Evaluation of bone mineral density in premature ovarian failure

This study was performed to evaluate whether or not early menopause and premature ovarian failure can cause an increased risk of osteoporosis. The bone mineral density (BMD) of the 2nd and 4th lumbar spine as well as femoral neck in 29 cases with secondary amenorrhea were compared with a reference data using a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry on a bone densitometer: Serum levels of luteinizing hormone, follicular stimulating hormone, calcium and phosphorus were also measured. Both in 20-29 years and in 30-39 years, BMD were significantly lower than their normal range as compared with a reference data from a large study of the same population (P value<0.05). At lumbar vertebrae, 2 cases had osteopenia and 17 had osteoporosis while at the femoral neck, 17 cases had osteopenia and 4 osteoporosis. Only serum levels of phosphorus had positive relationship with femoral neck BMD (P value<0.05). It may be possible to decrease fracture incidence through the early diagnosis of individuals at risk by BMD. In conclusion, our study indicates that females with early onset of menopause and premature ovarian failure had lower value of BMD in both femoral neck and lumbar vertebrae implying the need for more bone health measures

The electromagnetic interference of mobile phones on the function of a γ-camera

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study is to evaluate whether or not the electromagnetic field generated by mobile phones interferes with the function of a SPECT γ-camera during data acquisition. METHODS: We tested the effects of 7 models of mobile phones on 1 SPECT γ-camera. The mobile phones were tested when making a call, in ringing mode, and in standby mode. The γ-camera function was assessed during data acquisition from a planar source and a point source of Tc with activities of 10 mCi and 3 mCi, respectively. A significant visual decrease in count number was considered to be electromagnetic interference (EMI). RESULTS: The percentage of induced EMI with the γ-camera per mobile phone was in the range of 0% to 100%. The incidence of EMI was mainly observed in the first seconds of ringing and then mitigated in the following frames. CONCLUSIONS: Mobile phones are portable sources of electromagnetic radiation, and there is interference potential with the function of SPECT γ-cameras leading to adverse effects on the quality of the acquired images. © 2013 by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins

Management of gastrointestinal complaints in differentiated thyroid cancer patients treated with 131I: Comparison of the efficacy of pantoprazole, metoclopra-mide, and ondansetron – a randomized clinical trial

Objective: To compare safety and efficacy of pantoprazol, metoclopramide, ondansetron, as compared to placebo, in controlling gastrointestinal (GI) complaints of thyroid cancer patients treated with I-131these patients. Design: Four-armed, parallel group, single blind, randomized controlled clinical trial, setting: A university hospital, registration: database for clinical trials IRCT2013061713705N1. Patients: 85 patients with differentiated thyroid cancer who received131I. Main outcome measures: Post-radioiodine nausea and vomiting within three days of therapy (primary endpoint); occurrence of adverse reaction. Results: The patients' characteristics were similar within the study groups. Among the study variables, age, sex, administered dosage, history of previous GI complaints, and history of hyper -emesis gravidarum in female patients were not statistically different among the groups (p > 0.05). The results revealed that only ond-ansetron shows a therapeutic benefit over the placebo in controlling nausea (p 0.05). The other two drugs, pantoprazole and meto-clopramide, did not control nausea (p > 0.05) or vomiting (p > 0.05). Conclusions: This study may demonstrate that the therapeutic dose of ondansetron could be an effective prophylactic agent in controlling GI complaints in differential thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients following RAI therapy; however, these pre -liminary findings should be validated in larger studies. © Schattauer 2014