پژوهش در علوم پزشکی
سال:1377 | دوره:3 | شماره:4 |تعداد مقالات:20

Sir, Despite the target to eliminate trachoma as a public health concern by 2020, and implementation of approved strategies, more than 200 million individuals are living in endemic regions distributed across 42 nations and are at the risk of developing disease‑induced irreversible blindness.[1] It will not be wrong to say that gradually the reach of planned interventions is on the rise, as observed by some people benefited by surgical or timely antibiotic treatment, but even then, a lot needs to be done, if the national leaders aim to achieve the elimination target.

Background: Associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy (ALPPS) is a novel surgical technique liver resection in traditionally nonresectable primary intrahepatic tumors or colorectal liver metastases.Materials and Methods: From June 2013 to March 2014, patients with primary tumor of liver or colorectal tumors with liver metastasis were selected to evaluate whether they met the initial criteria for ALPPS procedure.Results: Nine patients enrolled in the study with primary diagnoses of colon and rectosigmoid cancer, carcinoid tumor, gastrointestinal stromal tumor of small intestine, hepatocellular carcinoma, and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor (PNET). Four candidates excluded from the study prior or during the first step operation due to fatty liver, hepatic fibrosis, peritoneal seeding, and multiple small intestine metastases. Five patients underwent two stages of ALPPS with the interval of about 1 week. Liver hypertrophy was 100% among our candidates after the initial step. One postoperative death happened because of massive pulmonary thromboembolism Recurrence of liver metastasis was seen in one patient. Hepatic failure Class B and A were observed in two patients which did not progress during follow‑up period. One patient developed an enterocutaneous fistula.Discussion: We recommend to use 2 organ bags, one for wrapping right lobe and the other one for covering visceral organs and also do liver biopsy in suspicious cases of damaged liver parenchyma and laparoscopic exploration of abdomen for seeding and multiple metastases prior to laparotomy.Conclusion: As the procedure has not been well established and verified by oncologists yet, further studies are required to define the exact indications of ALPPS.

Background: Posttraumatic and/or postsurgical knee stiffness is one of the orthopedic complications which is difficult to be treated and can affect individual’s life negatively. The aim of this study is to investigate the results of quadricepsplasty in patients with knee stiffness resulted from femoral fracture.Materials and Methods: This is a cross‑sectional study on all patients with femoral fracture which has caused knee flexion limitation referred to Kashani and Al‑Zahra Hospitals in Isfahan from January 2010 to March 2013. The type and site of fracture, joint extension, and fracture fixation technique were recorded. Moreover, the range of motion (ROM) before surgery, under general anesthesia, and 3‑ and 6‑month postoperation were measured.Results: Among the patients, 13 had a simple fracture (48%) and 14 had a segmental fracture (51.9%). Considering the fracture site, 11, 10, and 6 patients had femoral (40.74%), supracondylar (37.3%), and femoral supracondylar (22.2%) fractures, respectively. The fracture fixation was performed by the plate, external, and Wagner fixation techniques for 24 (88.9%), 2 (7.4%), and 1 (3.7%) patients, respectively. The mean ROM before operation, under general anesthesia, and 3‑ and 6‑month postoperation were determined to be 33.15o ± 24.73 o, 122.60 o ± 10.22 o, 99.63 o ± 16.52 o, and 100.74 o ± 15.67 o, respectively. The mean ROM value at various stages was not similar (P<0.001). The mean changes in the ROM were 79.2 o ± 24.6 o and 62.1 o ± 19.7 o in the cases with simple and segmental fractures, respectively. The mean changes in the knee ROM were significantly higher in simple fractures in comparison with the segmental femoral fracture (P=0.03).Conclusion: We found Thompson’s quadricepsplasty may successfully increase the range of knee flexion in knee fracture and also regardless of quadriceps time.

Background: Historically, operating room (OR) has always been considered as a stand‑alone trusted platform for surgical education and training.However, concerns about financial constraints, quality control, and patient safety have urged the surgical educators to develop more cost‑effective, surgical educational platforms that can be employed outside the OR. Furthermore, trained surgeons need to regularly update their surgical skills to keep abreast with the emerging surgical technologies. This research aimed to explore the value of currently available modern surgical tools that can be used outside the OR and also elaborates the existing laparoscopic surgical training programs in world‑class centers across the globe with a view to formulate a blended and unified structured surgical training program.Materials and Methods: Several data sources were searched using MeSH terms “Laparoscopic surgery” and“Surgical training” and “Surgical curriculum” and “fundamentals of endoscopic surgery” and “fundamentals of laparoscopic surgery”and “Telementoring” and “Box trainer.” The eligibility criteria used in data extraction searched for original and review articles and by excluding the editorial articles, short communications, conference proceedings, personal view, and commentaries. Data synthesis and data analysis were done by reviewing the initially retrieved 211 articles. Irrelevant and duplicate and redundant articles were excluded from the study.Results: Finally, 12 articles were selected for this systematic review. Data results showed that a myriad of cutting‑edge technical innovations have provided modern surgical training tools such as the simulation‑based mechanical and virtual reality simulators, animal and cadaveric labs, telementoring, telerobotic‑assisted surgery, and video games. Surgical simulators allow the trainees to acquire surgical skills in a tension‑free environment without supervision or time constraints.Conclusion: The existing world‑renowned surgical training centers employ various clusters of training tools that essentially endeavor to embed the acquisition of knowledge and technical skills. However, a unified training curriculum that may be accepted worldwide is currently not available.

Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis. The present study determined the serum human enolase-2 (ENO-2), high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and serum cholesterol levels as biological marker of disease activity and treatment response in smear-positive drug-naïve PTB. Materials and Methods: This case・control study was done in the Department of Medicine, Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS), Jamshoro/Hyderabad, Sindh, from January 2015 to April 2016. Thirty-five sputum smear-positive drug-naïve PTB patients and thirty controls were studied. MTB culture and drug sensitivity were performed at the Diagnostic and Research Laboratory of LUMHS. Serum ENO-2, hs-CRP, and serum cholesterol were estimated at baseline, 3rd and 6th month of antituberculosis (TB) therapy.Results: Serum ENO-2 and hs-CRP were found raised in PTB compared to controls and showed decrease of 13% and 21.55%, 19.6% and 31.5% at 3rd and 6th month, respectively (P=0.0001). Serum ENO-2 revealed positive correlation with hs-CRP (r=0.734, P=0.0001), and serum cholesterol revealed negative correlation with ENO-2 and hs-CRP (r=−0.509, P=0.0001) and (r=−0.566, P=0.0001), respectively.Conclusion: The present study reports the baseline ENO-2 and hs-CRP were raised, and serum cholesterol was low in smear-positive PTB patients and the ENO-2 and hs-CRP were reduced by anti-TB drug therapy.

Background: Obesity is a known prevalent major health issue. The aim of this study is to assay Iranian patients’ problems with obesity and their expectations of bariatric surgery.Materials and Methods: In this study, we included patients who have used different medical noninvasive treatments and were unsuccessful in losing weight from the obesity clinic in Al Zahra Hospital, Isfahan, from 2014 to 2015. Morbidly obese patients were interviewed using some open‑ended questions, and then, directional content analysis of data was done.Results: Analysis of data showed five main categories including (1) physical health, (2) psychological health, (3) social relationships, (4) environment, and (5) “about the causes of obesity” with some subcategories for each category.Conclusion: This study is the first step of designing a quality of life questionnaire while we focused on spiritual and cultural states of Iranian people.

To summarize the experience of diagnosing and treating patients with Henoch–Schönlein purpura (HSP) -related pancreatitis, a systematic review of previously published cases was conducted. Among 13 reported cases, there were six males and seven females whose age from 3 to 70 years. The clinical features of these patients indicated that acute pancreatitis could be the initial manifestation of HSP, the radiological change was atypical, and most cases were alleviated with steroidal treatment. Good outcomes can be achieved in patients who are diagnosed early with HSP-related pancreatitis, and it is vital to begin timely treatment of HSP-related pancreatitis with corticosteroid.

The prognosis of the neoplastic diseases depends not only on the biogenetic characteristics of cancer cells but also on the immunological response of patients, which may influence the biological features of cancer cells themselves as well as the angiogenic processes.Moreover, the immune systemin vivo is under a physiological psychoneuroendocrine (PNE) regulation, mainly mediated by the brain opioid system and the pineal gland. In more detail, the anticancer immunity is stimulated by the pineal hormone melatonin (MLT) and inhibited by the opioid system, namely, through a mu‑opioid receptor. Several alterations involving the pineal endocrine function and the opioid system have been described in cancer patients, which could play a role in tumor progression itself. Therefore, the pharmacological correction of cancer progression‑related anomalies could contribute to control cancer diffusion, namely, the pineal endocrine deficiency and the hyperactivity of brain opioid system. In fact, the administration of pharmacological doses of the only MLT has already been proven to prolong the 1‑year survival in untreatable metastatic cancer patients. Better results may be achieved by associating other pineal indoles to MLT, mu‑opioid antagonists, cannabinoids, beta‑carbolines. Moreover, these neuroendocrine combinations may be successfully associated with antitumor cytokines, such as interleukin (IL) ‑2 and IL‑12, as a PNE‑immune cancer therapy as well as with antitumor plants as PNE‑phytotherapy of cancer in an attempt to propose possible anticancer treatments also to patients with disseminated cancer and untreatable according to the standard oncology.

Background: Considering the existence of controversies about the predictive value of inflammatory markers for cardiovascular disease (CVD), we aimed to compare the level of high‑sensitivity C‑reactive protein (hs‑CRP) and interlukin‑6 (IL‑6) level in chronic hemodialysis (HD) patients with and without CVD.Materials and Methods: In this historical cohort study, HD patients with and without CVD disease were enrolled. The presence of CVD risk factors, level of inflammatory factors including IL‑6 and hs‑CRP as well as lipid levels, fasting blood sugar, and other biochemical factors were compared in two studied groups.Results: During the study, eighty HD patients with (n=40) and without (n=40) CVD were enrolled. Diabetes was more prevalent among HD patients with CVD than those without CVD (P<0.05). The level of IL‑6 and hs‑CRP were not different in two studied groups (P>0.05).Univariate analysis of variance test indicated that there was not any significant relationship between hs‑CRP and CVD (P>0.05).Conclusion: The findings indicated that the level of inflammatory factors including hs‑CRP and IL‑6 are not significantly different in HD patients with and without CVD. However, for obtaining more definite conclusion in this field and evaluation their predicting role in this field, it is recommended to study other novel inflammatory markers as well as the additive effect of the inflammatory factors with traditional ones in larger sample size and longer follow‑up.

Background: The Wilms tumor 1 (WT1) gene is originally defined as a tumor suppressor gene and a transcription factor that overexpressed in leukemic cells. It is highly expressed in more than 80% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients, both in bone marrow (BM) and in peripheral blood (PB), and it is used as a powerful and independent marker of minimal residual disease (MRD); we have determined the expression levels of the WT1 by real‑time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RQ‑PCR) in PB and BM in 126 newly diagnosed AML patients.Materials and Methods: This study was done in molecular pathology and cancer research center from April 2014 to June 2015, RQ‑PCR method was used to determine the WT1 gene expression in BM and/or PB samples from 126 patients of AML, we cloned both WT1 and ABL genes for creating a standard curve, and we calculate copy number of WT1 genes in patients.Results: A total of 126 AML patients consist of 70 males (55.6%) and 56 females (44.4%), with a median age of 26 years; 104 (81%) patients out of 126 show overexpression of WT1 gene. We also concomitant monitoring of fusion transcripts (PML RARa, AML1‑ETO, MLL‑MLL, CBFb‑MYH11, or DEK‑CAN) in our patients, the AML1‑ETO group showing remarkably low levels of WT1 compared with other fusion transcript and the CBFB‑MYH11 showing high levels of WT1.Conclusion: We conclude that WT1 expression by RQ‑PCR in AML patients may be employed as an independent tool to detect MRD in the majority of normal karyotype AML patients.

Background: It is assumed that doctor‑patient relationship plays an effective role in patients’ satisfaction, medication adherence, and health outcomes since exploring different aspects of this relationship, such as addressing medication adherence, has rarely been investigated. Therefore, the main aim of the present study was to assess the impact of patients’ satisfaction derived from communicating with doctors on medication adherence in hypertensive patients.Materials and Methods: This cross‑sectional survey was conducted on three hundred patients with hypertension, using multistage sampling technique in health care centers in Isfahan, Iran. Data were collected by two questionnaires comprised (1) patients’ satisfaction derived from the relationship with doctors and (2) medication adherence named “Morisky Medication Adherence Scale” with 8 items. Multivariate logistic regression model was applied to test the odds ratio (OR) of patients’ satisfaction resulting from the relationship with physicians in numerous aspects in two groups: appropriate and inappropriate medication adherence.Results: A lower level of satisfaction derived from building the relationship (confidence interval [CI] =0.95, 0.06–0.71 and OR=0.20) and empathy subscales (CI=0.95, 13–0.80 and OR=0.33) was associated with nonadherence to treatment after controlling the physicians’ gender and patients’ age, gender, education, and duration of disease.Conclusion: Patients’ satisfaction resulting from building the relationship and empathy with physicians appeared to be associated with medication adherence among hypertensive patients.