Hormozgan Medical Journal
Year:2007 | Volume:11 | Issue:3|Papers Count:17

Introduction: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease caused by various Leishmaniasis species and can result in a disfiguring scar. Hence, effective treatment is mandatory for prevention of the disease sequellae. The goal of this study was assessment and comparison of intralesional Glucantime plus steroid with intralesional Glucantime in the treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis.Methods: In this clinical trial study, 62 patients with cutaneous leishmaniasis were divided randomly into 2 groups. 32 cases were treated with Glucantime pluse steroid while other 30 received only Glucantime. In Glucantime plus steroid group, 0.5 cc/cm2 Glucantime (48.5 mgr) plus 0.1 cc/cm2 Triamcinolone Acetonide (4 mgr) were injected intradermally, whereas in the other group, Glucantime (48.5 mgr) was injected intradermally. Six courses of injection were applied weekly. After fulfilling treatment, the lesions were evaluated for size, erythema and indurations. Data was analyzed by t-test and differences were considered significant with P<0.05.Results: Clinical improvement mean scores were 5.6 (62%) and 5.2 (57%) after 6 weeks in the Glucantime plus steroid and Glucantime alone groups, respectively. The difference was not statistically significant. More satisfactory results and higher scores were noted in lesions with less than 4 months duration in comparison with lesions of longer than 4 months in Glucantime plus steroid group.Conclusion: Both treatment modalities are not considerably different in total, but in lesions with less than 4 months duration, the difference is noticeable, obvious which might be the consequence of diminished edema, erythema and induration following steroid therapy.

Introduction: Quality health services section is very important because its mission and role in health maintenance and care of community. The aim of this study was to determine women's perceptions of current situation in health centers of Bandar Abbas and their expectations of optimum status.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 400, fill out a questionnaire which had been designed according to SERVQUAL instrument for measuring their perceptions and expectations about services quality. This instrument consists of five dimentions including tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy.Data was analyzed using Chi-Square and analysis of variance tests, by means of SPSS software.Results: Majority of participants (64%) assessed the services quality moderate.The best dimention of service quality was assurance, followed by reliability, responsiveness and tangibles with empathy being the worst. Most of the women (95%) believed that service quality is important and its most important dimention is assurance followed by reliability, responsiveness, tangibles and empathy.There were significant differences in women's perceptions and expectations in all of the five SERVQUAL dimentions which was statistically meaningful (P<0.01).Conclusion: Customers' perception of service quality is different regarding its various dimentions, hence their importance is different. To improve service quality, these issues should be considered and accordingly, determine the priorities.

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of death in diabetic cases.Studies have shown that hypertriglyceridemia is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disorders. Although triglyceride level is generally increased in postprandial periods, the association between postprandial triglyceride level in diabetic patients and cardiovascular diseases and myocardial infarction (MI) has not yet been investigated. This study was aimed to determine triglyceride level of type 2 diabetic patients with and without history of MI, before and after meal.Methods: This clinical trial study consisted of 2 groups of diabetic patients. The first group included 44 diabetic patients without history of MI. The second ones were 44 diabetic patients that at least 6 months had elapsed since they had MI. Two samples were collected from all patients: 12 hours after fasting and 2 hours after an ordinary breakfast (including 315 Kcal). Weight, systolic and diastolic blood pressures of both hands, waist and hip circumferences, and age were also recorded in the questionnaire. Data were analyzed by t-test.Results: mean age of patients was 56.73±10.26 years. Mean weight was 71.67±11.98 kilograms. There was a statistically significant difference between postprandial (236.73±87.52 mg/dl) and fasting (220.68±91.58 mg/dl) triglyceride levels in diabetic patients with previous MI (P=0.001), while there was no significant difference in diabetic patients without previous MI.Conclusion: This survey revealed that postprandial triglyceride levels in diabetic patients with previous MI is higher than that in patients without history of MI.Postprandial hypertriglyceridemia may be an important factor in atherosclerosis process, hence further investigations is suggested in this concern.

Introduction: Observing microembolic signals in brain vessels by transcranial Doppler technology is a very common finding in patients with mechanical heart valve. These signals are almost always clinically asymptomatic. The aim of this study was assessment of transcranial Doppler in detecting probability of stroke in patients with mechanical heart valve.Methods: This descriptive study was carried out on 22 patients with St Jude prosthetic mitral valve, in 2005. Prevalence and frequency of microembolic signals were assessed during one hour and prothrombine time (PT) and International Normalized Ratio (INR) of patients were evaluated during middle cerebral artery monitoring. Correlation of cardioembolic stroke, severity of anticoagulant therapy and atrial fibrillation was considered with Mean Frequency Scale of Microembolic Signals (MFSMS). Data analysis was preformed by Mann-Whitny test and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Microembolic signals were detected on vessel monitoring in 77% of cases. MFSMS in patients history of stroke was 14.25 after mitral valve replacement and was 11.23 in other patients which is not a meaningful difference.In cases with PT less than 22 seconds and INR more than 2.5, MFSMS of 6 and 16 patients were 12.92 and 10.97, respectively, which is not a significant difference.MFSMS in 13 patients with atrial fibrillation and 9 patients without atrial fibrillation were 11.88 and 10.94, which has no meaningful difference.Conclusion: The recorded microembolic signals in brain vessels of patients with mechanical heart valve are not fibrinous and the frequency of these signals does not indicate the risk of stroke in these patients. So, transcranial Doppler is of no clinical benefit in these patients and can not be a clue for severity of anticoagulant therapy.

Introduction: Eye injuries are still considered a principal cause of blindness and morbidity in developing countries, while most of them are preventable. Regarding the high prevalence of traumas in Hormozgan province, this study focuses on comparison of patients with eye traumas admitted to Shahid Mohammadi hospital of Bandar Abbas in 1998-1999 and 2004-2005.Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 205 patients who were admitted to Shahid Mohammadi hospital of Bandar Abbas for eye injuries in 2004-2005.Variables such as age, gender, hospitalization duration, occupation, type of trauma, cause of trauma, the injured eye, type of traumatic lesion, treatment modality, interval between injury and admission, and visual acuity were evaluated. The results were statistically analyzed and compared with those obtained from 394 patients hospitalized in 1998-1999. For data analysis, SPSS software was used.Results: In both studies, injured men were more than women: 21% for female and 78% for male. 6-10 years age group had the most prevalence of injuries. The highest numbers on injury were wood (17.77%) in 1998-1999 and accidents (18.53%) in 2004-2005. The second cause of injury in both studies was metallic objects with 35.45% in 1998-1999 and 13.65% in 2004-2005. The most common injury in both surveys was corneal laceration (43.14% in 1998-1999 and 20.58% in 2004-2005) and the least common was globe dislocation (5 cases and one case, equivalent to 1.27% and 0.21% in 1998-1999 and 2004-2005, respectively).Conclusion: Considering the fact that most injuries in the study years are preventable, cultural activities and education for students and farmers can considerably reduce the rate of injuries.

Introduction: Migraine is a common neurovascular disorder characterized by severe attacks of headache and autonomic symptoms. The peak of migraine prevalence is child-bearing years in women, the age in which they use oral contraceptive pills (OCP). The effect of OCPs on migraine headache course is mentioned different in various studies; hence this survey was conducted to evaluate the effect of OCPs on the severity of migraine headache.Methods: This clinical trial included 44 under forty women with documented migraine headache according to HIS criteria. The severity, duration and frequency of migraine headaches, before and after two courses of LD OCPs were compared.SPSS software and Chi-square test was used for data analysis. P<0.05 was considered statistical significant.Results: Headache severity was increased in 36.3% and decreased in 11.4% of cases (P<0.05). Duration of attacks was elongated in 36.8% and shortened in 15.9% of the patients (P<0.05), but relapse or frequency were of no significant difference.Conclusion: It seems that OCPs exacerbate migraine headache in one-third of cases.

Introduction: Cryoglobulinemia is a kind of immunoglobuline that form in various conditions. These imunoglobulines, precipitate in cold environment and restore to soluble state upon rewarming. Nowadays, strong association between cryoglobulines and hepatitis C has been proposed.Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic study in which we included all documented cases of hepatitis C infection who referred to Shahid Sadoughi Hospital from May 2004 to December 2005. Their sera were assessed for cryoglobulines. Results were analyzed by SPSS software and using Chi-square and t-test.Results: Fifty patients entered the study while 8 persons (15%) were positive for cryoglobulines. No statistically significant correlation was shown between positive cryoglobulinemia and age, sex, mode of acquiring infection, liver enzyme titer, HBs antigen and anti-HIV antibody.Conclusion: Regarding the clinical significance of cryoglobolinemia in developing different clinical syndromes, it is recommended to evaluate cryoglobulines in high risk groups, especially patients with hepatitis C.

Introduction: Depression is the greatest problem threatening mankind's health and perhaps it could be regarded as the most prevalent disease of the current century.Depression during pregnancy can diminish pregnant women's refer for seeking prenatal care, leading to preterm labor and lowbirth weight neonates, so this survey was conducted to study this issue.Methods: This is a descriptive-analytic study in which 191 pregnant women, who had referred to health centers for prenatal care, participated in the study. They filled out a questionnaire including two parts: demographic data and Beck standard questionnaire. Data was analyzed by SPSS software, using Chi-Square test.Results: In 28.8% of the participants, symptoms of depression were seen to various degrees: 17.3% mild, 9.4% moderate and 2.1% severe. There was a significant relation between depression and following factors: person's education and employment (P<0.001), satisfaction with the husband (P<0.0001), husband's assistance in housekeeping (P<0.01), type of family and supports by the family and relatives (P<0.01), husband's education (P<0.01), being concerned about delivery expenses (P<0.05), accident or tension close to perinatal period (P<0.0001) and conjugal dispute (P<0.05). Depression had no significant relation with unwanted pregnancy, husband's occupation, age at pregnancy, number of children, age difference with husband, marriage with one's consent, pregnancy history, and physical activity.Conclusion: Regarding the obtained results, it seems that pregnancy period is a suitable time for screening mothers who are at risk of depression. Furthermore, family consultant and holding consultation classes for young couples is mandatory.

Introduction: Conduct disorder is an enduring set of behaviors that evolves over time, and it is often characterized by aggression and violation of others rights. The goal of this study was to assess the prevalence of conduct disorder in the mentioned population and its association with some underlying variables.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, target population consisted of all students studying at grades 3 to 5 of primary schools in Kerman city in 2004. A two-stage stratified sampling was accomplished. At the first stage, Michael Rutter's questionnaire was used. The cutting points in the parents' and teachers' questionnaire were 13 and 9, respectively. At the second stage, a clinical interview according to DSM-IV-TR was conducted to confirm the diagnosis. Mean scores comparison was done by t-test and ANOVA. Multidimentional logistic regression was used for determining the association between conduct disorders and underlying variables. The significant level was considered 5%.Results: At first stage, 1419 students returned both parent and teachers questionnaires. Of these, 393 were suspicious of conduct disorder. Clinical interview revealed that the prevalence of conduct disorder in boys and girls were 13.2% and 7.3%, respectively. The probability of conduct disorder increases significantly with gender, decease of mother and harsh, or moderately harsh behavior of parents according to relatives' point of view (P<0.05).Conclusion: Regarding meaningful association between conduct disorder and the above mentioned variables, teaching right methods of controlling impulses and behaving toward children is mandatory for parents and teachers. Furthermore, physicians and mental health decision makers should get acquaintance with signs and influencing factors of conduct disorder for early detection and prompt treatment.

Introduction: Malaria is still one of the important health problems in tropical countries with annual large number of morbidity and mortality in world population.The hot and dry southern area of Iran, accommodating numerous emigrants including Afghanis and Pakistanis, is considered a high risk region in the area. The aim of this survey was detecting cases in Larestan, Fars province.Methods: In this descriptive-analytic study, 1257 cases were selected via cluster sampling from foreign emigrants residing outskirts of Larestan. Blood samples were collected from finger tips and blood smears stained with Giemsa. A questionnaire was filled simultaneously recording demographic status of people, signs of malaria disease, history of diagnosis and treatment, time of entering the country and the region. SPSS software and Chi-square test were used for data analysis. P<0.05 was considered significant.Results: Infection rate of malaria was 6.3%. Among 405 (32.2%) Iranians, 27 (6.7%) people were infected and 378 (93.3%) were noninfected. Chi-square test showed that malaria infection rate in these 2 groups was not significantly different. But this test was significant (P<0.01) in newcomer Afghans (entrance time less than 3 months).Conclusion: Considering abundancy of Anopheles mosquitos in hot regions of southern Iran and short migration of patients in the area, controlling boundaries on entrance and also activating healthcare centers in high risk areas for malaria infection, is highly recommended.

Universities are considered as the most important and key centers for education and research in every country. The most important mission of every university is scientific promotion and science production. The purpose of this study was determining the science products of academic staff of Hormozgan University of medical sciences. All of the members of academic staff of the university participated in the study and completed a questionnaire containing information about personal characteristics, their scientific activities and scientific products during 2003-2007.The data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. For analysis, descriptive methods and Chi-square test was used.Results show that more than 71.6% of scientific products of the academic staff were papers, which have published in Iranian medical journal. Academic members of Health college with average of 8.11 per year have had the most scientific products and nursery college with 3.92 per year have had the least scientific products during the study period. There was a significant relationship between scientific production and academic rank of the members.Conclusion: Scientific and knowledge products of each country is a key criteria for ranking all the countries. It seems that in order to maximize scientific production of the universities, research activities of academic staff should be promoted.