Tehran University Medical Journal

The role of rectal sparing devices in post-prostatectomy radiotherapy: a review article

Abolhasan Rezaeyan

Adjuvant or salvage radiotherapy can control biochemical relapse after radical prostatectomy and reduce the risk of distant metastases. Dose-escalated radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy can lead to improved biochemical relapse-free survival. Over the last decades, despite the technological advancements in prostate radiotherapy, radiation-induced rectal toxicity is still the main limiting factor for dose escalation owing to the anatomical proximity of the prostate gland to the rectum. To this end, several rectal sparing devices, including Endorectal balloons (ERBs), prostate-rectum spacers (e.g. SpaceOAR hydrogel), and rectal retractor have been explored to increase the distance between the prostate and the rectum to reduce rectal radiation doses and toxicities. Over the last decade, several studies applied these devices during post-prostatectomy radiotherapy setting. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to evaluate the impact of rectal sparing devices on dose-volume parameters of anorectal, radiation-induced rectal toxicity, and prostate bed motion during post-prostatectomy radiotherapy. The results showed that although using ERBs can lead to stability in the target volume position, it cannot reduce rectal radiation doses, in particular dose to the anterior rectal wall. The application of ERBs can reduce the received dose of the anal wall and increase the geometric reproducibility of the clinical target volume (CTV) position. However, the role of ERBs in reducing the received dose of the rectal wall is still controversial, which can be associated with the displacement of the anterior rectal wall towards the prostate bed (high radiation dose area). The use of SpaceOAR hydrogel can significantly increase the distance between the rectum and the prostate bed and ultimately reduce the dose received by the rectal wall. Also, the use of rectal retractor remarkably reduces rectal radiation doses. The dosimetric and clinical results of the use of SpaceOAR hydrogel and rectal retractor are very promising, and these devices can be used for patients after the necessary evaluations by radiation oncologist in post-prostatectomy radiotherapy. However, further studies will be required to elucidate the efficacy of SpaceOAR hydrogel and rectal retractor in reducing radiotherapy-induced rectal toxicity following post-prostatectomy radiotherapy.

Keywords: prostatectomy, prostate cancer, radiotherapy, rectum.

What styles do students of medical sciences use to learn? Systematic review and meta-analysis

Hossein Karimi Moonaghi

Background: According to numerous research related to learning styles and also the difference of these styles in students, this study was designed in order to determine the status of learning styles in medical students in Iran.
Methods: This study was conducted as a systematic review and meta-analysis. Searching for articles in this study was done from September 24 to October 15, 2022 in databases: Proquest, PubMed, Iran medex, Scopus, Sid, Magiran, Google Scholar, Eric and medical education journals. The research environment of Iran has been Mashhad. Using the PICOTS model, the keywords: learning styles, clubs, medical students were used to search the mentioned databases. OR, AND operators and possible combinations of keywords were used when searching for articles in databases. The extracted articles were first evaluated in terms of the research title, then the abstract of the article, and finally the text of the article using the "PRISMA Checklist". In each stage, repetitive articles and articles that did not mention the percentage of learning styles were excluded from the study, and the articles that met the inclusion criteria were stored in the (EndNote software, version 20, Clarivate, USA), and at the end, 53 articles were analyzed.

Results: The results of the study showed that the most used learning styles among students of medical sciences in Iran was convergent learning style (32% with 95% confidence interval). In the investigation of the adaptive learning style in the fields of basic sciences during the years 2006 to 2021, the percentage of using this style increased and this trend was statistically significant (P=0.0078).
Conclusion: According to the findings of the study, the most used learning style in medical sciences in Iran is convergent learning style, and considering the characteristics of convergent people, it is necessary to provide effective and efficient training in medical sciences to Students' learning styles should be given special attention so that training can be guided based on their learning styles.

Investigating the reproducibility of radiomics features extracted from ultrasound images as diagnostic biomarkers in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Yunus Soleymani

Background: Radiomics is a noninvasive method that reveals information from medical images that are not recognizable by the naked eye. Radiomics has shown a high potential in the accurate diagnosis and prognosis of liver lesions in ultrasound images. Despite this high potential, changes in imaging parameters affect the reproducibility of ultrasound radiomics results. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the reproducibility of the radiomics features extracted from the images of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma under changes in ultrasound scan parameters.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted from July 2020 to July 2021 in the radiology department of Tabriz Paramedical Faculty. The images of 20 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were obtained from the Cancer Imaging Archive database. These images were taken under different imaging conditions and parameters. The areas related to the lesion were manually extracted from the images with software tools. Then, in order to radiomics analysis, different radiomics features, including 24 gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) and 16 gray level run length matrix (GLRLM), were extracted from the images. Then, using the coefficient of variation (CV%) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) statistical tests, the reproducibility of radiomics features under changes in scan parameters was investigated. The values of ICC≥0.90 and CV<20% were considered reproducible in this study.

Results: Among the 40 features extracted from ultrasound images, eight showed high reproducibility in both CV% and ICC tests. These features were joint entropy, Idmn, Imc2, correlation, MCC, sum entropy, gray level non-uniformity normalized, and run entropy in which the two features, Idmn and gray level non-uniformity normalized, showed the highest (CV%=0.24) and the lowest (CV%=14.90) stability against the changes of ultrasound scan parameters, respectively. The average ICC value of these features was obtained at 0.977.
Conclusion: Despite the high potential of radiomics in diagnosing liver lesions, changes in imaging parameters directly affect the reproducibility of results. However, some radiomics features still show high stability and reproducibility under changes in imaging parameters.

The success of simultaneous balloon dacryoplasty and stenting in failed congenital nasolacrimal duct intubations and its indications

Bita Momenaei

Background: Congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CNLDO) is one of the most prevalent orbital diseases in children and treatment of recalcitrant cases is always challenging. The purpose of this study is to identify the effectiveness of balloon dacryoplasty and stenting in persistent congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction following previous intubation of nasolacrimal duct.

Methods: Our study was an interventional study from January 2015 to January 2018 on 16 lacrimal systems of 11 patients (5 males and 6 females) with congenital obstruction of the lacrimal duct (CNLDO) and a history of unsuccessful probing and stenting, in Farabi Hospital of Tehran (affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences). Children who presented to our hospital and had previously been probed with or without intubation by another surgeon first underwent reprobing and re-intubation with a Crawford tube. Endoscopy of the nasolacrimal system was performed in suspected cases of false stent passage or in the presence of a history indicating nasal pathology. Crawford's Monoka tube was removed after two months. Balloon dacryoplasty with intubation was performed as the third surgery in cases who did not respond to probing and stenting after 3-6 months. The success after six months was evaluated using fluorescein dye disappearance test (FDDT) and also the resolution of the patients' symptoms.

Results: The age of the patients was 67±35.01 months (range: 26-121). The site of the canalicular stenosis in our patients was in the common canaliculi or within 2-3 mm from it. After 6 months, surgery was successfully performed in 13 lacrimal systems (81.25%). One patient with congenital lacrimal duct obstruction and Down syndrome and two other patients did not respond to balloon dacryoplasty and stenting and subsequently underwent dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR).

Conclusion: Balloon dacryoplasty combined with Monocrawford intubation is an effective surgical procedure that should be considered in cases of congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction who have not responded to the probing and stenting of the lacrimal system.

Examining the results of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and its influencing factors with emphasis on the cause of cardiac arrest and 1-year prognosis of rescued patients

Paniz Poursiabidi

Background: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is a quick and immediate intervention to prevent death in a person who has suddenly suffered cardiorespiratory arrest. This study aims to investigate the results of cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the factors affecting it with emphasis on the cause of cardiac arrest and 1-year prognosis of the saved patients.
Methods: Materials and methods: This research is a retrospective descriptive-analytical study that was conducted for 24 months, from April 1, 2017 to the end of March 2018, in Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Hospital in Ilam, from July 2022 to September 2022. The necessary information was collected based on the data available in the patients' files. Data analysis was done using SPSS24 software.

Results: Out of 152 patients, 64(42.1%) were men and 88(57.9%) were women. The average in the group that had a successful CPR was 60.75 years and in the group that had an unsuccessful CPR was 68.27 years. 13.7% of all CPRs occurred during shift change. The number of CPR was 11 cases (7.2%) in changing night shift to morning, six cases (3.9%) in changing evening shift to night, and four cases (2.6%) in changing evening to night shift. Most of the patients who underwent CPR were patients with internal diseases.
Conclusion: In this study, the final success rate of CPR was close to other studies. These results indicate that performing CPR is considered at any time. However, the reasons for the failure of the rehabilitation operation should be looked for in other factors. These factors can include updating nursing and medical team’s knowledge in the field of resuscitation, experience and skills of the resuscitation team, and periodic training of the resuscitation team, which should be considered regularly in order to reduce unsuccessful cases.

Evaluation and comparison of statistical models of hemodialysis adequacy in hemodialysis patients in two groups (fistula and permanent catheter) in Arak dialysis center

Kowsar Sadat Ashrafi

Background: Adequacy of dialysis is a very important issue in dialysis patients, so comparing the adequacy of dialysis in different dialysis methods is very important. Therefore, due to the fact that the number of people undergoing dialysis through fistulas and catheters varies in different centers, and depending on different centers, there is a possibility of decreasing or increasing the adequacy of dialysis, so we decided to do this comparison in Arak support center.
Methods: In this analytical-cross-sectional study, the dialysis patients of Hami Arak Center from April 2019 to September 2019 were divided into two groups (the first group with permanent catheter, the second group with arteriovenous fistula) based on vascular access. The both groups were matched in terms of age, sex, weight, pump speed, filter size and also the duration of dialysis. All patients were dialyzed with the same type of dialysis machine, and the duration of hemodialysis for all samples was 4 hours in each session. To confirm the reliability of the device, it was calibrated before each use and the same setting was used for all samples. The blood samples were taken from the arterial route before dialysis and starting the dilution with heparin or normal saline. Statistical models of dialysis adequacy of patients in two groups were measured using the Kt/V criterion, SPSS and AMOS data analysis was performed.

Results: In the analysis of covariance of BUN before dialysis, there is a statistically significant difference in the studied groups (P<0.05), also in the UF and URR variables, dialysis time and the number of times of dialysis in three consecutive repetitions, there is a statistically significant difference in the studied groups. (dime fistula and catheter) are not present (P<0.05).
Conclusion: In this study, during repeated repetitions, 22% of the dialysis adequacy in the two groups did not have good adequacy, and 78% of the patients in the two groups had appropriate dialysis adequacy.

Is opium addiction a risk factor for benign prostatic hyperplasia?

Banafsheh Zeinali-Rafsanjani

Background: Prostate enlargement is a common issue amongst men, which causes significant side effects for aging men. Regarding the high prevalence of prostate enlargement and opium addiction and its derivatives, assessing the relationship between opium use with prostate enlargement may be an exciting issue.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. There were two groups; the case group contained men with a history of at least one year of opium abuse. The control group was men in the same age range referred to university-affiliated hospitals for ultrasonography for other reasons except for prostate problems. The prostate size and demographic information of patients were recorded. The prostate volume of more than 20 ml was considered as an enlarged prostate.

Results: 212 males participated in the study from December 2018 to March 2019 at Namazi Hospital of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, including 78 drug abuse patients (mean age=39.08±6.52 years old) in the case group and 134 (mean age=40.69±6.28 years old) in the control group. The mean prostate size in the addict group was significantly higher than in the healthy group (P=0.005). There was a significant correlation between the size of the prostate and the age in both groups. However, there was no correlation between prostate size and body mass index.
Conclusion: Due to a decrease in the sexual desire of addicted people, we first expected to face smaller prostates in addicted men; however, the study results proved the opposite. One explanation can be that the decreased libido increases the likelihood of fluid accumulation in the prostate, this might lead to chronic inflammatory reactions, hypertrophy, and prostate hyperplasia. Therefore, a more comprehensive study is needed to investigate the interaction between the drug and prostate tissue. Finally, it can be concluded that addiction to opium and its derivatives can increase the chance of prostate enlargement. Due to the lack of previous studies in this field, it seems necessary to conduct additional studies with larger sample sizes and control confounding factors.

Investigating the effects of swimming exercise training on xidative stress induced by chronic morphine administration

Mehdi Sadegh

Background: Morphine as a strong analgesic compound is widely prescribed in clinic to control medium to severe pain, they are also may cause drug abuse. Recent studies have shown chronic morphine consumption and it could induce oxidative stress and cause cell damage. In this study, the effects of daily swimming exercise investigated on oxidative stress indices in the hippocampus and plasma of morphine dependent rats.

Methods: In this study, 48 adult male wistar rats were randomly divided to four groups. Experiments were done during January to March 2022 at Arak University of Medical Sciences. Morphine was self-administrated for 4 weeks, as dissolved (0.4 mg/ml) in the daily drinking water. Exercise training was included 15 minutes daily continuous swimming in a swimming pool. Swimming occurred during all days of morphine consumption. At the end, 6 rats were randomly selected from each group and withdrawal signs were evaluated by naloxone injection, to confirm morphine dependency. Then, hippocampus and plasma were collected from the 8 remaining rats of each group and were used for GSH, GSSG, MDA, irisin and BDNF assessment.

Results: All rats in morphine consumed groups showed withdrawal signs in naloxone text, which means morphine dependency successfully were induced. However swimming exercise significantly reduced the consumption size of morphine. GSH was significantly decreased, while GSSG and MDA were significantly increased in the plasma and hippocampus of morphine groups in compare with control. Morphine consumption had no effect on plasma levels of irisin, while significantly decreased hippocampus level of BDNF. Daily swimming exercise in the morphine consumed group significantly repaired morphine effects on plasma and hippocampus levels of GSH, GSSG, MDA and hippocampus levels of BDNF.
Conclusion: Daily swimming exercise during the morphine consumption is able to repair at least some parts of the oxidative stress induced by morphine. This effect might help to reduce cellular and molecular damages raised by chronic morphine consumption.

Predicting the Performance of Faculty Members of Medical Universities in Providing Virtual Learning in the Covid-19 Pandemic in terms of Problem-Solving Methods and Their Individual Social Characteristics: A Data Mining Study

Mohammad Sattari

Background: In the Covid-19 Pandemic, virtual education in universities became essential and came with some challenges, especially for professors who had the role of presenters. In this regard, the study was conducted to predict the performance of professors in providing virtual training in Covid-19 in terms of problem-solving methods and their demographics.
Methods: A descriptive-analytical study was performed on 252 professors of Iranian universities of medical sciences from 2021 April to 2021. Also, demographic characteristics such as gender, field of study, position, job rank and work experience were asked. The faculty members' performance questionnaire in providing virtual training (α=0.89) and the problem-solving methods questionnaire (α=0.75) was administered virtually and the data were analyzed by Random forest, CHAID and ID3 techniques.

Results: Based on used data mining methods findings, factors related to teachers' satisfaction with their performance in providing virtual education were "the possibility of monitoring the performance of homework", "establishing order and regulations", "preparing standard educational content", "using multimedia content", "Mastery of software, educational systems, and multimedia content", and "possibility of examining the quality and quantity of students' learning". Also, interpersonal problem-solving methods, such as "believing in the role of personality traits of people in their behavior", "solving problems with effort and follow-up", "notifying people's mistakes in interpersonal interactions", "giving people the opportunity to check their behavior", "proposing solutions to solve problems for the benefit of both parties", and "dividing big problems into smaller parts" have played a big role in professors' satisfaction about their teaching methods. These characteristics are related to more basic areas such as self-regulation, pursuit and challenge, agreeableness, and realism.
Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the performance of teachers in providing virtual education is influenced by some behavioral factors and individual situational abilities. However, despite the virtual training implementation difficulties, it is a productive opportunity that can be used in the days of returning for conditions (after-covid 19 condition) without physical distance along with face-to-face training.

A rare complication of covid-19 infection in a 14-month-old infant: a case report

Massomeh Abedini

Background: Sever Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in some patients leads to cytokine storm and causes hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) secondary to this viral agent. HLH is a rare and aggressive disease that increases in children, and is caused by changes in the immune system that associated with high mortality. Consideing the current pandemic, early diagnosis and treatment is important. Herein, we report a case of a 14-month-old infant presented with COVID-19 and prolonged fever who was eventually treated with the diagnosis of HLH. The study has been done in Sanandaj in January 2020.

Case Presentation: A 14-month-old female infant with Covid-19, in November 2019 with prolonged fever lasting for 12 days, weakness and lethargy was admitted to Sanandaj Social Security Hospital, in November 2019. The infant did not have any history of illness, drug or allergy and had received vaccination according to the country's protocol. Later she was transferred to Besat Hospital in Sanandaj due to persistent fever and elevated liver enzymes. The patient had severe leukocytosis and hepatosplenomegaly in the second center. During the diagnostic measures for the patient and the rule out of other possible causes through imaging and laboratory investigations and also the evaluation of relevant criteria, HLH was suggested and treated with antibiotics (ceftriaxone, meropenem), IVIg, dexamethasone and pantoprazole. After that the fever decreased, then oral prednisolone was prescribed and a follow-up was recommended. She was discharged in good general condition.

Conclusion: The current Covid-19 pandemic causes infection of children and may lead to occurrence of secondary HLH disease. therefore, assessment of children with liver manifestations and resistant fever should be considered by performing a PCR test to avoid complications and consequences as much as possible by timely treatment. more studies should be done in the field of its various dimensions.

Masoud Mohammadi