Iranian Journal of

Background and Objectives: Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is one of major contagious animal. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the determinants associated with FMD occurrence in farms.

Methods: A case- control study was carried out in cattle farms.  The cases were farms with new reports of FMD and controls were units without any report of FMD in last 6 month. For assessing the risk factors, a researcher- made questionnaire was used. Statistical analyses were done with SPSS version 16 using the logistic regression test.

Results: Purchase of new livestock [OR: 14.69 (CI95%: 4.29, 50.36)] and passing migratory livestock [OR: 13.32 (CI 95%: 1.74, 101.87) were identified as the risk factors of the disease. Visiting the farm by the vaccinator in last 2 weeks [OR: 0.17 (CI 95%: 0.05, 0.63)] and buying new livestock from the same village/ city where the farm is located [OR: 0.16 (CI 95%: 0.04, 0.58)] were considered as protective factors.

Conclusion: Considering the role of infected livestock in the country, the most important steps for effective preventation are: areadherence to biosecurity as well as quarantining new purchased animals, and informing and training farmers to not purchase new animals from farms that are located in the infected areas and around the times of outbreak.

Background and Objectives: The cancer of the pancreatic head and Ampulla of Vater is a malignant disease usually seen in advanced stages with symptoms caused by stomach and biliary obstruction. Curative treatment is possible in the early stage. Unfortunately, most symptomatic patients are in the advanced stage and have an unrespectable tumor; therefore, they should undergo palliative surgery. This study was performed to determine the complications and survival rate of patients who underwent palliative surgery for advanced stages of cancer in the Ampulla Vater and pancreatic head.

Methods: In this study, 49 patients with advanced stages of cancer in the Ampulla of Vater and pancreatic head who had undergone palliative surgery from 2003 to 2014 at Baqiyatallah Hospital were studied and the complications and survival rate were determined.

Results: Eleven patients (22.44%) underwent biliary bypass, 6 (12.24%) underwent gastric bypass, and 32 (65.32) underwent both procedures. Twelve (24.49%) patients developed complications. Anastomotic leak and peritonitis were the most common complications seen in 6 (12.2%). Seven patients (14.28%) died in the hospital. The mean survival was 5.47 ± 8.38 months. Upon follow up, survival was significantly longer in older patients (P=0.01).

Conclusion: In one-fourth of the patients with advanced stages of cancer, palliative surgery of the pancreatic head and Ampulla of Vater caused complications, and the mean survival rate was less than six months. The results of this study recommend the use of less invasive procedures such as biliary stenting in the advanced stages of the disease.