ABSTRACT
Thalassemic disorders are the most prevalent monogenic hereditary diseases around the world caused by decreased and altered synthesis or agenesis in one or more globin chains. Families who have a child with thalassemia major face a myriad of significant problems. Hormozgan province ranks second with thalassemic patients in Iran. Therefore, current research is aimed to analyze the reproductive behavior of such families in the southern province of Iran. In this descriptive study 190 mothers of patients suffering from thalassemia major were included. The reproductive behavior of mothers was investigated by a questionnaire regarding the number of thalassemic infants born after their first child with thalassemia major. About 23% of these mothers had more than 1 child with major thalassemia. The findings showed that the reasons for conception among these mothers were to have a healthy child [64.2%] and to have a boy [20%]. In about 92.6% of mothers CVS test was not performed. This study showed that awaring mothers and families regarding the prevention of birth of afflicted infants and provision of accessible diagnostic facilities can reduce the number of children with thalassemia major
ABSTRACT
End-stage renal disease causes impairment of all body organs including the heart and the lung. The main problems in the afflicted patients are pulmonary edema due to increased permeability of the capillaries, intravascular and interstitial volume overload, hypertension, and congestive heart failure. These changes cause altered physiologic and mechanical function of the lungs and subsequently increase in airway resistance. We aimed to study the impact of hemodialysis on spirometry parameters. In a cross-sectional study performed on 41 patients on maintenance hemodialysis, spirometry was done before and after the dialysis session. The patients were on either acetate or bicarbonate hemodialysis with the same method, dialysis machine, and duration of dialysis. Alterations in spirometry parameters including forced expiratory volume in the first second [FEV1], forced vital capacity [FVC], FEV1/FVC ratio, and maximal midexpiratory flow rate were determined and their relation with serum electrolytes, serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, and hemoglobin were analyzed. Twenty-nine patients undergoing dialysis with bicarbonate dialysate and 21 on dialysis with acetate were compared. Improvement in spirometry parameters was only significant in patients undergoing dialysis with bicarbonate dialysate. All spirometry parameters showed significant increases in the bicarbonate group except for the FEV1/FVC ratio. Furthermore, significant increase in these parameters was only prominent in the men. Postdialysis weight reduction and laboratory indexes had no significant correlation with improvement of spirometry parameters. Dialysis with bicarbonate dialysate causes significant improvement in spirometry parameters in men on maintenance dialysis. This effect might be independent of the effect of removing the volume overload by dialysis