RESUMO
Background: We aimed to investigate the epidemiological, clinical and paraclinical aspects of Visceral Leishmaniasis in Ardabil Province, from 1986 to 2018. Methods: The disease has been diagnosed by a serological validate test as Direct Agglutination Test, parasitological methods, and clinical manifestations. The data were collected and then analyzed. Results: Overall, 2824 out of 69007cases (4.1%) had anti-Leishmania antibodies at titers≥1:3200. The majority of VL cases belonged to Meshkin-Shahr, and then Germi County. The percentages of both male and female cases were 52.8 % and 46.6%, respectively. Approximately 78.1% of cases were less than 5 yr old. The high incidence rate of the disease was recorded in the years 1987 and 2003. 48.6%, 3.2%, and 1.9% of the patients had low titer (1:3200), high titer (1:102400), and suspicious titer (1:1600), respectively. Out of 1200 bone marrow aspiration, 23% were positive, and 77% were negative. Fever, paleness, and hepatosplenomegaly were the main symptoms in patients. Moreover, abdominal swelling, edema, weight loss, lymphadenopathy and jaundice were some other symptoms in the patients. Among biochemistry factors, the levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, triglyceride and cholesterol have been increased. The death rate was estimated to be 2.8%, mainly related to the Ardabil and Germi cases. Conclusion: Kala-Azar is still one of the most important infectious diseases in Ardabil Province, and is responsible for considerable death rate in infants. More attention should be done to parasite control and early diagnosis.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: A gamma probe is a handheld device used for intraoperative interventions following interstitial injection of a radiotracer to locate regional lymph nodes through the external detection of radiation. This work reports on the design and performance evaluation of a novel fully integrated gamma probe (GammaPen), recently developed by our group. MATERIALS AND METHODS: GammaPen is an all-in-one pocket gamma probe with low weight and adequate dimensions, consisting of a detector, a control unit and output all together. The detector module consists of a cylindrical Thallium-activated Cesium Iodide [CsI (Tl)] crystal optically coupled to a Silicon photomultiplier (SiPM), shielded using Tungsten housing on side and back faces. The electronics of the probe consists of two small boards to handle signal processing and analog peak detection tasks. A number of parameters, including probe sensitivity in air/water, spatial resolution in air/water, angular resolution in air/water, and side and back shielding effectiveness, were measured to evaluate the performance of the probe based on NEMA NU3-2004 standards. RESULTS: The sensitivity of the probe in air at distances of 10, 30, and 50 mm is 18784, 3500, and 1575 cps/MBq. The sensitivity in scattering medium was also measured at distances of 10, 30, and 50 mm as 17,680, 3050, and 1104 cps/MBq. The spatial and angular resolutions in scattering medium were 47 mm and 87 degree at 30 mm distance from the probe, while they were 40 mm and 77 degree in air. The detector shielding effectiveness and leakage sensitivity are 99.91% and 0.09%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The performance characterization showed that GammaPen can be used effectively for sentinel lymph node localization. The probe was successfully used in several surgical interventions by an experienced surgeon confirming its suitability in a clinical setting.
