Disease and Diagnosis
Year:2021 | Volume:10 | Issue:3|Papers Count:8

Background: Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) is a syndrome that occurs with the sudden onset of paralysis in any part of the body of infants and children under 15 years old. This study investigated the epidemiology and causes of AFP in patients under 15 years of age admitted to hospitals in Hormozgan province during 2011-2018. Materials and Methods: After receiving the code of ethics, the information of the studied patients was collected by referring to the health center of Hormozgan province and reviewing their records. The corresponding data were gathered using a checklist that included the causes of paralysis, age, gender, place of residence, and involved organs and then analyzed with SPSS software. Results: Out of 121 patients, 58. 7% were males. In addition, 69. 4% and 21. 5% of these patients were in the age groups of 0-5 and 5-10 years, and the remaining cases were in the age group of 10-15 years. In terms of accommodation, 19. 8% and 14. 9% of patients lived in Bandar Abbas and Minab, respectively. The highest incidence of the disease was 19% and 18. 2% in 2013 and 2015, respectively. The most affected organ was 57% of both feet. The most common cause of AFP in this study was Guillain-Barre syndrome (37. 2%), followed by transient synovitis (17. 4%). Conclusion: Considering the high annual incidence of this disease compared to the standard of the World Health Organization, it is recommended to launch training and vaccination campaigns to reduce the incidence and eradicate this disease.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the demographic factors, comorbidities, and laboratory results of diabetic patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) severity. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study enrolled 171 diabetic patients with COVID-19 admitted based on chest CT scan findings to the COVID-19 ward of Shahid Mohammadi Hospital in Hormozgan, Iran from 1 March to 1 June, 2020. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test was performed, and the patients were divided into three groups (mild, moderate, and severe) based on the severity of disease. Then we investigated the demographic factors, comorbidities, and laboratory results of diabetic patients with severe COVID-19 severity. Results: Regarding comorbidities, there was no significant difference between the three groups. Moreover, there was a significantly lower lymphocyte count in the severe group compared to moderate and mild groups (P = 0. 001). We showed the increase in blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine to be significantly associated with increased disease severity (P = 0. 001 and P = 0. 009, respectively). We also showed a significant difference in aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels between different groups of patients (P = 0. 002) with a higher level of AST in the severe group (P = 0. 020). Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and troponin were also significantly associated with an increase in COVID-19 severity in patients with diabetes (P = 0. 013 and P = 0. 002, respectively). Conclusion: There was a significant association between disease severity and BUN, creatinine, AST, LDH, and troponin levels in diabetic patients with COVID-19. There was no significant association between different groups regarding severity of disease and comorbidities.

Background: A cutaneous form of leishmaniasis (cutaneous leishmaniasis, CL) is becoming increasingly common, and this study was conducted to investigate the epidemiological features of CL in the county of Izeh in Khuzestan province. Materials and Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional research was performed during 2014-2019. Basic demographic and clinical information was gathered from patients with CL referring to Izeh health centre and then processed using SPSS software, version 25. 0. Results: Overall, data related to 131 patients were recorded from 2014 to 2019. The incidence of CL showed a decrease from 16. 207 to 5. 028 per 100 000 individuals in Izeh. Based on the analysis of CL incidence in Izeh county, a statistically significant difference was observed through the mentioned six-year study (P < 0. 05). Male patients with a frequency rate of 65. 6% demonstrated a statistically significant association in the CL and the type of gender compared to 34. 4% of females (P < 0. 05). The age group of 20-29 years old (32. 1%) had a higher frequency of CL in the age groups. Finally, there was a statistically considerable discrepancy in the frequencies of infected people with CL related to age groups (P < 0. 05). Conclusion: Based on the findings and other epidemiological characteristics, Izeh does not seem to be an endemic focus of CL. Nonetheless, it is a concerning situation, and proper preparation is strongly advised for disease control and prevention.

Background: The present study aimed at evaluating the effect of weekly phone calls on treatment outcomes and quality of life among a group of Iranian patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Materials and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial study, 60 patients aged 15-85 with RA were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group, in addition to a monthly assessment on a weekly basis, received a full 3-month follow-up telephone conversation in order to follow the correct and regular use of the drug and respond to the patients’,questions. The control group was only evaluated routinely. Finally, the severity of the disease activity (based on DAS-28) and the quality of life (based on the SF-12 questionnaire) were evaluated after three months. Results: After three months from the onset of intervention, a significant reduction was observed in the number of tender joints, mean erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and total score of DAS-28 in the intervention group compared to the control group. In addition, after three months of treatment, the quality of life for the intervention group improved significantly more than that of the control group. Conclusion: A weekly phone call with the patients suffering from RA with the purpose to guide the therapeutic process and respond to the patients’,questions could positively improve the severity of the disease along with the quality of life among the patients.

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of four weeks of endurance training (EXE) on inflammatory markers predicting atherosclerosis by gender. Materials and Methods: Forty male and female Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups including male myocardial infarction (MI), male MI + EXE, female MI, and female MI+EXE. After the induction of MI with two intraperitoneal injections of isoproterenol (150 mg/kg), the training groups performed an (EXE) program for 4 weeks on a treadmill (speed 18 m/min, 30 minutes, 5 sessions per week). The animals were sacrificed 24 hours after the last training session. Finally, data were analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance and Fishers’,least significant difference post hoc test. Results: Despite the clinical difference in the training groups, the intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM, 3. 74±, 0. 61 ng/mL) was more significant in the female MI + EXE group (P = 0. 009). Conclusion: In general, despite observing clinical changes, there were no significant vascular cell adhesion molecules and osteoprotegerin (OPG) after EXE in cardiovascular inflammatory factors in male and female rats following MI. Nevertheless, gender had a significant independent effect on the ICAM index. The results showed that ICAM values were higher in female rats in comparison with male rats.

High blood glucose levels during pregnancy can lead to unfavorable outcomes in the mother, fetus, and neonatal state. This review focused on the latest guidelines on diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of gestational diabetes mellites. This narrative review was conducted by searching through several online databases including PubMed, Science Direct, and Embase for relevant articles using keywords such as “, Gestational Diabetes”, , “, Diabetes Mellitus”, , “, Pregnancy”, , and “, guideline”,with no date limitations. Based on the literature review, proper treatment of diabetes during pregnancy results in a normal pregnancy, labor, postpartum state. The key to a normal pregnancy is to control and keep your blood sugar levels within the recommended range by various guidelines, which were the discussion subjects of this narrative review in detail. In addition to maintaining normal blood sugar levels before or during pregnancy, there should be a balance between diet, exercise, and insulin intake if indicated for treatment. Gestational diabetes control program needs close monitoring and appraisal with progression in the pregnancy. As a result, recognizing the burden of gestational diabetes is decisive for timely diagnosis and further evaluations by healthcare policymakers. Overall, multiple updates on the guidelines of gestational diabetes management are annually published, and a comparison of these guidelines could inform clinicians to update their approach.

Background: Controlling labor pains is now an essential part of midwifery care, and aromatherapy is a well-known medicinal treatment for easing labor pains. The aim of this research was to evaluate and analyze the most recent clinical trial results on the effects of lavender aromatherapy on labor pain management. Methods: Several keywords were searched in the MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar databases, including lavender, Lavandula, childbirth, labor, pregnancy, labor pain, aromatherapy, and delivery. Two authors extracted the data, and the Cochran quality management tool was used to assess the consistency of each study. Results: In general, 7 studies were reviewed after checking the titles and abstracts of the studies and eliminating obsolete or low-quality studies. Two studies were conducted in Egypt and Indonesia, and five studies were conducted in Iran. There were a wide variety of qualities in the studies, which could render more quantitative synthesis impractical. Massage aromatherapy was employed in three trials, and inhalation was applied in four studies. All findings suggested that lavender aromatherapy in both methods could reduce active phase labor pain. Conclusion: Although the results of this study showed that lavender aromatherapy suppressed labor pain, more detailed randomized clinical trials with higher precision are needed to achieve an accurate outcome for data generalization regarding the use of labor pain management.

Background: Aortic dissection (AD) is considered to be one of the life-threatening diseases. Quick diagnosis has great significance so that a one-hour delay in treatment leads to a 1-2% increase in mortality. Case Report: The 55-year old obese woman with epigastric pain and right upper quadrant pain referred to the emergency department of our hospital. The acute coronary syndrome was our initial diagnosis but an image similar to a Perl in one cut and a crescent in another cut of computed tomography (CT) drew our attention in the mediastinal view of CT without intravenous contrast that was performed to rule out coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). Finally, CT-angiography was requested and AD diagnosis was approved accordingly. Conclusion: The presence of calcification on a non-contrast chest CT in the middle of the aorta or away from the artery wall can be a sign of AD. Thus, special attention should be paid to the atypical symptoms of AD.