Metabolic syndrome as an independent risk factor of hypoxaemia in influenza A (H1N1) 2009 pandemic.

A swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) emerged as a pandemic in 2009. We investigated the association between the overweight, metabolic syndrome and the severity of disease in the confirmed cases in Qazvin province, Iran. The study sample included all patients over 12 years old with confirmed influenza A (H1N1) in the province of Qazvin, Iran, in the 2009 pandemic, excluding pregnant women. To define overweight, sex and age-specific body mass index (BMI) cutoffs recommended by the International Obesity Task Force were used. Metabolic syndrome was defined by ATP III criteria. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify statistically independent predictors of hypoxaemia. Out of 55 confirmed cases, 28 (50.9%) were overweight and 24 (45.3%) were identified as having metabolic syndrome by ATP III criteria. Twenty four patients had hypoxaemia (arterial oxygen saturation below 90%) during the course of the disease. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, pulmonary co-morbidity (OR=9.54; 95% CI, 1.36 to 66.88; p= 0.023) and the metabolic syndrome (OR=18.66; 95% CI, 1.60 to 217.47; p= 0.019) were revealed to be independent risk factors for hypoxaemia in influenza A (H1N1) pdm09. The results of the present study reveal the role of the metabolic syndrome on the severity of influenza A (H1N1) pdm09 infection.

Zinc and copper status in children with Beta-thalassemia major.

OBJECTIVE: There are some reports in which a condition of zinc deficiency and its associated outcomes with a change in concentration of serum copper among the thalassemic patients has been highlighted. The aim of this prospective study was to determine the serum zinc and copper levels in children with beta-thalassemia major. METHODS: In this cross sectional study all children under 12 years affected by beta thalassemia major (40 patients) were evaluated for serum zinc and copper levels in Qazvin thalassemia center (Qazvin, Iran) in 2007. Serum measurements for zinc and copper were performed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. FINDINGS: The mean concentrations of serum zinc and copper levels were 67.35±20.38 and 152.42±24.17 µg/dl respectively. Twenty-six (65%) of thalassemic patients had zinc concentration under 70 µg/dl (hypozincemia). None of the thalassemic children had copper deficiency. No significant correlation between serum zinc level with age, weight, height, body mass index, duration of blood transfusion, desferrioxamine dose and ferritin level was observed in thalassemic patients (P=0.3). CONCLUSION: This study revealed that hypozincemia is common in thalassemic patients, but in contrast, there is no copper deficiency. Further evaluation in this regard is recommended.

Morphometric study on dimensions of various parts of pons and comparison of data in accordance with age and sex of healthy people by MRI.

OBJECTIVES: The emergence of magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technique has made it possible to answer many questions in the field of anatomy more precisely while observing different anatomic parts of living persons at different ages. This study was conducted to determine the dimensions of different parts of pons and also comparing the data in accordance with age and sex by MRI. METHODS: The present study carried out on 300 healthy individuals referred to imaging center at Imam Reza hospital in the city of Kermanshah, Iran. The precondition for people to be included in the study was the approval made by in-house physician based on person's state of health and the lack of any pathological lesion in brain on the basis of images obtained by MRI. Following MRI procedure, the dimensions of target parts in pons were calculated by the MRI-associated measuring system and recorded along with the age and sex of the patients. Measurements were recorded in mm and based on selecting the largest height, width and length of the organ during the examination of all axial, sagittal, and T(1) coronal profiles. Data analysis was performed using t-student test and Pearson's correlation. The significance level was set at P=0.05. RESULTS: The mean size of different parts of pons recorded in mm was as follows: The height of tegmentum of pons in men and women were 21.10+/-1.99 and 20.35+/-1.95, respectively. The height of ventricle of pons was 24.96+/-1.45 in men and 23.72+/-1.41 in women. The length of pons in men was 21.40+/-1.55 and in women 21.10+/-1.28. The length of ventricle in men and women were 16.85+/-1.21 and 16.77+/-1.36, respectively. The length of tegmentum of pons was 4.57+/-0.50 in men and 4.40+/-0.58 in women. Lastly, the transverse length of the ventricle of pons was 27.30+/-1.68 in men and 26.52+/-1.63 in women. DISCUSSION: The values obtained for the transverse length, length of tegmentum of ventricle, height of ventricle and height of tegmentum in men were larger than those found for women. There were significant relationships between the transverse length, length of tegmentum of pons, height of ventricle of pons and the age in men. There was no significant relationship between dimension of pons and age in women.