Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes of COVID-19 in 1294 New Cancer Patients: Single-Center, Prospective Cohort Study from Iran.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the clinical characteristics and outcomes of COVID-19 in a large cohort of new cancer patients referred to an oncology clinic in the north of Iran. METHODS: During the 20-month COVID-19 pandemic, new cancer patients were followed-up. Demographic, pathologic, and clinical variables were collected for each patient. COVID-19 was confirmed based on a positive polymerase chain reaction test. Analyses were performed using the STATA version 14.0 at a significance level of 0.05. RESULTS: In this study, 1294 new cancer patients were followed for 24 months (mean age: 58.7 years [range 10-95]). During the study period, COVID-19 was diagnosed in 9.4% of the patients with hospitalization rate of 3.4%, an ICU admission rate of 0.7%, and COVID-19 mortality rate of 4.9%. Hematological malignancies (ORU= 2.6, CI95% 1.28-5.34), receiving palliative treatments (ORA=3.03, CI95% 1.6-5.45) and receiving radiotherapy (ORA=2.07, 1.17-3.65) were the most common predictive factors of COVID infection in cancer patients. Also, the COVID mortality was higher in brain cancer patients (p = 0.07), metastatic disease (p = 0.01) and patients receiving palliative treatments (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: In patients suffering from cancer, COVID-19 infection can be predicted by cancer type, palliative care, and radiotherapy in cancer patients. Furthermore, brain cancers, metastasis, and palliative care were all associated with COVID-19-related mortality.

Child Abuse and Mental Disorders in Iranian Adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Child abuse is a serious social health problem all over the world with important adverse effects. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to extend our understanding of the relation between mental disorders and child abuse. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was designed as a cross-sectional survey on 700 students in secondary schools using multiple cluster sampling in Yazd, Iran in 2013. We applied 2 self reported questionnaires: DASS (depression anxiety stress scales)-42 for assessing mental disorders (anxiety, stress and depression) and a standard self-reported valid and reliable questionnaire for recording child abuse information in neglect, psychological, physical and sexual domains. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS software. P-values < 0.05 were considered as significant. RESULTS: There was a statically significant correlation between mental disorder and child abuse score (Spearman rho: 0.2; P-value < 0.001). The highest correlations between mental disorders and child abuse were found in psychological domain, Spearman's rho coefficients were 0.46, 0.41 and 0.36 for depression, anxiety and stress respectively (P-value < 0.001). Based on the results of logistic regression for mental disorder, females, last born adolescents and subjects with drug or alcohol abuser parents had mental disorder odds of 3, 0.4 and 1.9 times compared to others; and severe psychological abuse, being severely neglected and having sexual abuse had odds 90, 1.6 and 1.5 respectively in another model. CONCLUSIONS: Programming for mandatory reporting of child abuse by physicians and all health care givers e.g. those attending schools or health centers, in order to prevent or reduce its detrimental effects is useful and success in preventing child abuse could lead to reductions in the prevalence of mental disorders.

Child Abuse and Neglect Epidemiology in Secondary School Students of Yazd Province, Iran.

BACKGROUND: Child abuse is an issue that has many physical and psychological consequences. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed and conducted to investigate the current situation regarding child abuse, which can be used as a guideline for planning future interventions. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a descriptive, analytic cross-sectional study on 700 Yazd secondary school students in 2013, using a standardized self-administered questionnaire. The collected data was analyzed using the SPSS v.19 software and appropriate statistical tests and logistic regression analysis. P values of < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Overall, 700 students (43%) were boys. Child abuse frequency was 93.5% (92.2% of boys and 94.4% of girls). The most common domains of child abuse among all students were neglect (83.8%), psychological (76.1%), physical (36.1%) and sexual (28.8 %), respectively. The most common domains of child abuse among female students were neglect (84.9%), psychological (82.3%), physical (32.5%) and sexual (31.5 %), and among male students, these were neglect (82.3%), psychological (67.9%), physical (41%) and sexual (25.3%). Demographic variables included substance abuse of parents, father's education, parents living status and having other jobs, which were significantly related variables to child abuse and neglect (P value < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study is the first investigation performed on patients with LCH and its possible association with EBV in Iran. Considering the P = 0.004, which is statistically significant, the findings do support the hypothesis of a possible role for EBV in the pathogenesis of LCH. These results are in accordance with several previous investigations, with positive findings.

Determination of relative frequency of eosinophils and mast cells in gastric and duodenal mucosal biopsies in adults with non-ulcer dyspepsia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine eosinophil and mast cell populations in gastric and duodenal mucosal biopsies of adults with nonulcer dyspepsia (NUD) as compared to non-dyspeptic adults. STUDY DESIGN: A case control study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran, from January 2010 to June 2011. METHODOLOGY: A total of 52 (25 non-ulcer dyspeptic patients as case and 27 non-dyspeptic patients as control) patients underwent endoscopy. All patients had a minimum of 2 forceps biopsies obtained from stomach and duodenum. Routine histological evaluation was performed and additionally evaluated to determine eosinophil and mast cell counts. The statistical analysis was performed on SPSS version 17.0, using Mann-Whitney test with significance at p < 0.05. RESULTS: The mean age in the case and control groups was 31.72 ± 12.17 and 35.74 ± 12.42 years respectively. The median eosinophil density in gastric mucosa in case group was 5.0 (ranging from 1 to 20) and 4.0 in control group (ranging from 0 to 16; p = 0.140). The median eosinophil density in duodenal mucosa in case group was 16.0 (ranging from 2 to 24) and 13 in control group (ranging from 2 to 45; p = 0.147). The median mast cell density in gastric mucosa in case group was 4.0 (ranging from 0 to 33) and 4.0 in control group (ranging from 0 to 26; p = 0.827). The median mast cell density in duodenal mucosa in case group was 4.0 (ranging from 0 to 31) and 3.0 in control group (ranging from 1 to 23; p = 0.704). The frequency of Helicobacter pylori infection in both the groups was similar. CONCLUSION: Although there were not statistically significant differences in eosinophil and mast cell densities between case and control groups, there was a trend toward mild eosinophilia in gastric and duodenal mucosa. The specific role of eosinophils and mast cells in NUD is yet to be completely defined.

Primary malignant lymphoma of the uterine cervix.

Primary malignant lymphoma of the female genital tract is an extremely rare clinical entity. We report a case of primary non-Hodgkin lymphoma of the uterine cervix. An 85-year-old woman presented with abnormal genital bleeding. A colposcopic examination revealed a mass in the uterine cervix. No other lesions were detected by the whole-body CT, gallium scintigraphy and bone marrow examination. The histological examination and immunohistochemical staining of the cervical biopsy material confirmed a diagnosis of diffuse large B cell lymphoma of the uterine cervix, clinical stage 1E (according to the Ann Arbor Staging Classification for Lymphomas). The patient was treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, vincristine (oncovin) and prednisone. Her family refused surgery and involved field irradiation. She was in good condition but after 5 months she expired due to myocardial infarction.