12.2%). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that male/female ratio and mean age at onset were comparable to the results of previous studies in Iran. Significant associations between HLAB5 and clinical manifestations underline the pivotal role of genetic factors in BD.

Effectiveness of isometric exercises on disability and pain of cervical spondylosis: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Neck pain and disability is a significant public health problem with only very few evidence-based treatment option. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of isometric exercise on pain and disability of cervical spondylosis. METHODS: Twenty four patients with cervical osteoarthritis and neck pain (22 females and 2 males; mean age, 46.70 ± 13.71 years) were recruited and randomly allocated into 2 arms: neck isometric exercises (n = 12) and conservative management without exercise (n = 12). The Neck Disability Index (NDI) and Neck Pain and Disability Scale (NPAD) were used to assess participants at baseline and after 4 weeks. RESULTS: Basic characteristics, NDI score and NPAD score were not significantly different between groups at baseline. The exercise arm demonstrated significantly lower scores regarding NDI (mean, 17.41 vs. 25.58; P-value = 0.035) and NPAD (mean, 25.33 vs. 66.67; P < 0.001), compared to the control arm after 4 weeks. The exercise arm also showed significant within group reduction considering NDI and NPAD scores after 4 weeks (Both, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggested that isometric exercises might be a beneficial treatment for improving pain and disability caused by cervical spondylosis. Trial registration This study was registered at irct.ir (Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials) with the code IRCT20220206053950N1, 07.05.2022, retrospectively registered.

Schirmer test changes after 20 gauge and 23 gauge pars plana vitrectomy.

Objective: To evaluate the short-term changes in Schirmer I test (ST) after pars plana vitrectomy and to compare the results between 23 gauge and 20 gauge vitrectomy surgeries. Methods: 42 patients who underwent pars plana vitrectomy for posterior segment diseases were included in this prospective, non-randomized, comparative study. The choice of sclerotomy gauge was at the surgeons' discretion. ST values were recorded before and at 1 and 3 months after vitrectomy. Results: 20 patients in 23 gauge and 22 patients in 20-gauge group with a mean age of 59.9 ± 13.5 years were included. The mean preoperative ST values decreased significantly in both groups at 1 and 3 months after surgery (all P < 0.01). The ST values in the fellow eyes were the same, at baseline and during the follow up (P > 0.05). At 3 months visit, 15 eyes (35.7%) had abnormal ST measurements. There was no statistically significant difference in the changes in the ST measurements between the two groups at one month (P = 0.7), however, 3 months after surgery, the mean decrease in the ST measurements was significantly higher in the 20 gauge group (P = 0.03). At 3 months, 4 eyes in the 23 gauge group (20%) and 11 eyes in the 20 gauge group (50%) had abnormal ST measurements (P = 0.05). Conclusions: Although both 20 and 23-gauge vitrectomy decrease the ST measurements postoperatively, the value is less affected by the 23-gauge vitrectomy.

Posterior sub-tenon's bevacizumab injection in diabetic macular edema; a pilot study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the short-term results of sub-tenon's injection of bevacizumab in patients with clinically significant macular edema (CSME). METHODS: In this prospective non-comparative interventional case series, sub-tenon's injection of 2.5 mg/0.1 ml bevacizumab was performed for eyes with CSME. Macular thickness and best corrected visual acuity measurements were performed before and one month after injections. RESULTS: Nineteen eyes of twelve patients with a mean age of 59.8 ± 5.7 years were evaluated. Thirteen eyes (68.4%) had center-involving macular edema. No significant difference was observed between pre- and post-injection central subfield retinal thickness measurements (P = 0.3). Central subfield thickness measurements improved or remained unchanged in 13 eyes (68.4%). Baseline BCVA of 0.48 ± 0.35 LogMAR improved to 0.36 ± 0.26 LogMAR after injection (P = 0.01). Improvement of >2 lines in BCVA was found in 5 eyes (26.3%), and no eye lost >2 lines of BCVA. No complication associated with sub-tenon's injection was observed. CONCLUSION: Sub-tenon's injection of bevacizumab resulted in significant short-term visual improvement in eyes with CSME. Retinal thickness changes were not significant.