The Relationship Between Serum Levels of Interleukins 6, 8, 10 and Clinical Outcome in Patients With Severe Traumatic Brain Injury

Background: Clinical outcome in patients with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) depends on both primary and secondary brain injuries. Neuroinflammation is an important secondary mechanism, which occurs by releasing interleukins (ILs). Increased levels of ILs may affect clinical outcome following TBI. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the relationship between the serum levels of interleukins 6, 8 and 10 and clinical outcome in patients with severe TBI 6 months after injury. Patients and Methods: In a descriptive-analytical study, 44 patients with GCS ≤ 8 (Glasgow coma scale) and age ≥ 14 years were included. Their blood samples were collected at first 6 hours after injury. Clinical outcome was determined based on GOS (Glasgow Outcome Scale) at 6 months after head injury. Serum levels of interleukins 6, 8 and 10 were measured using the ELISA method. Spearman's rho, independent T-Test, and Mann-Whitney Test were used for data analysis. Results: Comparing the serum levels of interleukins in two groups with favorable and unfavorable clinical outcomes showed that the mean serum levels of interleukins 6 and 8 in group with favorable outcome was 85.2 ± 51.6 and 52.2 ± 31.9, respectively lower than those of group with unfavorable outcome with 162.3 ± 141.1 and 173.6 ± 257.3 (P < 0.03) and (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Increased serum levels of interleukins 6 and 8 as a predictive marker might be associated with unfavorable clinical outcome in patients with severe TBI

Evaluation of Chest and Abdominal Injuries in Trauma Patients Hospitalized in the Surgery Ward of Poursina Teaching Hospital, Guilan, Iran

Background: Trauma, especially chest and abdominal trauma are increasing due to the growing number of vehicles on the roads, which leads to an increased incidence of road accidents. Urbanization, industrialization and additional problems are the other associated factors which accelerate this phenomenon. A better understanding of the etiology and pattern of such injuries can help to improve the management and ultimate the outcomes of these patients. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the patients with chest and abdominal trauma hospitalized in the surgery ward of Poursina teaching hospital, Guilan, Iran. Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the data of all chest and abdominal trauma patients hospitalized in the surgery ward of Poursina teaching hospital were collected from March 2011 to March 2012. Information about age, gender, injured areas, type of injury (penetrating or blunt), etiology of the injury, accident location (urban or rural) and patients\' discharge outcomes were collected by a questionnaire. Results: In total, 211 patients with a mean age of 34.1 ± 1.68 years was entered into the study. The most common cause of trauma was traffic accidents (51.7%). Among patients with chest trauma, 45 cases (35.4%) had penetrating injuries and 82 cases (64.6%) blunt lesions. The prevalence of chest injuries was 35.5% and rib fractures 26.5%. In chest injuries, the prevalence of hemothorax was 65.3%, pneumothorax 2.7%, lung contusion 4% and emphysema 1.3%, respectively. There were 24 cases (27.9%) with abdominal trauma which had penetrating lesions and 62 cases (72.1%) with blunt lesions. The most common lesions in patients with penetrating abdominal injuries were spleen (24.2%) and liver (12.1%) lesions. The outcomes of the patients were as follow: 95.7% recovery and 4.3% death. The majority of deaths were observed among road traffic victims (77.7%). Conclusions: Considering the fact that road-related accidents are quite predictable and controllable; therefore, the quality promotion of traumatic patients\' care, and the road safety should be noted as problems associated with public health

Relationship of Staphylococcal Aureus Colonization with Severity of Psoriasis Vulgaris Disease According to PASI Score

Background & Aims: colonized by staphylococcus aureus were reported in more than 50% of psoriatic lesions. Due to role of epidermal barrier dysfunction on colonization and on the other hands staphylococcal super antigen effect on flare up of disease, this study was conducted to evaluate relationship of staphylococcal aureus colonization with severity of psoriasis disease according to PASI Score. Materials and Methods: In a descriptive analytic study, 42 psoriasis new cases that had not received any topical or systematic medication for disease underwent study. Necessary demographic and clinical data were collected and PASI score for severity of disease according to erythema, infiltration, desquamation and area was calculated. Skin lesions samples were taken by a swab and sent to the laboratory for culture. Data analysis was done by SPSS ver. 13 using T test. Results: lesions of 19 cases (45.2%) were colonized with staphylococcal aureus. Mean of PASI score in positive culture group was 16.07&plusmn; 3.6 in comparison to negative culture group as 12.43&plusmn; 3.67 that this difference was significant (P=0.001). There was not any significant difference between duration of disease between positive and negative culture groups (7.11&plusmn;4.98vs. 6.39&plusmn;5.25 years). Conclusion: This study showed a significant difference between PASI Score among negative and positive culture groups that this difference may be due to the staphylococcal super antigen effect on psoriasis lesions

Oral Soft Tissue Pathologies among Diabetic Patients in Rasht- 2005

Introduction: Diabetes can affect organs including the oral mucosa. There is a disagreement about the prevalence of oral mucosal disease in diabetic patients. We therefore decided to investigate more about that. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of soft tissue pathologies by assessing burning mouth and xerostomia in diabetic patients on the basis of type of diabetes and control status of diabetes. Methods: This descriptive, analytic study was done by visiting 486 known diabetic patients who were referred to the Endocrine Clinic in summer of 2005. Their demographic information with history of systemic diseases accompanied by the amount of HbAIC and duration of disease was recorded in their questionnaire. Diagnosis of oral lesions was done by clinical examination. Burning mouth was assessed by visual analog scale in persons who suffered and subjective xerostomia was evaluated by standard questionnaire. Data collection was done by software SPSS 10, and statistical analysis was done by X2 and logistic regression test. Results: In this study, 34 patients were type I and 434 were type II patients with mean age of 47.84±9.77 years. Frequency of all candidasis lesions was 15.4% which included denture stomatitis 5.3%, angular cheilitis 4.1%, median rhomboid glossitis 1.5%and papillary atrophy of tongue 4.5%. Frequency of non-candidal lesions was 20.1%, which included fissured tongue 10.5%, geographic tongue 7.9% and lichen planus 1.7%. 6.2% of patients suffered from glossodyna. 15.6% of patients had xerestomia. By logistical regression test, we found that type of diabetes affects denture stomatitis, angular cheilitis, tongue atrophy and amount of HbA1c. Conclusion: All of the pathologies were greater in type I than type II diabetes patients. Level of HbA1c had an important role in appearance of oral lesions and level changes can cause problems in the mouth. Thus, patients should maintain their oral hygiene and control their glucose regularl

Impact of Birth Weight on Over Weight and Obesity in Preschool Children

Introduction: Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem and epidemiological studies are important to identify predictive factors. It is the aim of this study to analyze birth weight as a predict factor of obesity among preschool children. Methods: 554 preschool children (4-6years-old) were selected by multistage random sampling from rural areas in Rasht. Data collected from health records of households of health systems and interview with parents. Weight and height of children was measured. We considered children with weight- for- height>/= 85th percentile to be overweight and weight- for- height>/= 95th percentile to be obese. Data Analysis was done with SPSS Software Ver. 16. ِdescriptive statistics and X2 was used. Results: Overall, 256 children(46.4%) were boys, 37 (6.7%) of children were overweight and 36 (6.5%) of these were obese. At birth, 42(7.2%) of children were low birth weight and 28(5%) of them were high birth weight. There was a positive relation between birth weight and catch &ndash;up weigh in other periods of life but There were not any differences between overweigh and obesity rate with low birth weight, appropriate birth weight and high birth weight in children. Conclusion: It seems that birth weight does not predict obesity in childhood and environmental factors have more power on obesity that must be noticed

Can laser treatment improve quality of life of hirsute women?

Narges Alizadeh,1 Sharad Ayyoubi,2 Mohammadreza Naghipour,3 Rasool Hassanzadeh,2 Zahra Mohtasham-Amiri,3 Shirin Zaresharifi,4 Kaveh Gharaei Nejad1 1Dermatology Department, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, 2General Practice, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, 3Community Medicine Department, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, 4General Practitioner, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Background: Hirsutism can have negative impacts on psychosocial aspects of women&rsquo;s lives and reduce their quality of life (QOL). The aim of this study was to assess the QOL of these women during laser treatment. Patients and methods: Eighty-eight women with unwanted facial hair underwent laser therapy. Each patient completed a questionnaire consisting of a modified Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and visual analog scale (VAS) before the first, third, and fifth sessions of laser therapy. Interval between the sessions was 4&ndash;6 weeks. Statistical analyses were done using SPSS software version18. Results: The DLQI scores before treatment, and at third and fifth sessions were 7.75&plusmn;2.36, 5.55&plusmn;1.88, and 4.14&plusmn;0.64, respectively (P&lt;0.0001). Also, VAS scores had a decreasing trend between the first and second treatment sessions as the mean patient VAS score fell from 10&plusmn;0.04 to 5.53&plusmn;2.41 (P&lt;0.0001). The DLQI scores were significantly different according to areas of hair growth and number of involved areas. There were no significant differences with regard to response to treatment and mean of DLQI score according to the level of education, marital status, and employment status. Conclusion: Hair removal with laser therapy can improve the QOL in hirsute women. Also, socioeconomic status does not affect the satisfaction rate of laser therapy for hair removal. Keywords: hirsutism, laser, quality of life, satisfaction, psychosocia

Comparison of Serum Vit D Level Between Psoriasis Patients and Normal Population

Introduction: Psoriasis is a common inflammatory skin disorder with humeral and cellular immune system involvement. On the other hands، Vitamin D has important immunomodulatory effects and its relations with many autoimmune diseases were shown. The relation between Serum Vit D Level and Psoriasis disease remained controversial issue that this study was done to show this relationship. Methods and Materials: In this comparative cross sectional study، 30 psoriatic patients who attended to Razi dermatology clinic in Rasht، by sequential sampling underwent study as case group. 30 healthy people from hospital at the same age، gender and skin-colored also were selected as control group. Inclusion criteria were patients and people without Ca or Vit D supplements usage or underground diseases in relation to hypovitaminosis D. Demographical data were gathered by interviewing and then blood samples from all participants were sent for analysis of serum Ca، P، Vit D and parathormone level. Data analysis was done by SPSS ver. 18 using T-test and Chi 2 test. Result: Mean and SD serum level of Vit D in case and control groups were 25.8&plusmn; 12.6 ng/ mL and&nbsp; 23.7&plusmn; 8.9 ng/ mL، respectively (&rho;>0.05). Out of all، 24 participants (40%) suffered from Vit D Deficiency and 20 people (33.3%) from Vit D insufficiency ، only 26.7% study subjects had acceptable serum Vit D level. There were not any significant difference between Vit D deficiency rates and other measured biochemical indices in two groups (36.7% vs. 43.3%). Conclusion: This study showed high level of Vit D deficiency in both psoriatic and normal people that must be notice

Variability of Phenytoin Serum Level in prophylaxis of Seizures in TBI Patients

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most common causes of seizure and about 10% of patients with severe and moderate trauma develop seizure. Phenytoin is an anti-seizure medicine which is widely prescribed to prevent seizure in TBI patients. Even it has non-linear pharmacokinetics in therapeutic concentrations, the prescription of which necessitates continuous evaluation of plasmatic level of medicine and regulating the dosage. Objective: This study aimed at surveying the variability of Phenytoin serum level in TBI patients in Poursina Teaching Hospital to determine the dosage of medicine more precisely to reach the Prophylactic level. Materials & Methods: In a descriptive longitudinal study, 90 patients of Trauma Ward of Poursina Hospital were studied. Phenytoin serum level was estimated in first, second, and seventh day after hospitalization by using RAN DOX kits, the results were then analyzed by SPSS software (ver16). Exact Test, Fisher, and Pearson T-test were utilized to analyze the data. Results: Out of 90 studied patients, 79 (87.7%) were men and 11(12.3%) women. Mean age was estimated 36.3&plusmn;15.6 for men and 41.7&plusmn;16 for women. There was no significant difference between the Phenytoin level in first and third day in two groups. The Phenytoin serum level in 24 first hrs didn&rsquo;t reach therapeutic level in 75.6% of patients. The average of Phenytoin serum level was in therapeutic level in third day and Phenytoin serum level didn&rsquo;t reach therapeutic level only in 5% of patients (p&ge;0.05). This average figure was 20-30 mg/dl in more than half of the patients on seventh day, during which all patients reached therapeutic level (p&ge;0.05). A significant relationship was observed between age and Phenytoin serum level in all three levels (p<0.05). Conclusion: Phenytoin is considered as an anti-seizure medicine which is vastly used in TBI victims. Using Phenytion requires exact monitoring due to its limited therapeutic range and linear pharmacokinetics. Since the changes of medicine dosage can lead to blood poisoning and make the medicine ineffective, its prescription needs much more attention regarding its gender, age, and needed dosage