Survival and prognostic factors among hospitalized pancreatic cancer patients in northwestern Iran.

Background: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is associated with a poor prognosis, with various modifiable risk factors affecting the survival of patients. Our aim was to evaluate the survival rate and the prognostic factors influencing survival in PC patients in northwestern Iran. Materials and Methods: All the PC patients admitted to the Imam Reza Hospital of Tabriz, Iran, from 2016 to 2020, were enrolled in this study. The survival rate and time were calculated, and the risk factors related to survival were evaluated by Cox regressions. The data were analyzed using the Cox proportional hazards model using STATA software. Results: Of 110 patients, 12-, 24-, 36-, and 48-month survival rates were 29.1%, 19.8%, 14.1%, and 8.5%, respectively, with the median survival time of seven months. The mean age was 65.5 years. The results showed that a higher age (hazard ratio [HR] [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 2.04 [1.20-3.46]), lower education (1.72 [1.03-2.89]), delayed diagnosis (1.03 [1.02-1.05]), hypertension (1.53 [1.01-2.31]), concomitant heart disorders (2.67 [1.50-4.74]), COPD (4.23 [1.01-17.69]), consanguineous marriage (1.59 [1.01-2.50]), and the presence of icterus complications (adjusted HR = 3.64 [1.56-8.49]) were directly associated with a worse survival. On the contrary, radiotherapy (0.10 [0.01-0.85]), chemotherapy (0.57 [0.36-0.89]), and surgical therapy (AHR = 0.48 [0.23-0.99]) were directly related to a good prognosis. Conclusion: Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy were the best predictors of survival in PC patients. Moreover, it seems that resolving jaundice can improve survival in these patients. It seems that increasing social awareness, treating underlying diseases, and employing an appropriate therapeutic method may promise a better outlook, improve the survival rate of patients, and reduce PC risk.

The outcomes of carpal tunnel decompression based on electro-diagnostic approaches and clinical symptoms in patients suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

Introduction: The main objective of this study was to assess the outcomes of carpal tunnel release surgery based on the electro-diagnostic approaches and its clinical symptoms in patients who suffered from carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study that consisted 50 participants of 100 patients of which 22 of them were men, and 78 of them were female. All the participants were examined through their clinical symptoms including pain, by parentheses, and also using the Levine-Katz Questionnaire before and after the open surgical operation. Additionally, patients with electrophysiological (EP) disorders were evaluated using electromyography (EMG) and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) (EMG-NCV) tests. Then, the association of the findings and results of this study was analyzed and then compared together using a particular statistical analysis model before and after the surgical procedure. Findings: The data achieved from the present study demonstrated that a significant improvement in both sexes and age groups was observed, and there was no significant difference in the level of improvement based on age and gender. Moreover, there was a significant correlation between the improvement severity of clinical symptoms and the improvement of severity of muscle nerve disease and their functions. Conclusion: It was observed that the surgical procedure for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome, improves its clinical symptoms in patients tested with electrodiagnostic techniques. Moreover, diversity of age and sexual condition did not affect the results of the study.

Identification phenotypic and genotypic characterization of biofilm formation in Escherichia coli isolated from urinary tract infections and their antibiotics resistance.

OBJECTIVE: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common infectious diseases, and Escherichia coli is the most common pathogen isolated from patients with UTIs. The products of sfa, afa and foc genes are important for binding of the bacterium to urinary tract epithelium. Our aim was to investigate these genes in E. colis isolated from patients with UTIS. The frequencies of the genes were determined using PCR. Biofilm formation and antibiotic resistance rates were determined using microtiter plate and disk diffusion methods, respectively. The P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The frequencies of sfa, afa and foc were 75.3%, 17.5% and 22.5%, respectively showing a significantly higher prevalence of the sfa gene. The most effective antibiotics against the E. colis were nitrofurantoin and amikacin. The highest microbial resistance rates were also observed against amoxicillin and ampicillin. Furthermore, 12.7%, 6.3%, 74.7% and 6.3% of the isolates showed strong, moderate, weak capacities and no connections to form biofilms, respectively. The expression of the sfa gene was significantly associated with forming strong biofilms. Regarding the variabilities in the characteristics of E. coli strains associated with UTIs, it seems reasonable to adjust diagnostic and therapeutic methods according to the regional microbial characteristics.

Association of HLA-B27 and Behcet's disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: To calculate the genetic impact of the "HLA-B27" allele on the risk of Behcet's disease (BD) progression using a systematic review and meta-analysis on case control papers. METHODS: A systematic review search was conducted on the MeSH keywords of Behcet's disease, HLAB27 and B27 in PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, EMBASE, SID, Magiran, IranDoc and IranMedex databases from 1975 to Aug 2017. Data underwent meta-analysis (random effect model) in CMA2 software. Pooled odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each study. The heterogeneity of the articles was measured using the I2 index. RESULTS: Twenty two articles met the inclusion criteria for 3939 cases and 6077 controls. The pooled OR of "HLA-B27" in BD patients compared with controls was [1.55 (CI 95% 1.01-2.38), P = 0.04]. The OR differ among different countries or geographical areas, focus on domination the European countries. Quality of studies was moderate and heterogeneity was relatively high (I2 = 66.9%). CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant correlation between HLA-B27 and Behcet's Disease, but it was weak. Environmental and genetic factors might determine which the "HLA-B27" alleles manifest Behcet's disease progression. Future researches is required to perform about what factors can do to positively and separately influence Behcet's disease.