Sleep Apnea and Idiopathic Leg Edema: A Case Control Study

Idiopathic leg edema is subject to a lot of debates among physicians. Recently sleep apnea was stated to be the cause. We sought to investigate this matter in a sample of Iranian patients with idiopathic leg edema. In this case-control study, 110 patients were selected based on our inclusion/exclusion criteria and allocated to the case (with idiopathic edema, n=55) and control (without edema, n=55) groups. Sex, age, weight, height, and body mass index (BMI) of all subjects were recorded. We evaluated daytime somnolence of all patients using Epworth sleepiness scale and then calculated Apnea, hypopnea index (AHI) using ResMed ApneaLink and AHI≥15 were considered as sleep apnea. Age and sex of both groups were not significantly different. Cases had higher BMI than control groups (P=0.03), but they were not significantly different for obesity (P=0.197). AHI was significantly higher in cases (17.85±24.31 vs. 9±7.37 P=0.012). Daytime somnolence (cases 8.18±5.3 vs. controls 6.5±3.3) was also higher in cases. Overall Odds ratio of leg edema and sleep apnea was 3.068 (P=0.025), but it wasn’t significant in the two genders. Idiopathic bilateral leg edema is strongly associated with sleep apnea. Routine sleep apnea assessment in patients with idiopathic bilateral leg edema is recommended for both genders

Correlation between sacral ratio and primary enuresis

Background: Enuresis is defined as the repeated voiding of urine into clothes or bed at least twice a week for at least 3 consecutive months in a child who is at least 5 yr of age and has a high prevalence in school aged children. In primary enuresis (PE) children have never gained control over urination or has been dry for<6months. While in secondary enuresis children have developed incontinence after a period of at least 6 months of urinary control. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate a possible relation between PE and sacral ratio (SR) in 5-9 aged children. Patients and Methods: 118 children with aged 5-9 year were enrolled in this case-control study. All them were divided into two aliquots groups of 59 patients. The case study (children with PE) and the control (children without PE) groups were matched in age and sex. SR based on antero-posterior plain radiograms of pelvis was calculated. Results were then analyzed using Chi square and student t-test as appropriate. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding age and gender. Mean SR in case and control group was 0.89 and 0.90, respectively. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the two groups (p=0.82). Only 1 child (1.6%) in case group showed abnormal SR while this was 7 children (11.9%) in the control group. Conclusions: This study showed that, there was no significant difference between children with PE and those without PE in terms of SR. However, multicenter and larger sample size is recommended for definite decision of this finding

HLA-Cw Allele Frequency in Definite Meniere’s Disease Compared to Probable Meniere’s Disease and Healthy Controls in an Iranian Sample

Introduction Several lines of evidence support the contribution of autoimmune mechanisms in the pathogenesis of Meniere’s disease. The aim of this study was determining the association between HLA-Cw Alleles in patients with definite Meniere’s disease and patients with probable Meniere’s disease and a control group.  Materials and Methods: HLA-Cw genotyping was performed in 23 patients with definite Meniere’s disease, 24 with probable Meniere’s disease, and 91 healthy normal subjects, using sequence specific primers polymerase chain reaction technique. The statistical analysis was performed using stata 8 software.  Results: There was a significant association between HLA-Cw*04 and HLA-Cw*16 in both definite and probable Meniere’s disease compared to normal healthy controls. We observed a significant difference in HLA-Cw*12 frequencies between patients with definite Meniere’s disease compared to patients with probable Meniere’s disease (P=0.04). The frequency of HLA-Cw*18 is significantly higher in healthy controls (P=0.002).  Conclusion: Our findings support the rule of HLA-Cw Alleles in both definite and probable Meniere’s disease. In addition, differences in HLA-Cw*12 frequency in definite and probable Meniere’s disease in our study’s population might indicate distinct immune and inflammatory mechanisms involved in each condition