The demographic and paraclinical characteristics of patients with hepatitis B presenting to Shahid Mohammadi Hospital and Clinic and other private clinics in Bandar Abbas, Iran.

Considering the crucial importance of hepatitis B and its high prevalence in the society, the present study was conducted to examine the demographic and paraclinical characteristics of patients with chronic hepatitis B. This descriptive cross-sectional study examined 180 patients with hepatitis B presenting to Shahid Mohammadi Hospital and Clinic and other private clinics in Bandar Abbas, Iran, in 2016-17. The patients were divided into three main groups: chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and healthy carriers. Parametric and nonparametric tests were used to analyze the relationship between the quantitative variables in terms of their normal or nonnormal distribution (P < 0.05). About 13.5% of the patients had cirrhosis, 35.4% were healthy carriers, and 51.12% had chronic hepatitis. The number of male patients in the cirrhosis group and the number of female participants in the healthy carrier group were higher. The difference in gender distribution between the three groups was statistically significant. According to the results of this study, male and married people constitute a high percentage of the population of patients with chronic hepatitis B. The clinical symptoms of chronic hepatitis B often do not occur until the patient's progress to advanced stages and cirrhosis, and most of the population is asymptomatic. Contact with a person suspected to have hepatitis B is one of the major risk factors of this disease.

Blood malignancies in Mazandaran province of Iran.

BACKGROUND: Leukemia and lymphoma demonstrate significantly incidence rates throughout the world and particularly in Iran they cause serious mortality and diagnosis and treatment expenditures for both families and the health system. Combined they account for about 11 percent of cancers in Mazandaran province, ranking number 2 in prevalent cancers. The purpose of this study was to provide a first general and specific description of leukemia and lymphoma in Mazandaran province. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this descriptive retrospective study, entire patient's data were reviewed which had confirmed diagnosis of leukemia and lymphoma with valid laboratory or pathology reports in the period 2001-2008. The data were collected by Babol health research site related to Tehran University of Medical Science. Incidence rates based on age groups, gender, city of residence and type of malignancy were calculated and analyzed. RESULTS: In Mazandaran province, 1,146 cases of leukemia and lymphoma were encountered, 5.9 in 100,000 persons on average annually. The highest incidence rates were obtained at age of 70 or above (26.4) and the lowest at age of 0-9 (2.3).The incidence rates in males and females were 7.1 and 4.8 respectively with a ratio of 1.5. The highest incidence rate was in Babol (7.3) and the lowest was calculated in Neka and Tonekabon equally (1.5). According to the type of malignancy, non Hodgkin lymphoma, with 2.5/100,000 have the most incidence rate and myeloid leukemia with 1.8 had the lowest. CONCLUSIONS: The obtained findings indicate clear differences in incidence rates based on age, gender, residence, and type of malignancy. Therefore it's suggested that in addition to promote data collecting programs, research projects should be programmed to define leukemia and lymphoma risk factors in this province.