Tehran University Medical Journal

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Helicobacter pylori, as a causing agent of peptic ulcer in adults, is also encountered in children although in a lower incidence. Endoscopic biopsy studies of gastrointestinal mucosa in 110 children with clinical signs of peptic ulcer (continuous vomiting, chronic abdominal pain, hematemesis and melena) in Amir-Kabir Children's Hospital in Tehran showed positive helicobacter pylori findings in Giemsa or Hematoxylin-Eosin stained specimens. Doudenal ulcer with 81.1% was the most frequent lesions involved, the next more frequent lesions being gastric ulcer (805), dudenitis (75%) and gastritis (51.7%)

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Acute appendicitis is the most common condidition, requiring emergency operation in children. Late appendicitis is still a major sours of morbidity and potential mortality. The charts of all pediatric appendectomy patients (150 cases) treated between 1367-1373 (Iranian calender) in Amir Kabir Medical Center were reviewed. Mean hospital stay was 4.7 days. Mean ages of patients was 8.5 years. Male to female ratio was 1.2/1. Most common symptom was abdominal pain (100%) and deep tenderness in right lower quadrant in 94.6%. Mean temprature was 37.2 and leucocytosis (more than 10000) were in the 76.3%. 14 patients had perforated appendicitis and most common pathology was acut supporative appendicitis. Accuracy of diagnosis was 96.6% and post operative pelvic abccess was 2%. Mortality occurred in one case (0.6%)

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Fever among elderly patients frequently marks the presence of serious illness. All such patients should be strongly considered for hospital admission, particularly when certain clinical features are present. In prospective case series study in Emam Khomeini hospital during 6-month period (March Through October 1991). All patients presenting to infectious wards who were 65 years or older who had fever (oral temperature 37.8°C or more) were studied. There were 101 patients (63 men and 43 women) with 65 to 92 years old (mean 73). The most important predisposing factor were, hypertension and heart disease in 20 patients, diabetes in 15 patients and pulmonary disease in 5 patients. Final diagnosis among 101 patients were: pneumonia 25 (24.8%), UTI 14 (13.9%) sepsis 12 (11.9%), cellulitis 16 (15.8%), IUO 4 (4.9%), malignancy 6 (5.9%) meningitis 8 (7.9%), gastroenteritis 4 (4.4%) brecullosis 7 (6.9%) and others 5 (5%). Outcome of them were complete recovery 41 (40.6%), relative recovery 42 (41.6%) and death 18 (17.8%)

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One of the common problems in children and specially in infants is gasteroesophageal reflux (G.E.R). Present study was performed to compare diagnostic value of lower esophageal sonography with barium swallow. This study was conducted on 50 patients 1 month to 15 years age in center of pediatric clinic of Tehran, during the years 1999-2000. Patients suspected to have G.E.R studied with lower esophageal sonography and barium swallow and at the end, their results were compared with esophageal PH monitoring as a standard test. In this study sensevity of sonography was 90 percent against 50 percent for barium swallow but specifity of two test was the same 35 percent. We can concluded that sonography is a non invasive, low cost, with less side effects than barium swallow. We recommend sonography in place of barium swallow in diagnosis of G.E.R.

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Radioiodine therapy is the safest, simplest, least expensive and most effective method for treatment of Graves' disease. Due to difficulties in previous methods for dose determination, fixed dose method of 1-131 is now considered the best practical method for 1-131 therapy in Graves' disease, but there is no consensus on the dose. We compared two routinely recommended fixed doses of 5 and 10 mCi for this purpose.
Materials and Methods In this clinical trial, 59 patients with Graves' disease referred for radioiodine therapy were randomized into two groups, one group was treated with 5 mCi of 1-131 and the other with 10 mCi. All patients were followed for two years, with 6-month intervals.
Results: Totally, among 59 patients treated with 1-131, 20 (33.9%) patients became euthyroid and 19(32.2%) became hypothyroid, while failed therapy (no response or relapse) was noticed in 20 patients (33.9%). In the group treated by 5 mCi (33 patients), 10(30.3%) were euthyroid, 6(18.2%) were hypothyroid (overall cure of ^8.5%), while 17(51.5%) remained hyperthyroid by the end of the follow-up period. From the 26 patients treated with 10 mCi, the euthyroid and hypothyroid states were observed in 10(38.5%) and 13(50%)patients, respectively (overall cure rate of 88.5%), and hyperthyroid state in 3(11.5%). No relationship was noted between the outcome and age, sex, size of the thyroid gland and thyroid uptake, but the relationship between the disease outcome and the amount of administered radioiodine was significant (P<0.003). Although the incidence rate of early hypothyroidism (by the end of 2 years) in the group treated with 5 mCi is less than those treated with 10 mCi, the incidence of failed therapy is higher in the former group. In addition, it is known that long-term hypothyroidism prevalence is not significantly different by using different doses of I-131. On the other hand, if the initial dose is so little to cure, cost and time for perfect treatment, number of office visits and morbidity due to untreated hyperthyroidism are markedly increased.
Conclusion: Regarding lower rate of failed therapy with 10 mCi, and as there is no significant difference in late hypothyroidism between low doses and high doses of I-131, we concluded that 10 mci is the optimal fixed dose for treatment of Graves' disease.

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Background: The purpose of this study is to determine the incidence of electrolyte and ABG abnormalities in infants with HPS and also we evaluate other parameters of the study. ‎

Materials and Methods: This descriptive study covers 161 infants with HPS hospitalized in children Medical center of Tehran university underwent surgical repair from march 1996 to march 2002 . ‎

Results & Conclusion: The results indicated that Hypokalemic metabolic alkalosis had occurred in 40% of patients. ‎The sex ratio was 3/1 =M/F and the most time of presentation was between 15t and 5st week and the most presenting sign was vomiting. Clinical icter happened to be found in 15% of patients. The incidence of accompanying anomalies was 9% and olive sign was palpable in 40%. ‎The best way for evaluating and diagnosis was sonography. ‎The mean period to begin postoperative feeding was 30 hours&apos no complication related to option was reported after operation.

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Background and Aim: Today, work related stress has become a common and costly problem in work places that most of studies in the last 30 decades have engaged in this problem. Several reports indicate that the occupations such as nursing which have high psychological job demands and low decision latitude are very stressful. This stress can cause harmful physical and psychological effects on nurses’ health. On the other hand, job stress may result in high rates of injury, tardiness and absenteeism at work place and reduced productivity and organizational commitment leading to low quality of nursing care. Numerous studies suggested that learning new activities and skills such as communication skills is one of the best strategies against job stress .The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of communication Skills training in reducing work stress level among nursing personnel in rehabilitation centers.

Materials and Methods: The quasi- experimental design was conducted. A sample of 48 nursing personnel participated in the study. Subjects were randomly assigned to one of two experimental or control groups. Subjects in experimental group participated in a 7- hour’s workshop, all subjects were pre and post tested (one month later) for job stress and communication skills with the Karasek’s Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ) and communication skills test.

Results: Results revealed the following: (1) subjects in both groups after pretest were the middle level of stress and communication skills. (2) After training the experimental group scored higher on the rating of communication skills than control group and had successfully maintained their improvements for 4 weeks. (3) After training the experimental group showed lower level of stress than control group and had successfully maintained their improvements for 4 weeks.

Conclusion: As a result of this research communication skills training could reduce level of stress among nursing personnel, thus. It is recommended to apply communication skills training programs for nursing personnel working at rehabilitation centers in order to assist them to coping with their job stress and improve the quality of nursing care.

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Background: The aim of the study was to investigate associations between maternal characteristics, with emphasis on hematological status, and risk of low birth weight and preterm delivery among pregnant women

Methods: In a cohort study, 1,500 pregnant women attending Hazrat Zaynab Hospital for prenatal care and delivery in the period 2000-2001, without any risk factors for preterm delivery and low birth weight were included. Maternal characteristics including hematocrit values were recorded at the first antenatal visit. Main outcome measures included birth weight and gestation at delivery. Linear and logistic regression models were used to analyze data.

Results: Severe anemia (hematocrit< 24%) was associated with a significantly increased risk of low birth weight (<2500 g) and preterm delivery (< 37 weeks gestation). High hematocrit values (> 40%) did not increase the risk of low birth weight and preterm delivery. Teenagers, women with short height or low body mass index had significantly higher risk of delivering low birth weight infants.

Conclusion.: Severe maternal anemia, particularly in the first trimester, was significantly associated with adverse pregnancy outcome. Low maternal age, height or body mass index also increased the risk of low birth weight. Improved nutritional status of young women could contribute to improved health among their infant.

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Background: Major thalassemia is relatively common in Iran and in looking of their need to recurrent transfusion their high risk for acquisition of HCV is revealed. These patients also suffer form liver hemosiderosis that accelerate disease excursion to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study combined therapy with interferon and amantadin has been evaluated.
Methods: This prospective clinical trail has been done on thalasemic patients that had been contaminated by HCV and had laboratory signs of hepatitis. During years of 81-82, 26 patients admitted at Children Mmedical Center with major thalassemia and HCV hepatitis. Inclusion criteria were positive HCV-RNA, high ALT and histologic evidence of hepatitis in liver biopsy and exclusion criteria were history of incomplete treatment any contraindication of IFN or amantadin-emergence of drugs adverse reactions, to intending of these criteria 10 case of them had situation for treatment and follow-up.
Results: In 10 cases, treatment with IFN  - 2b in doses 3 mu for every square meter of body surface three times in week subcutaneously and cap. Amantadin in doses 100 mg po B.d for 6 months was done and after it, 8 cases were negative for HCV-RNA (8%) and in 6 patients, ALT turned to normal (60%) and in 2 other case ALT decrease to lower than 50% of pretreatment value. None of them showed drug adverse reactions and response to therapy was better in lower ages. No relation between response to therapy and liver hemosiderosis, inflammation and sexuality was found.
Conclusion: Combined therapy with IFN and Amantadin is effective in HCV treatment and for lower recurrence, treatment period longer than 24 wk, such as 48 wk is recommended

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Background: Neonatal cholestasis is an important disease of the liver and biliary ducts in infancy. In neglected cases, the disease has irreversible complications. Idiopathic neonatal hepatitis, biliary atresia, TORCH infections and choledochal cyst are important causes of neonatal cholestasis. The aim of this study was to determine the causes of cholestasis among neonates admitted to the Children’s Medical Center of Tehran University.
Methods: This is a descriptive, retrospective study including 109 patients diagnosed with obstructive icterus, from 1994 to 2001. With data collected from hospital records, the inclusion criteria consisted of cholestasis with a conjugated bilirubin of up to 2 mg/dl from at least two laboratory samples (20% of total bilirubin). The definitive diagnosis of cholestasis included the laboratory investigations, which were in the patients’ hospital records and documented by their physicians.
Results: Our patients (63 males and 46 females) had a mean age of 40±6 days. The most common clinical findings were icterus, acholic stool and hepatosplenomegaly. The most common cause of cholestasis was idiopathic neonatal hepatitis followed by biliary atresia, which together caused 75% of all the cases in this study.
Conclusions: In our general population, the most common causes of neonatal cholestasis are hepatitis and biliary atresia. In other investigations, the etiology of neonatal cholestasis was different than that of this study. Because the number of different disorders presenting with cholestasis may be greater during the neonatal stage than at any other time of life, early diagnosis and treatment is very important for improved prognosis.

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Background: As future health care providers, medical students should be aware of the relationship between health and physical fitness, giving them an advantage toward attaining proper physical fitness. The exercise and fitness habits of first-year medical students in Iran are not known. This study examines the relationship between the body mass index (BMI) of an unselected group of first-year medical students and their personal physical fitness.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 513 first-year medical students were evaluated. BMI, skin folds (triceps, biceps, suprailiac and subscapular) and physical fitness were assessed in all students. Fitness was evaluated by the Eurofit test, which included body composition, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, muscular endurance, muscular strength, power, balance and agility. The software SPSS (version 11) and Pearson's correlation were used for statistical analysis.
Results: The group surveyed was 67.8% female and 32.2% male, and 97.2% were entering medical school in 2004. The mean weight of the students was 60.1 kg, mean height was 163.9 cm and the mean BMI was 22.3 kg/m2. Underweight status (BMI<20) was observed in 27.1% of the subjects, 16.1% were overweight (2530). Overweight and obesity in males was higher than in females. The total physical fitness score in female students was better than that of male students. We found a negative correlation between physical fitness and weight, BMI, body fat and wrist to hip ratio in both genders. In addition, a positive correlation exits between hip circumference and physical fitness in both groups.
Conclusions: This study suggests that academically competitive premedical students may not be involved in physical activity. Medical students should be encouraged to maintain a good BMI and perform physical exercise.

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Background: Major clinical manifestations of antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) in the central nervous system are generally arterial thrombotic events and a number of non-thrombotic neurologic syndromes. Antiphospholipid antibodies (APAs) are one of the important risk factors for cerebrovascular accidents (CVA). The aim of present study was to assess the relationship between APA titers and CVA in this clinically important age group.
Methods: This case-control study was carried out on patients under 50 years old who had CVA (stroke or transient ischemic attack) in Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd (central Iran) from Dec 2003 until March 2005. In this study, 61 patients with CVA were compared with 68 age- and gender-matched control subjects. Lupus anticoagulant assay results and APA titers were assessed in both groups.
Results: The mean value of IgM APA titers in patients with cerebrovascular accidents was 6.492 MPL (IgM antiphospholipid units) and 1.846 MPL in the control group. The difference between the two groups was significant (p-value: 0.000). In 12 (20%) of the patients with cerebrovascular accidents, IgM titers were higher than 10 MPL, one of whom had an IgM titer higher than 40 MPL. The mean value of IgG titers in the case group was 5.50 GPL (IgG antiphospholipid units) and 3.51 GPL in the control group. The difference between the two groups was significant (p-value: 0.012). Thirteen (21%) patients with cerebrovascular accidents had IgG titers higher than 10 GPL. The difference between the LA assay results was not significant between the two groups (p-value: 0.311).
Conclusion: The present study showed a positive relationship between APL (IgM and IgG) titers and CVA in patients under 50 years old.

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Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Background: Nerve entrapment neuropathies are relatively frequent in the upper limb. Significant costs related to resultant disability and treatment, and also simultaneous occurrence of some of these syndromes can result in alteration in the treatment approach. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of these syndromes, the rate of concurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome as the most prevalent syndrome with others, related risk factors, and accordance of clinical and electrophysiological findings.
Methods: In a retrospective study, data of the 170 affected patients to these syndromes operated during a period of 10 years in a referral center were searched using recorded documents. Information about patient's gender, age, occupation and associated co-morbidities, clinical and surgical findings and their accordance to the EMG-NCV findings, and also concurrence of these syndromes were assessed.
Results: Patients' range of age was 10-91 year (mean: 48.09 year) and 74.5% of them were female. In this study carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel syndrome were the most frequent (81.7% and 15.8% respectively). In 23.5% of patients with carpal tunnel syndrome, electrophysiological findings were negative but there was no false positive result. Concurrent carpal tunnel syndrome with other syndromes were found in three cases of cubital tunnel syndrome, two cases of thoracic outlet syndrome and one case of Guyon's canal syndrome.
Conclusion: Constellation of symptoms, physical examination and electrophysiologic-al findings altogether should be considered for correct diagnosis of nerve entrapment syndromes in the upper extremity. Simultaneous entrapment in the other regions of the same nerve or other nerves in the same extremity is a probable condition

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Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Background: It has been suggested that Q/R 192 polymorphism of paraoxonase1 (PON1) and 5A/6A polymorphism of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) might be associated with the predisposition to coronary artery disease (CAD). Therefore to investigate the significance of these polymorphisms in the pathogenesis of CAD we performed an association study of the polymorphisms with CAD and the number of diseased vessels in patients with CAD.
Methods: We studied the human PON1 and MMP3 gene polymorphisms in patients with CAD by polymerase chain reaction/ restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR/RFLP). These polymorphisms were determined in 129 CAD patients and 115 control subjects who underwent coronary angiography. CAD was defined as the presence of one or more stenoses>50% in at least one major coronary artery and subjects with <10% stenosis served as controls.
Results: The frequencies of the PON1 192 RR genotype and MMP-3 6A6A genotype were increased among CAD patients compared with controls (p<0.05 and p<0.001 respectively). The combined genotypes of RR/6A6A had significantly higher frequency in the CAD patients compared with subjects who possess neither the MMP-3 6A6A nor the PON1 RR genotype (p<0.001) and finally in the study of relationship between genotypes and severity of disease, distribution of PON1 192 and MMP-3 5A6A genotypes were not associated with the number of diseased vessels (p>0.05).
Conclusion: The combined PON1 192 and MMP-3 5A6A polymorphisms are associated with CAD but don't have any effect on the number of diseased vessels.

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Background: Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity all over the world. One of the most important predictors of outcome of patients with coronary aterey disease is the site of stenosis i.e. Proximal versus nonproximal stenosis. This study designed to evaluate the relationship between CAD risk factors and site of stenosis. Methods: In this case- control study in the patients undergone coronary angiography (CAG) in Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran a total of 125 CAD patients with proximal lesion in CAG enrolled the study as case group and equal sex and age matched number of patients with non proximal lesion selected as control group. Two groups were compared based on presence or absence of DM, hypertension, hyper cholestrolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and cigarette smoking. Results: Relative frequency of DM was 33.6% and 10.4% in case and control group respectively (p< 0.0001). Relative frequency in two groups were 33.6 vs 28.8% For HTN (p= 0.41), 30.4% vs 29.6% for hyper cholestrolemia (p= 0.89), 19.2% vs 16.8% for hypertriglyceridemia (p= 0.062) and 28.8 vs 39.2 for C/S (p= 0.08). Multivessle disease was significantly more prevalent in diabetics compared with non diabetic patients 89.1% vs 61% (p< 0.0001), no relationship was seen with HTN (p= 0.41), Hyper cholest- rolemia (p= 0.052) hypertriglyceridemia (p= 0.38) and cigarette smoking (p= 0.375). Conclusion: Proximal involvement of coronary arteries and multivessle disease in CAD patients is related to the history of DM but not to the history of hypertension, hypercholestrolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and cigarette smoking.

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Background: Beta- lactamase enzymes are the most important resistant factors to beta lactam antibiotics among gram negative bacteria. Nowadays, the prevalence of beta- lactamase infection is increasing worldwide and drawn the scientists attention as an important subject. Due to high prevalence of bacteria contained TEM beta lactamase and AmpC enzymes, using molecular methods especially designing universal primers could be valuable to detect all of them. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of TEM and AmpC (Dha and MOX) beta- lactamase genes using universal primers.

Methods: A total of 500 clinical specimens from various Hospitals in Tehran, Iran were collected and analyzed for E. coli based on biochemical tests. These clinical specimens were also screened by Disk diffusion agar, combined disk method and PCR to detect the samples producing extended- spectrum beta- lactamase.

Results: Overall 200 isolates of Escherichia coli were collected from the 500 clinical specimens out of which 128(64%) isolates were positive by PCR assay and showed bla- TEM, bla- AmpC (Dha, MOX) genes, 74(57.8%) and 5(3.9%) to have bla- TEM and bla Dha, respectively. Mox gene was not detected in any of the specimens.

Conclusions: Our results revealed that using the molecular methods with phenotype methods is very essential for complete detection of Beta- lactamases. There is the need for updating the treatment protocol because the prevalence of this resistance is increasing.

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Background: Trauma to the hand is very common and consequently, metacarpal fractures are not rare entities. Some of these fractures need surgery. Considering the diversity of surgical methods available for these kinds of fractures and also the importance of achieving full function and speedy return to work for patients that are mainly young workers or athletes, this study was undertaken to investigate the outcome of treating these fractures by mini-plates. Methods: Eighteen patients with open or comminuted fractures of metacarpal bones who were admitted to the emergency department of Sina Hospital between the years 2007 and 2010 underwent fixation surgery using mini-plates. Fourteen patients with 17 metacarpal fractures completed the study. Results: Thirteen out of 14 patients had complete fracture ::::union::::. The patient with non- ::::union:::: underwent revision surgery and bone graft. Four individuals developed an extensor lag of 15 degrees without functional impairment. Two patients had joint stiffness that was relieved after a period of physiotherapy and one developed wound dehiscence and discharge that improved with debridement and use of antibiotics without plate removal. Six patients had complaints regarding their hardware prominence and were satisfied after its removal. Overall, there was a 79% satisfaction rate upon the treatment. Conclusion: Despite the afore-mentioned complications, use of mini-plates seems to be a suitable treatment option for patients with comminuted metacarpal fractures. However, more studies with larger sample sizes are suggested to reach a firm conclusion.

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Background: Numerous use of Beta Lactame in treatment of bacterial infections resulted in increments of drug resistance of such bacteria. One of difficulties in treatment of hospital infections is Extended Spectrum Beta Lactamase (ESBL) among isolated clinical strains of E.coli. Since some of ESBL strains shows double reaction in drug sensitivity test at in vitro and in vivo condition, therefore it makes difficulties in selection of right treatment. In the last years, CTX-M enzymes have become the most prevalent ESBLs in worldwide. The prevalence of ESBL types largely remains unknown in many parts of the Iran. This study was made to find the prevalence of ESBL-producing E.coli and molecular detection of CTX-M-1 in Tabriz.

Methods: In the present study, 400 urine samples collected between November 2009 and April 2010, from Tabriz Hospitals were studied. Out of the 400 samples, 188 E.coli isolates were detected by standard biochemical tests. Susceptibility to antimicrobial agents was tested to 10 antibiotics by the disk agar diffusion (DAD) method. ESBL production was screened by phenotypic test that included both separate and combined disk agar diffusion techniques. The screened isolates were investigated by PCR assay to detect CTX-M-1 gene.

Results: From the total 188 E.coli isolates, 82 (43.6%) were shown to produce ESBLs by phenotypic test. During the PCR method on the 82 isolates, 69 (84.1%) were confirmed as CTX-M-1 producing group.

Conclusion: The present study showed that CTX-M-producing isolates were increasing among E.coli strains and indicated the need for adequate susceptibility tests in laboratories for choosing the appropriate antibiotics for treatment.

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Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Background: Breast cancer is the most common form of hereditary cancer worldwide and is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. Approximately 5-10% of breast and ovarian cancers are due to the highly penetrating germline mutations in cancer predisposing genes. Two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, account for at least half of these cases. The demand for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation screening is rapidly increasing as their identification will affect the medical management of people at increased risk for the disease. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate BRCA1/2 mutations in 100 high risk Iranian families.
Methods:  One hundred families who met the minimal risk factors for breast/ovarian cancer were screened among the families referred to Kawsar Human Genetics Research Center for the diseases in 2009-2011. The entire coding sequences and each intron/exon boundaries of BRCA1/2 genes were screened for by direct sequencing and MLPA in both patients and the controls.
Results:  In the present study, we could detect the following novel mutations: p.Gly1140Ser, p.Ile26Val, p.Leu1418X, p.Glu23Gln, p.Leu3X, p.Asn1403His, p.Asn1403Asp, p.Lys581X, p.Pro938Arg, p.Thr77Arg, p.Leu6Val, p.Arg7Cys, p.Leu15Ile, p.Ser177Thr, IVS7+83(-TT), IVS8 -70(-CATT), IVS2+9(G>C), IVS1-20(G>A), IVS1-8(A>G), p.Met1Ile, IVS2+24(A>G), IVS5-8 (A>G), IVS2(35-39)TTcctatGAT, IVS13+9 G>C in BRCA1 and p.Glu1391Gly, p. Val1852Ile, IVS6-70(T>G), 1994-1995 (InsA) in BRCA2.
Conclusion: Ten mutations seemed to be pathogenic and the disease-causing mutations were seen in 16% of the families. In addition, from the total number of substitutions and reassortments (42), 80% related to BRCA1 and 20% to mutations in BRCA2 genes.

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Background: Improvement of growth, nutrition and calories intake in neonates is derived by massage. Methods: This study is a randomized clinical trials settled in Vali-e-Asr Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) ward in 2012. The control group consisted of 19 infants who were not massaged on them. 15 infants in the intervention group received massage therapy for 10 days, three times a day by trained massage theurapist. Massage last 15 minutes and was done one hour after feeding. Massages were done in 2-7 days neonates. Weight gain, intake calories and oral feeding were compared between studied groups. Data was registered in SPSS v.18 and was analyzed via compatible statistics tests. Results: There were no significant different anthropometric measures at birth (weight-head circumferences and height) and gestational ages of delivery between two groups. Massages had no side effects on cases. Caloric intake at the end of 10 days (end of intervention) showed significant differences between the two groups (P=0.04). But no differences was shown for weight gain. Cases who received massage reached sooner to oral feeding but this difference was significant at 90% significance level (P=0.08). Conclusion: After 10 days, massage therapy increases oral nutritional intake but to find more accurate details requires further studies to be planned.