Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Volume:25 Issue: 1, Jan 2023

 This study aimed to evaluate some speech disorders in groups of patients with Lewy body spectrum disorders (LBSD), compare the groups in order to identify the possible causes of the disorders, and improve the given patients’ quality of life by helping them manage the development of speech disorders and rehabilitation of them.

 The present case-control study was performed to examine a total of 40 individuals, including 10 healthy people as controls and 30 patients with a range of LBSD diagnosed based on the criteria for cognitive neurological and motor disorders published by the University of Pennsylvania Department of Neurology.

 The four groups were similar in age and sex distribution and were not statistically and significantly different. The highest score of short mental state test (MMSE) was obtained for the control group. Parkinson’s patients with dementia spent the longest time to tell the story. The highest number of sentences was also produced by the Parkinson’s disease (PD) group. The control group faced the least number of vocabulary retrieval problems when narrating the story. On the other hand, the most frequent word retrieval problem was observed in dementia with Lewy bodies, followed by Parkinson’s disease with dementia (PDD). There was a significant difference between the control group with dementia and the Lewy body in terms of frequency distribution of action and search theme. There were also significant differences among four groups regarding the global and local connectedness of storytelling as well as the number of keywords used.

 In sum, a considerable speech disorder was observed in patients with LBSD, which was more evident in two groups with dementia. Therefore, dementia may have been the main cause of these impairments.

Context:

 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19). Pulmonary manifestations have been identified as the common symptom, and patients present a wide range of hematologic changes depending on the flow of the diseases. The interpretation and treatment of hematological complications in COVID-19 patients are very challenging. There are limited guidelines thus far due to the novelty of the disease.

Evidence Acquisition: 

This review summarizes the hematological findings (platelet and coagulation/fibrinolytic) in COVID-19 patients and discusses possible mechanisms for their changes.

 The results showed that the common findings were thrombocytopenia, elevated D-dimer levels, and prolonged prothrombin time (PT) and partial thromboplastin time (PTT) in severe patients.

 Attention to hematological changes may be helpful biomarkers in diagnosing and determining patients needing intensive care, as well as monitoring the treatment process and treatment effects on COVID-19 patients.

 As the most prevalent noncontagious neurologic condition, epilepsy is an important cause of mortality and disability in children, and its etiology is an important issue.

 Epilepsy may be induced by different risk factors, some of which may be unclear; therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the risk factors of seizures in children.

 Children with seizures admitted to the Pediatric Clinic of Amir-Kabir Hospital were enrolled in this study. First, accurate biography of the parents was taken to rule out other differential diagnoses of seizures. After the diagnosis of seizures, based on the diagnosis of a pediatric neurologist, demographic information, detailed history of seizure, neurologic examination, and process of growth and development were recorded. Then, we take electroencephalogram (EEG), magnetic resonance imaging, and computed tomography scans from study cases.

 Of the 291 evaluated cases, 54.6% were male. Variables associated with seizure and epilepsy evaluation showed that generalized tonic-clonic seizure was the most prevalent seizure in 134 children (46%). The duration of seizures was lower than 15 minutes in 266 cases; in addition, 191 children (55.5%) had a fever before seizures. Regarding underlying diseases, 268 children (92.2%) had no disease. Cerebral palsy (CP) was the most common underlying disease in 10 cases (3.4%).

 Infectious diseases (such as gastroenteritis and pneumonia) were observed as the most important possible risk factors in this study.

 Drug abuse and drug dependence are very common in the community, which causes complications in patients. It is necessary to identify these complications.

 The aim of this study was to compare the blood parameters of oral and inhaled opium addicts with healthy individuals in Zahedan.

 This study was performed on 60 people (20 in the group of oral opium addicts, 20 in the group of inhaled opium addicts, and 20 in the healthy group). After recording demographic information, blood parameters were recorded and analyzed.

 The findings of our study showed that the mean of white blood cell (WBC), platelets (PLT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) was not significantly different in the three groups. However, it was found that the mean of red blood cell (RBC), hemoglobin (Hb), and hematocrit (Hct) in the healthy groups and serum lead (Pb) levels in addicts was significantly higher, but no difference was seen between the oral and inhaled groups. It was also found that in all subjects, Pb had an inverse and significant relationship with RBC, Hb, and Hct.

 The higher levels of Pb in the blood of substance abusers may cause further anemia, and blood Pb levels must be frequently checked in substance abusers.

 Osteoporosis is a multifactorial disease. Mutation in cystein-rich domain2 (CRD2) and cystein-rich domain3 (CRD3) of osteoprotegrin protein can prevent its interaction with receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa beta (RANKL) ligand and lead to osteoporosis.

 This study aimed to investigate the possible alteration in exon2 of the osteoprotegrin gene encoding CRD2 and CRD3 domains in osteoporotic women in Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiari Province of Iran.

 The N-terminal region of human osteoprotegerin (OPG) protein was aligned with mice osteoprotegrin proteins using Clustal Omega multiple alignment tool. The genomic DNA of 72 osteoporotic women was extracted by commercial kit. The region of exon2 of the OPG gene encoding CRD2 and CRD3 was amplified by PCR and sequenced by DNA sequencing.

 The result of multiple protein alignment showed dissimilarities among three species in terms of CRD2 and CRD3 domains. The results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and DNA sequencing indicated that CRD2 and CRD3 sequence were intact in osteoporotic women.

 Due to the binding possibility of OPG protein with RANKL ligand, it was concluded that the expression of OPG gene may have been different in osteoporotic women. However, it was recommended that further studies should be conducted in order to confirm this finding.

 Gunshot injuries (GSIs), a serious public health problem, can affect the pediatric age group and adults.

 This study aimed to describe the injuries that occurred in children aged 0-16 years who were brought to the emergency department (ED) of Şehitkamil State hospital in Gaziantep, Turkey, due to GSIs.

 This descriptive-retrospective study was conducted in the ED of the child trauma center of Gaziantep. This study retrospectively reviewed the records of children aged 0 - 16 years admitted to the ED with GSIs from 01/01/2014 to 30/09/2020.

 A total of 66 GSI cases were included in the study. The most common injury was in the abdominal region. Internal organ/vessel/bone injuries were detected in 59.1% of the cases (n = 39). Surgical treatment was applied to 60.6% of the cases (n = 40) within 7 days. The mortality rate was 12.1% (n = 8). The length of stay in the trauma unit was 4.34 ± 4.33 days.

 Most injuries are detected in the abdomen. GSI was more common in boys. The prognosis is worse in those with internal organ/vascular/bone injuries. These patients have higher mortality, longer hospital stay, and a higher rate of surgical operation.

 The quality of sleep has different physical and psychological consequences, and can affect students' academic achievement.

 This study aimed to explore factors associated with sleep quality in university students using panel regression.

 This study was conducted based on the data from a longitudinal study, namely the “Health and Lifestyle of University Students”. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a self-administered questionnaire containing general information about sleep quality, Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), a questionnaire consisting of information about anxiety, Healthy Lifestyle Scale for University Students (HLSUS), and a questionnaire including information about lifestyle were completed by students during the first eight weeks of their first semester. The Panel linear regression and frontier model were used to assess the association of sleep quality with sex, unit, residency, marital status, teeth brushing, drug use, alcoholic drinks, age, anxiety, and healthy lifestyle.

 A total of 706 individuals (46.8%) suffered from poor sleep quality. Between the two models of panel linear regression and frontier, the former (i.e., panel linear regression) was determined to be a more powerful model with the Akaike information criteria = 3790.68 and Bayesian information criteria = 3899.712, suggesting that the dormitory students with a high level of anxiety and low level of healthy lifestyle had significantly poor sleep quality.

 Residency, drug use, anxiety, and healthy lifestyle scale were found to be closely associated with sleep quality of university students by using panel linear regression model. Our finding may have been of valuable help to policymakers and planners in their effort to improve the sleep quality of university students.

 The cavum septum pellucidum is an important marker for identifying and evaluating the fetal neural axis. Evaluation of the characteristics of the Cavum septum pellucidum is recognized as an important (fetal) factor for fetal ultrasound in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

 This study aimed to evaluate the size range of cavum septum pellucidum in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy in women referred to Ali Ibn-e Abitaleb Hospital Clinic of Zahedan.

 This was a descriptive-analytical study performed at Ali Ebne Abitaleb Hospital of Zahedan in 2018. Ultrasound examinations were performed on all pregnant women in the second trimester (18 to 20 weeks) and third (36 to 38 weeks). Information such as maternal age, size of septum pellucidum, and gestational age were included in the checklist. Ultimately, the data were entered into SPSS software for statistical analysis.

 In this study, a total of 500 fetuses were evaluated. The mean age of the mothers under study was 26.36 years old. The mean cavum septum pellucidum size in the second trimester was 3.71 ± 0.81 and 6.11 ± 1.09 mm in the third trimester. The mean size of cavum septum pellucidum in the second trimester of pregnancy was significantly lower than in the third trimester (P < 0.001).

 The mean size of cavum septum pellucidum in the present study was 4.91 mm, similar to the size of other studies.

Background:

 Therapeutic abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy is the treatment of choice in cases such as severe anomalies or fetal death, and both medical and mechanical methods are used to prepare the cervix. One of the various medical methods is the use of misoprostol (Miso) and one of the various mechanical methods is the use of laminaria (Lam).

Objectives:

 This study aimed to compare the use of Miso alone and its combination with Lam in therapeutic abortion in the second trimester of pregnancy.

Methods:

 In this clinical trial study, pregnant women between 14 and 20 weeks of gestation who were admitted to Ali-Ibn Abitaleb Hospital in Zahedan from July 2019 to September 2020 and were candidates for pregnancy termination due to severe anomalies or fetal death were investigated. After obtaining consent, patients were randomly divided into two groups of 45 receiving Miso alone and Miso + Lam. Then, in addition to demographic variables, the number of hospitalization days, the need for curettage, blood transfusions, analgesics, and the symptoms and complications of drugs were investigated.

Results:

 In this study, none of the demographic factors were significantly different between the two groups (P > 0.05). However, the need for curettage (P = 0.05), labor time (P = 0.04), and hospitalization days (P = 0.003) in the Miso + Lam group were less than the group of Miso alone.

Conclusions:

 Our results showed that curettage cases, labor duration, and length of hospital stay decreased in the Miso + Lam group.

Abdominal pain is one of the mostcommoncomplaints during pregnancy and is always debated due to its numerous differential diagnoses. Acute appendicitis is the most common complication requiring surgery during pregnancy.

The present study aimed to investigate symptoms, signs, and paraclinical findings in cases of pregnancy appendectomy within 2015 - 2019.

This retrospective study examined the frequency of appendectomy in pregnant women referring to Ali ibn Abi Talib Hospital of Zahedan in Iran. This study assessed 58 pregnantwomenwho referred to Ali Ebne-e Abitaleb hospital and underwent appendectomy from April 2015 to March 2019. Finally, the data were evaluated in terms of age, gravidity, gestational age, body temperature, clinical symptoms, complications of appendectomy, type of surgery, and white blood cells (neutrophil). For data analysis, the information was entered into SPSS software (version 22).

In the present study, the most common symptoms and signs of patients were tenderness and right lower quadrant (RLQ) pain (87.93%), nausea (75.9%), leukocytosis (72.4%), migration of pain (65.5%), vomiting (58.6%), and anorexia (53.4%). Additionally, the most common appendicitis trimester for appendicitis in pregnancy was the second thermistor (62.1%).

Tenderness in the RLQ area was the most important feature of appendicitis; however, nausea and leukocytosis were also common. Ultrasound was not a powerful imaging method due to the identification of less than half of the patients; nevertheless, the Alvarado score for acute appendicitis was helpful in numerous cases.