The role of Bordetella pertussis in the development of multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common neurological disorders which main cause is not identified yet. Some studies mentioned the possible role of infectious agents such as chlamydia pneumonia, mycoplasma and also, B. pertussis via asymptomatic nasopharyngeal colonization. The current study aimed to investigate and compared the serum level of B. pertussis antibody and the rate of nasopharyngeal colonization by this pathogen in subjects with and without MS. METHODS: In this case-control study, 109 patients with MS and 114 subjects without MS referred to Sina Hospital in Hamadan in 2019 are studied and compared in terms of serum titer of B. pertussis antibody and nasopharyngeal colonization by this bacterium. Colonization was evaluated using culture and real-time PCR techniques. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16 with a 95% confidence interval. RESULTS: The serum titer of B. pertussis antibody in case and control groups was 37.8 and 35.1%, respectively (P = 0.74). Culture and real-time PCR techniques revealed no case of nasopharyngeal colonization by B. pertussis. CONCLUSION: There was no difference between B. pertussis antibody titer and the rate of nasopharyngeal colonization between both MS patients and the healthy control group. Therefore, it seems that probably B. pertussis has not a role in MS development.

Evaluation of Helicobacter pylori eradication on the course of childhood nephrotic syndrome and its response to treatment.

Background: Idiopathic nephrotic syndrome is one of the most common glomerular diseases, which may be secondary to infections or systemic diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) eradication on childhood nephrotic syndrome. Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial study, 38 children with concomitant idiopathic nephrotic syndrome and H. pylori infection were divided into 2 equal groups; the intervention group received a cotreatment for both diseases and the control group received only nephrotic syndrome treatment. Patients were followed for 6 months. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21 software. Chi square test, Fisher exact test, and student t test were used. P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean interval time from treatment to the recovery of nephrotic syndrome was 48.36±14.48 days in the intervention group and 51.68± 17.32 days in control groups, which was shorter in the intervention group, but not statistically significant. The recurrence of nephrotic syndrome and the mean number of recurrences in the intervention group were lower than the control group, but were not statistically significant. The frequency of diarrhea in the intervention group was significantly higher than the control group (p=0.003). Conclusion: In children with concomitant idiopathic nephrotic syndrome and H. pylori infection, the treatment of both diseases may accelerate the recovery and decrease the recurrence of nephrotic syndrome.

Urinary neutrophil glatinase-associated lipocalin level (uNGAL) may predict the severity of congenital hydronephrosis in infants.

Clinical findings suggest that the urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) level may be a highly sensitive biomarker and predictor of progressive tubular and glomerular injury. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the predictive power of uNGAL in infants with congenital hydronephrosis. Forty-five children (30 males and 15 females) under the age of two with congenital obstructive uropathy were evaluated for urinary levels of creatinine, uNGAL and uNGAL/uCreatinine (Cr) ratio. Totally, 62.2% of patients had mild, 15.6% had moderate and 22.2% had severe hydronephrosis. We observed a higher significantly uNGAL level in cases with severe form than cases with mild to moderate forms (P=0.002). Also, infants with severe hydronephrosis showed a higher ratio of uNGAL/uCr compared with mild to moderate cases (P=0.006). Correlation analysis showed a significant inverse correlation between uCr levels and pelvic diameter (P=0.002) and direct correlations between uNGAL and uNGAL/uCr ratio and pelvic diameter (P<0.001). By defining a cut-off point of 73.7 ng/ml for uNGAL in ROC analysis, we observed a sensitivity of 70.0% and a specificity of 91.4% forthe prediction of severe hydronephrosis. Our results indicate the potential predictive valueof uNGAL and uNGAL/uCr ratio for hydronephrosis and, more importantly, for discrimination of the severe hydronephrosis from mild to moderate forms.

A cross-sectional study on the prevalence of electrolyte abnormalities in multiple trauma patients in Hamedan, Iran.

INTRODUCTION: Evaluation of electrolyte status and homeostasis is one of the most important components of evaluation and treatment of critically ill patients, especially those with multiple trauma. Electrolyte imbalance can be associated with a bad prognosis and the need of specialized consultancy. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate and determine the electrolyte status of patients with multiple trauma and evaluate the relationship of electrolyte disorders with patient outcome. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 370 patients who were referred to the emergency department of Besat Hospital in Hamadan, Iran with multiple trauma were studied. Demographic parameters clinical characteristics such as blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate, consciousness score and body temperature, paraclinical characteristics including radiographic status, ultrasound, and electrocardiography and serum levels of sodium, potassium, creatinine, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and BUN and urine analysis was performed. Data regarding the discharge from emergency department or referral to other units were also complete in a questionnaire for each patient. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSSv24. RESULTS: Three hundred seventy patients with multiple trauma were studied where 73% of patients were men and 27% were women. One hundred ninety-six patients were discharged from the emergency department, and 174 patients were referred to other units of the hospital. The most common electrolyte abnormalities were hypotension (62.7%), hypernatremia (9.5%), hypokalemia (6.8%), and hypercreatinine (4.6%). The results of independent t-test showed that heart rate and potassium level were significantly higher in patients referred to other units than in patients discharged from the emergency department and respiratory rate and hematocrit were significantly lower in patients referred to other units. CONCLUSION: Hypotension, hypernatremia, hypokalemia, hypercreatinine, and abnormal urine analysis were more frequent in patients referred to other units than in patients discharged from the emergency department. These variables can be considered in predicting patient status for referral to other units and delayed hospital discharge.

Evaluation of Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase-associated Lipocalin as a Biomarker in Pediatric Vesicoureteral Reflux Assessment.

INTRODUCTION: Defining a non-invasive marker to predict the risk of kidney damage is very helpful to manage vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) in children. This study aimed to investigate the predictive value of urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) as a non-invasive biomarker of reflux nephropathy in pediatric with primary VUR. METHODS: This case-control study was performed on 63 children with primary VUR and 72 age- and sex-matched healthy children as controls. Urinary NGAL and creatinine levels were measured and compared between patients and control groups as well as among the subgroups of patients in terms of disease severity. RESULTS: Among patients, 9 cases were diagnosed as mild, 35 as moderate, and 19 with a severe form of VUR. We observed higher but insignificant levels of uNGAL in patients versus healthy controls (P > .05), in cases with severe form compared to mild and moderate forms of VUR (P > .05) as well as in those patients with bilateral versus unilateral involvement (P > .05). The mean ratios of uNGAL/uCr were significantly higher in patients group than controls (P < .05) as well as in patients with severe form compared to moderate and mild forms of VUR (P < .05 and P < .05, respectively). Also, ROC analysis revealed the sensitivity of 61% and specificity of 53% for uNGAL/uCr ratio for prediction of VUR. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate a potential predictive value of uNGAL/uCr ratio as a non-invasive biomarker for the management of VUR although, its clinical application has been challenging and needs to be confirmed by further investigations.

Evaluating health promotion standards at the Farshchian heart center of Hamadan, Iran.

OBJECTIVE: Farshchian Heart Center is the fifth health-promoting hospital and the first center of its type in Western Iran that officially joined the International Network of Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services (HPH) in 2016. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the health promotion standards at this center in 2018. METHODS: We conducted this cross-sectional study at Farshchian Heart Center of Hamadan. The main data collection instruments included questionnaires obtained from indicators of five different main standards of health-promoting hospitals developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) which were evaluated from three different perspectives: Management staff, hospital employees, and patients. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 21 software. RESULTS: We evaluated 111 hospital employees, 109 patients, and 6 management staff. Nurses (46.8%) comprised the majority of the hospital staff respondents. Less than half (42.3%) of the hospital staff expressed awareness of hospital health promotion policies; however, only 13.5% had attended various health promotion programs. Only 51.4% of patients knew about the hospital health promotion policies and 17.4% of them participated in relevant programs. The mean score for patient satisfaction with the hospital health promotion programs according to the visual analogue scale (VAS, range: 0-10) was 7.16 ± 2.45, which was significantly higher in outpatients (8.16 ± 1.85) compared to inpatients (6.44 ± 2.59, p = 0.001). Two thirds (66.7%) of the management staff expressed awareness of implementation of these programs. CONCLUSION: The results of this study demonstrated that health promotion policies based on WHO standards were not well-recognized among patients, hospital employees, and management staff in Farshchian Heart Center of Hamadan, Iran.

The evaluation of left ventricular dyssynchrony in hypertensive patients with a preserved systolic function undergoing gated SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension as a known risk factor for cardiovascular diseases can result in left ventricular dyssynchrony (LVD) leading to uncoordinated contraction. The aim of our study was to evaluate whether systolic mechanical dyssynchrony measured by phase analysis of gated single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging occurs in hypertensive patients with a low risk for coronary artery disease and a normal ejection fraction and its possible relationships with severity of hypertension and the influence of antihypertensive treatments. METHODS: A total of 466 patients (328 females and 138 males, with a mean age of 59.62 ± 10.27 years) who had a low risk factor for coronary artery disease, a normal perfusion study and, a normal ejection fraction were included of which 408 was hypertensive and 58 normotensive. Phase analysis parameters (derived using QGS software) were compared in patients with and without hypertension. Using different statistical methods, relationship between derived phase analysis indices (PSD, PHB) for LVD and amount of blood pressure and antihypertensive drugs consumption were evaluated. RESULTS: The prevalence of LVD in patients with hypertension was 63.2% (n = 258), while it was 6.9% in the normotensive group. The mean values of PSD and PHB were higher in hypertensive patients than normotensive ones (12.55 vs. 5.8 and 39.24 vs. 21.12), respectively, so that, statistically significant differences were found between the patients with and without hypertension (p < 0.001). Furthermore, there was a clear relationship between the severity of hypertension and the degree of LVD: by increasing 1 mmHg in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, PSD and PHB increase by (0.034, 0.108 and 0.035, 0.0311), respectively. The statistical results showed that the frequency of LVD in controlled hypertensive patients taking antihypertensive drugs was 55.2%, which significantly lower compared to the patient suffering from hypertension without taking any hypertensive drug (81.35%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our study findings are in favor of using phase analysis-gated SPECT imaging as a routine way for detection of LVD-known indicator of progression toward systolic dysfunction in the future-in hypertensive patients with a low risk for coronary artery diseases and a normal cardiac systolic function.

Health promoting hospitals in Iran: Persian translation, cultural adaptation, content and face validation of selfassessment form of the standards of health promoting hospitals affiliated to the World Health Organization.

Background: According to the World Health Organization, hospitals should assess their internal wards to improve health promotion services using self-assessment tools. To achieve this goal, standards of health promoting hospitals have been developed by the World Health Organization, and measurable elements and indicators have been defined to facilitate the practical application of these standards in planning, implementation, and evaluation of health promotion in hospitals. Moreover, a form has been developed for this self-assessment. Considering linguistic and cultural differences in various countries, standards must be written in equivalent texts and, then, their content and face validity should be examined. Performing this process in a systemic and scientific way can guarantee that the same tools have been used, and thus the results obtained from different hospitals are comparable. Methods: After the preparation phase (considering research aim, obtaining permission from the original designers, and determining the time), the following activities were done: translating the form from its original language to the target language, combining and compiling initial translations to a single translation, reversing the final version of the translation from the target language to the original language, obtaining cognitive information, revising and concluding, and determining the content and face validity of the translated form and final report. After filling in the form, face validity was calculated using impact score formula. Content validity was measured using content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI). Results: After calculating the impact score, all 40 items showed a high impact score greater than 1.5, representing the fact that all items are important. The minimum value of CVR for each of the 40 items was estimated to be 0.64; CVI of all items was greater than 0.79. Conclusion: Given the input of the standards of health promoting hospitals affiliated to the World Health Organization in National Accreditation of Iranian hospitals, the form was translated and found to be valid according to content and face validity and is available in Persian to be used in Iranian hospitals (Appendix 1).

An Evaluation of the Numbers and Locations of Coronary Artery Disease with Some of the Major Atherosclerotic Risk Factors in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.

INTRODUCTION: Despite definite recognition of major atherosclerotic risk factors, the relationship between the pattern of coronary artery disease and these risk factors is unknown. AIM: The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between some of the major atherosclerotic risk factors and the number and pattern of coronary artery disease in patients with coronary artery disease who presented to Farshchian Heart University Hospital, Hamadan, Iran. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, we investigated some of the major atherosclerotic risk factors and their relationships with the type of coronary artery disease in terms of number and location of disease. A total of 1100 patients were enrolled with coronary artery disease confirmed by selective coronary angiography from 2010-2014. A p-value<0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 1100 patients enrolled in this study. The patient population consisted of 743 (67.5%) males and 357 (32.5%) females. A meaningful relationship existed between ageing, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and 3-Vessel Disease (3VD, p<0.001) as well as between hyperlipidemia and Single Vessel Disease (SVD, p<0.001). Patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia showed greater potential to develop coronary artery disease at the proximal section of the coronary arteries. CONCLUSION: Based on the relationship between some of the major risk factors and the pattern of coronary artery disease in the current study, prospective studies should investigate other risk factors. We recommend that a plan should be developed to reduce adjustable risk factors such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidemia in order to decrease coronary artery disease.