ABSTRACT
AIM:To investigate the comparison of total antioxidant capacity in the serum of patients with pterygium and control subjects.METHODS:This case-control study was conducted on all persons referred to Ophthalmology Clinic of teaching Hospital of Vali-Asr (peace upon to him) with clinical symptoms of pterygium during the year 2016.The control group was selected among patients referred to the Ophthalmology Clinic of Vaii-Asr (peace without pterygium) that the two groups were matched in terms of age,gender and place of residence.Sixty-six persons [31 people (47％) in patient group and 35 people (53％) in the control group] were enrolled by convenience sampling.Venous blood sample was taken from all patients after the sampling using ferric reducing antioxidant power(FRAP);FRAP-as a quick 10min measurement,the antioxidant power measurement of samples according to the conversion of ferric iron (Fe3+) to ferrous iron (Fe2+) was checked.The collected data ware entered to software SPSS 21 and were analyzed by chi-square and MannWhitney tests at the level of α =0.05.RESULTS:The mean of antioxidant capacity in patients was 842.55 ± 161.46 μ mol/L and antioxidant capacity in healthy controls was 856.77±209.41 μ mol/L (P=0.8).In the comparison of mean serum antioxidant capacity in healthy individuals and in the serum of people with pterygium based on gender the results showed that the antioxidant capacity mean in male control subjects has been 894.05 ± 176.82 μmol/L and in females control 780.01±118.33 μmol/L that the observed difference have been reported statistically significant (P=0.008) but the other comparison according the gender between cases and control does not show any significant difference.CONCLUSION:The results of this study showed that the full level of serum antioxidant capacity in patients has been less than the mean of antioxidant capacity in control subjects,however the observed difference has not been significant.The results of this study were consistent with basic results carried out on the damaging effects of oxidative stress in the pterygium pathogenesis.Recommending diet with minerals and vitamins containing antioxidants may be preventing the onset and progression of pterygium.
ABSTRACT
Background/Objective: The aim of the present preliminary study was to assess the demographic, clinical, paraclinical, microbiological, echocardiographic, and therapeutic profile as well as in-hospital outcome of patients with infective endocarditis at a referral center for various infectious diseases in Iran
Methods: Required demographic, clinical, plausible complications and paraclinical data were collected from patients' medical charts. Echocardiographic findings were obtained by performing transthoracic and/or transesophageal echocardiography as clinically indicated. In addition, details of management modalities and in-hospital outcome of patients were recorded
Results: During a 3-year period, 55 patients with definite or possible diagnosis of Infective endocarditis were admitted to the ward. Twenty one [38.2%] patients were injection drug users. Staphylococcus aureus and S.epidermidis were the most commonly isolated microorganisms. Management modalities of Infective endocarditis included antimicrobial therapy alone [48 cases] and the combination of antimicrobial therapy and surgery [7 cases]
Conclusion: The rate of negative blood culture in our cohort is high. S. aureus and S.epidermidis were the most commonly isolated microorganisms from positive blood cultures. Congestive heart failure was the most frequent infective endocarditis complication as well as indication for surgery. In-hospital mortality rate of patients was unexpectedly low
ABSTRACT
In this study demographic, clinical, paraclinical, microbiological, and therapeutic features of patients with community-acquired acute bacterial meningitis admitted to a referral center for infectious diseases in Iran, have been evaluated. Medical records of adult [> 18 years] individuals with confirmed diagnosis of community-acquired bacterial meningitis during a 4-year period were retrospectively reviewed. All required data were obtained from patients' medical charts. Available findings about antimicrobial susceptibility of isolated bacteria from CSF and/or blood were also collected. Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion method was used to determine their antimicrobial susceptibility profile. Details of medical management including antibiotic regimen, duration, patients' outcome, and possible sequelae of meningitis were recorded. The most commonly isolated microorganism from CSF or blood of patients was Streptococcus pneumonia [33.33%] followed by Neisseria meningitidis [27.78%] and Haemophilus influenza [16.67%]. The most common antimicrobial regimen was ceftriaxone plus vancomycin [69.44%] followed by ceftriaxone plus vancomycin plus ampicillin [11.11%]. Neurological sequelae of meningitis including cranial nerve palsy, deafness, and hemiparesis were identified in 4 [11.11%], 2 [5.56%], and 1 [2.78%] subjects, respectively. Regarding mortality, only 3 [8.33%] patients died from bacterial meningitis and the remaining 33 individuals discharged from the hospital. In conclusion, findings of the current study demonstrated that the mean incidence of acute bacterial meningitis in a referral infectious diseases ward in Iran was 9 episodes per year. The majority cases of community-acquired acute bacterial meningitis admitted to our center had negative CSF culture and classic triad of meningitis was absent in them
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Male , Adult , Middle Aged , Retrospective Studies , Drug Resistance, Microbial , Demography , Cerebrospinal Fluid , Acute Disease , Community-Acquired InfectionsABSTRACT
Although presence of pulmonary metastasis is indicative of disease progression and its untreatable nature, in recent decades, numerous efforts have been made for treatment of these patients by surgical resection of metastatic lesions. The efficacy of this procedure has been variable in various reports and different diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of metastatectomy in survival rate of patients with pulmonary metastases who underwent metastatectomy in Masih Daneshvari hospital. This was a retrospective study and we evaluated medical records of 99 patients suffering pulmonary metastasis who had been referred to our center during 1995-2007; out of which 48 patients who were qualified for metastatectomy underwent this operation. The required qualifications for surgery included: feasibility of resecting all metastatic lesions, tolerance of surgery by the patient, absence of metastatic lesions in organs other than the lungs, and control of primary disease. Information regarding the site of primary lesion and its pathology, time interval between the diagnosis of primary disease and metastasis, surgical morbidity and mortality, form of surgical procedure, type of incision, number of pulmonary metastases and survival rate of patients was collected. Patients were followed up via clinical visits. In case of insufficient clinical visits, we contacted the patient or his/her family and collected the rewired data. Obtained data were analyzed using SPSS software. To assess the patients' survival rate after the operation, Kaplan-Meier test was used. Sixty-seven pulmonary metastatectomies were conducted on 48 patients [31 males and 17 females] in the age range of 16-86 years [mean 40 yrs]. Twenty-five patients had unilateral and 23 had bilateral metastases. Among patients with bilateral metastases, 7 underwent single-phase metastatectomy while 16 underwent two or multi-phase metastatectomy. Surgical incisions were done through the following approaches: in 60 cases through postero-lateral thoracotomy, in 4 cases through mid-sternotomy and in 3 cases through bilateral anterior-transverse thoracotomy along with sternotomy [clamshell]. In 61 cases pulmonary metastatic lesion was removed by wedge resection, in 14 cases by lobectomy and in one case by pneumonectomy. Mean number of resected lesions was 6.7 [range 1 to 59]. Post-operative complications occurred in 10 patients [15%] including pneumothorax in 9 cases and chylothorax in one. No morbidity, mortality or life-threatening complications occurred in any of the patients. The mean survival of patients following metastatectomy was 22 months [range 1 to 128 months] and their 5-year survival was 24.5% Five patients had 5 years [60 months] or more survival. Although the under-study population was not homogenous pathologically, it seems that metastatectomy with acceptable morbidity, increases the survival of patients and in some cases results in their complete recovery