Tehran University Medical Journal

Background:  A significant increase in cesarean section in worldwide is known as one of the health system problems. The WHO has estimated that cesarean section in recent years has been 10% in all countries. Despite the increasing popularity of cesarean section, the literature lacks insights about factors affecting the selection of this delivery method. In this vein, this study investigates the factors affecting the choice of cesarean-section from the perspective of pregnant women.
Methods: The sample of this descriptive and analytical study is 200 pregnant women selected using simple random sampling method in Kosar Hospital in Qazvin Province, Iran. The survey questionnaire was used for data collection from March to September of 2017. In order to evaluate the validity and reliability of the research, expert’s opinion and Cronbach alpha coefficient have been used. The questionnaire included scales designed to measure effective factor. Statistical package for social science software (SPSS) version 22 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) were used to analyses the data. T-test and ANOVA were used to compare groups.
Results: The results of prioritizing the items in terms of psychological factors showed that the statements “I am afraid of the pain of normal labor” and “I feel higher stress and anxiety with natural labor were the first priorities”. There was no significant difference between pregnant women who had previous experience and those who did not have a delivery experience. The results of the mean comparison test showed no significant difference between the attitudes of women with previous delivery experience and women who did not have a delivery experience. There were only differences between socio-cultural factors (P= 0.004), factors related to delivery conditions (P= 0.001), consequences of delivery (P= 0.017) among pregnant women with different levels of training.
Conclusion: The results of this study revealed that there is a difference between the attitudes of pregnant women and different levels of education, so pre-pregnancy training should be provided to pregnant women.

Background: Sacrococcygeal pilonidal disease (PD) is prevalent in the young adults. The cause of PD is unclear, and there are different surgical procedures for the treatment. The Pilonidal sinus disease is an unpleasant, chronic relapsing condition that is difficult to cure. There is a wide variety of surgical treatments with sub-optimal results for it. The ideal treatment for the pilonidal sinus disease has yet to be defined. There are many surgical approaches described in the literature. In this study, the long-term outcomes of four current surgical methods for PD were evaluated and compared. We aimed to assess recurrence, satisfaction, complications rate and wound healing time in the four current surgical methods for PD.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Surgery at the Baqiyatallah University Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from April 2017 to September 2017. The study was carried out on 182 postoperative patients. Surgeries were performed in different methods such as; open, closed, semi-closed and limited excision. Diabetics, obese patients and patients with acute pilonidal abscess or prior PD surgery were excluded. All patients were followed for at least three years after surgery. During the follow -up period, patients were assessed for recurrence, satisfaction, complications rate and wound healing time. The outcomes were assessed by case notes analysis and follow-up telephone and postal questionnaires.
Results: In this study forty-four patients were operated via closed Method, 48 patients through open, 48 via semi-closed and 42 one's trough limited excision methods. The highest rate of recurrence was in the open group. There were no cases of recurrence in the closed group. There were also less postoperative hemorrhage and faster wound healing in the closed group. The average satisfaction of all patients was 88.9±8.7. The mean satisfaction rate in the closed group was 95.9±5.3 which was higher than other groups.
Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that in the non-recurrent cases of sacral pilonidal sinus, complete Excision and primary repair have fewer complications and shows higher satisfaction rate.
 

In recent years, the use of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) in radiation therapy has been studied by experimentation and Monte Carlo simulation repeatedly. Although the idea of increasing doses has been raised by high-atomic elements since decades ago, but due to the adaptation of gold nanoparticles with the biological system, scientists have incited more about the various uses of these materials in radiation therapy. The results of all studies in this field are consistent with the increase in tumor-derived doses with gold nanoparticles in radiotherapy. But the results of the interaction of radiation energy are still controversial with the size of gold nanoparticles. In other words, in the Monte Carlo simulations the gold nanoparticles with a size of about 10 to 100 nm, and in biological studies, the nanoparticles with a dimension of 1.9 nm were used. On the other hand, some studies of energy dependence have been developed in dose enhancement, and in some other studies the effect of the size of gold nanoparticles has been investigated on photon energy. However, in some respects, the results of radiation therapy using by gold nanoparticles does not appear to be definitive, although the photoelectric effect in low energies is considered to be the dominant phenomenon. The main idea behind the GNP dose enhancement in some studies is not able to explain the results especially in recent investigation on cell lines and animal models radiation therapy using GNPs. With the rapid development of nanotechnology in the biomedical field, GNPs have been widely used in the diagnosis and treatment for disease. Numerous pre-clinical studies in vitro and in vivo have proved the potential value of metal-based GNPs as radio sensitizers in cancer treatment. Various studies have indicated that radio sensitizing ability could be influenced by nanomaterial size, concentration, surface coating, and the radiation energy. Hence, gold nanostructures provide a versatile platform to integrate many therapeutic options leading to effective combinational therapy in the fight against cancer. In this review article, the recent progress in the development of gold-based NPs towards improved therapeutics will be discussed. A multifunctional platform based on gold nanostructures with targeting ligands, therapeutic molecules, and imaging contrast agents, holds an array of promising directions for cancer research.

Background: Leishmaniasis is a zoonosis disease. About 350 million people are at risk of developing a disease, with 1.5 to 2 million new cases every year in the world. The aim of this study was to determine the space-time clusters of cutaneous leishmaniasis in north of Khuzestan Province, Iran.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the annual cutaneous leishmaniasis incidence per 100,000 individuals in each county was determined for the past five years. Reported from 2011 to 2015 in North of Khuzestan Province, Iran. Geographical information system (GIS) and spatial scan statistic method were used to identify spatial clusters of cutaneous leishmaniasis cases at the county level. Pure retrospective temporal analysis scanning was performed to detect the temporal clusters of cutaneous leishmaniasis cases with high rates using the discrete Poisson model. The space-time cluster was detected with high rates through the retrospective space-time analysis scanning using the discrete Poisson model.
Results: The overall cutaneous leishmaniasis incidence increased from 2011 to 2015. A total of 3 high-risk counties were determined through Local Moran’s I analysis from 2011 to 2015. Local Moran’s I enabled the detection of the spatial autocorrelation for a county with its adjacent county. The method of spatial scan statistics identified different 11 significant spatial clusters. The space-time clustering analysis determined that the most likely cluster included 11 counties, and the time frame was October 2014. The secondary cluster included one counties in October 2014. The tertiary cluster included six counties, and the time frame was from June 2014 to November 2015.
Conclusion: Spatial and temporal clusters of cutaneous leishmaniasis have increased in the northern region of Khuzestan Province, and most clusters have occurred in November.

Background: Ovarian fibroma is the most common benign solid tumor of the ovary. The most common symptoms are abdominal discomfort and pain. Ovarian fibroids are associated with Meigs syndrome in 1% to 10% of cases. The aim of study is report of a case of Meigs syndrome
Case presentation: A 65-year-old menopausal woman who complained of abdominal pain was referred to our academic hospital of Mashhad, Iran, in April 2018. In abdominal examination, a soft mass with size of 200×100 mm, was detected. Also leukocytosis and increase in CRP was observed. Marker CA125 was higher than 200. In CT scan in right adnexa heterogeneous mass 170×100 mm with enhancement was reveled. pleural effusion was reported in the both lungs and collapse of underlying lung tissue in Chest X-ray. Explorative laparotomy was performed. Ascites and inflamed omentum covered the surface of right ovary was detected. The huge solid-cystic hemorrhagic, irregular mass with a specific pedicle that enclosed in the capsule in right adnexa was seen. Right salpingo-oophorectomy was performed. The result of final pathologic was benign proliferative lesions of mitotic fibroblasts were reported according to ovarian fibroma.
Conclusion: In case of accompanying ovarian mass with ascites and pleural effusion, after the exclude of ovarian malignancies, Meigs syndrome should be considered in differential diagnosis.

Background: Due to the incidence and recurrence of bladder cancer (BC), it could be categorized as a clinical and social problem that often occurs at an advanced age. This study was designed to determine the incidence of BC in Isfahan, Iran.
Methods: A retrospective descriptive survey of information based on bladder cancer (ICD-O, third edition; C67) was obtained from the Isfahan Deputy of Health. The study was in conducted to the department of Urology and Kidney Transplantation Research Center and approved by the University Ethics Committee. The Isfahan Cancer Program is intended to record all cancer cases in the Isfahan. From 20 March 2016 to 19 March 2017, records with linkage to using of pathology, demographic and clinical information were recorded in Microsoft Excel 2013 (Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA) and analyzed by SPSS statistical software, version 22 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA). The incidence rates (Irs) were calculated by dividing new cases of BC during the year of study to the population at risk during the same time period×100000.
Results: A total of 417 patients that corresponded to Irs of 8 per 100000 persons were studied. The overall recorded number was comprised of 361 males (IRs of 13.9 per 100000) and 56 females (Irs of 2.2 per 100000). The mean±SD age of patients was 64.7±13 years. The minimum age in males versus females was 12 versus 25 years old respectively. Age in the most patients (80% of cases) was more than 50 years old. The invasion of the muscle was recorded in 44% of cases. Geographical distribution in 65% of cases was related to Isfahan City as a place of birth-residence and in the next categories were Khomeinishahr (7.6%), Najafabad (6.8%), Lenjan (4.5%), Mobarekeh (3.7%) and Felavarjan (2.8%) respectively.
Conclusion: Comparison of BC incidence rate between the year 2014 and 2016 showed that incidence rates decreased by 18.2%. In the 44%, invasive neoplasm of BC was recorded for the population studied. The highest frequency of BC was associated with Isfahan City and then Khomeinshahr, Najaf abad, Lenjan, Mobarakeh and Falavarjan.

Background: Researchers and health specialists are increasingly obtaining information on chronic illnesses from self-reports. This study validates self-reports of hypertension, based on a recently fielded survey in Mashhad City, Iran.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used the results of 2015 census in Mashhad City, a population based survey of people over the age of 30 (n=300745) to determine the proportion of self-reported hypertension. In this study, the data of the studied population was extracted from the databank of Sina Electronic Health Record System (SinaEHR®) and patients with ICD10 codes including I10 and I11 approved by doctors as a reference. Finally using SPSS software, version 20 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) and MedCalc (https://www.medcalc.org/calc/odds_ratio.php), sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value were calculated with 95% confidence interval.
Results: Sensitivity of self-reported hypertension was 23.92% (CI95%: 23.43-24.41), specificity 97.03% (CI95%: 96.97-97.09), Positive Linkelihood Ratio 8.06% (CI95%: 7.82-8.30), Negative Linkelihood Ratio 0.78% (CI95%: 0.78-0.79), Positive Predictive Value 46.34% (CI95%: 45.60-47.08), Negative Predictive Value 92.25% (CI95%: 92.20-92.29). The self-reported sensitivity to hypertension in males, Iranian individuals, single, aged 60 and over, body mass index lower 18.5 individual with university education was higher, which was 24.67%, 31.09%, 30.07%, 32.43% and 26.03% respectively.
Conclusion: Although the sensitivity of self-reported hypertension was poor in this study, but specificity and positive and negative predictive values were fairly good.

Background: Retinal vein occlusions are one of the most common form of retinal vascular disorders and could lead to vision loss due to macular edema, macular ischemia and sequelae from neovascularization. Anti-venous endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) treatment is the choice strategy of treatment for patients with macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). There is an evidence of body with the controversies regarding increment of choroidal thickness in CRVO condition. The current study was designed to determine whether baseline subfoveal choroidal thickness may be an indicator for visual and anatomical outcome of bevacizumab in patients with CRVO macular edema.
Methods: This study was a prospective clinical cohort study that enrolled in 23 new cases of treatment-naïve central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) from February to July 2017 who were visited in Feiz Eye Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. Patients received a single injection of bevacizumab and were followed for 30 days. Ratio of subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) was measured using enhanced depth imaging spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). Ratio of SFCT of the CRVO eye to the fellow healthy eye (SFCT1/F) was taken as independent variable. Changes of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in LogMAR (ΔBCVA, functional response) and secondary to baseline central macular thickness ratio (CMT2/1, anatomical response) in the CRVO eyes were taken for comparative and correlative analytics.
Results: A total of 46 eyes from 23 patients with the mean age of 64.60±10.19 years were included in this study. Baseline SFCT was higher in CRVO eyes (251.91±46.09 µm) in comparison to the fellow eye (206.95±26.62, P<0.0001). Also central macular thickness in CRVO eyes were significantly higher in CRVO eyes in comparison with fellow eye (531.04±38.22 vs 303.30±33.59, respectively, P<0.05). SFCT1/F, correlated moderately with anatomical (CMT2/1) and strongly with functional response (ΔBCVA).
Conclusion: Bilateral evaluation of SFCT by EDI-OCT in all newly diagnosed CRVO cases is recommended to determine if there is a relative increase in choroidal thickness. This may help predict short-term response to anti-VEGF therapy.

Background: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed and the leading cause of cancer death among females worldwide. The rate of breast cancer incidence among Iranian women is 17% of all cancers, it has been ranked first in Iran. This study aimed to investigate the factors affecting axillary lymph node involvement in female patients with breast cancer.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 167 patients with breast cancer diagnosed between March 2012 and March 2015 at Shahid Beheshti of Babol, Shahid Rajaei of Tonekabon and Imam Sajad of Ramsar hospitals. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect information on the patients and pathology report of tumor and lymph nodes was completed.
Results: The rate of axillary lymph node involvement was observed in 117 patients (70.1%). Mean age was 49.64±11.62 years in the patients with breast cancer. The highest frequency of lymph node involvement was observed in the 40-49 age group (24%). The average size of tumor was 3.39 cm and the majority of patients had a tumor 2-5 cm (T2) but the most involvement was related to T3 (>5cm). The most common type of cancer and grading were invasive ductal carcinoma (93.4%) and tumor grade 2 (52.1%), respectively. Most lymph node involvement was observed in invasive ductal carcinoma and 85.1% of patients had tumor degree 3. 22.2% of patients with vessels involvement had axillary lymph node involvement. 63% of patients’ tumors had receptors of estrogen and progesterone. A statistically significant association was observed between axillary lymph node involvement and tumor size (P=0.031), tumor type (P=0.007), tumor grade (P=0.011), estrogen receptor (P=0.008) and progesterone receptor (P=0.038).
Conclusion: There was a statistically significant association between axillary lymph node involvement and tumor size, type and grade, estrogen and progesterone receptor status, but there was no statistically significant association between axillary lymph node involvement and age and estrogen as well as progesterone receptor status.

Background: Recently, the surgical methods are used in patients with anterior cruciate ligament rupture and have been associated with successful results. There are different results in the term of using of the surgical methods for anterior cruciate ligament that often is associated with some complications such as infection, static laxity, remaining the pain, need to recurrence surgery, and limitation in the range of motion. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to compare outcomes of anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction with the fixed loop and the adjustable loop.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 60 patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction referred to Kashani Hospital of Isfahan, Iran, from March 2017 to February 2019. Also, this study was approved in the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran. 30 patients were assigned to a fixed loop and 30 patients under the adjustable loop method. Postoperative outcomes were compared with the fixed loop group and the adjustable loop group.
Results: The frequency of static laxity below 8 mm in the fixed loop group was 83.3% and the frequency of static laxity below 8 mm in the adjustable loop was 76.7%. There was no significant difference between the fixed loop group and the adjustable loop group based on static laxity. Also, no infection was seen in the fixed loop group and the adjustable loop group. There was no significant difference between the fixed loop group and the adjustable loop group in terms of range of motion and knee score before and after surgery. After surgery, 96.7% of the fixed loop group and 86.7% of the adjustable loop group returned to normal activity. There was no significant difference between the fixed loop group and the adjustable loop group in terms of return to normal activity and satisfaction.
Conclusion: Using the fixed loop is effective, useful, and with low-complication for the patients with anterior cruciate ligament and also using the adjustable loop grafts is effective, useful, and with low-complication for the patients with the anterior cruciate ligament rupture.

Background: dehydration fever is a common problem during the first week of life. This study aimed to compare the characteristics of neonates with fever due to dehydration and healthy infants.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 324 neonates including 120 neonates with normal body temperature and 204 neonates with fever due to dehydration (hyperthermia) referred to Ghaem Hospital in Mashhad, Iran from 2017 to 2019, using a convenience sampling method and a researcher-made questionnaire. Infants presenting with elevated body temperature and having an axillary temperature above or equal to the rectal temperature and with no clinical or laboratory evidence of infection were considered as fever due to dehydration (case group). Infants who were referred for a routine examination or had jaundice but did not require treatment were considered as controls. Infant characteristic (neonatal age, sex, Apgar score, defecation frequency, the first defecation, breastfeeding frequency, urinary frequency, duration of feeding, birth weight, daily weight loss, daily weight loss percentage, lethargy, irritability, mucosal dryness, status fontanelles, hyperthermia, convulsion, apnea, decreased consciousness and  infant hospitalization) and maternal information (age, weight, parity, hospital stay, breast problems, mode of delivery, breastfeeding position, delayed breastfeeding, and pregnancy problems. The data were analyzed using Student’s t-test, Chi-square and SPSS software, version 20 (IBM SPSS, Armonk, NY, USA).
Results: In dehydration fever of newborn, admission weight, frequency and duration of feeding, defecation frequency, maternal age were low, but time to first feeding were high (P<0.05). In fever of dehydration: restlessness, mucosal dryness, fontanel status, seizure, apnea, decreased consciousness, breastfeeding with traditional remedies, inappropriate breastfeeding position, lack of let-down reflex, delayed onset of lactation, breast problems and jaundice were more frequent.
Conclusion: Infants with fever of dehydration were more likely to weight loss, delayed in first feeding, shorter feeding times and lower duration of feeding, higher sodium, urea, creatinine, and blood glucose levels. According to the results of this study, breast problems, inappropriate breastfeeding position, absence of reflux, delayed lactation, less frequent breastfeeding, consumption of breast milk with dextrose, manna, and clay tap were risk factors for dehydration fever.
 

Background: Nitric oxide (NO) produced by endothelial NO synthase (eNOS) mediates a large range of processes, and abnormality in the production of NO has been implicated in diabetic complications including diabetic nephropathy (DN). G894T polymorphism in the eNOS gene has been shown to decreased activity the NO levels of plasma. The association between eNOS Glu298Asp gene polymorphism and DN risk is still controversial. The present study investigated the effect of eNOS gene G894T polymorphism on susceptibility to type 2 diabetes (T2D) and DN and measures of kidney function in a population with and without diabetes.
Methods: This case-control study was carried out at the diabetes specialist clinic of Golestan Hospital of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Iran, from September 2016 to December 2017. The study comprised 132 patients with T2D (with and without nephropathy). They were compared to 66 normal subjects. The subjects were genotyped for the eNOS G894T polymorphism by the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Blood glucose, HbA1c, BUN, creatinine and urinary albumin were evaluated by a biochemistry analyzer.
Results: Higher prevalence of the mutant T allele and homozygous TT genotypes and biochemical parameters) like FBS, TG, and BUN) were seen in T2D patients compared to healthy subjects. For T2DM, the odds ratios (ORs) for the TT genotype and the T allele carrier were 3.1 (P=0.0001) and 2.6 (P=0.0001), respectively. In contrast to the significant association between the eNOS G894T polymorphism and T2D, we could not find a significant correlation to the DN. For DN, the ORs for the TT genotype and the T allele carrier were 1.1 (P=0.76) and 0.8 (P=0.6). For decreased epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) below 60 ml/min/ 1.73 m2 in diabetic patients, the OR for TT was 0.8 (P=0.7).
Conclusion: Our results confirm that the risk of T allele and TT genotype of the eNOS G894T polymorphism were significantly associated with T2D, The TT genotype of this polymorphism also conferred the risk of developing T2D, but they were not correlated with DN and decreased eGFR.

Background: The rate of recurrence and mortality in high-risk prostate cancer remains high. On the other hand, the use of chemotherapy in metastatic prostate cancer has improved overall survival of patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone on increasing survival of patients with high risk localized prostate cancer
Methods: This is a systematic review study. Databases including Scopus, Medline, PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane, Embase were searched. The terms used include prostate cancer, adenocarcinoma, neoadjuvant, chemotherapy, chemotherapy alone, systemic therapy. Of the various types of articles, only oiginal research studies that specifically focused on neoadjuvant chemotherapy (not chemotherapy with target therapy, immunotherapy, or hormone therapy) were identified. Inclusion criteria included study type (original research studies) and sample type (high-risk localized prostate cancer patients) and outcome type (patient survival).
Results: A total of 17 original research studies were identified. All of these studies were phase one or phase two. Docetaxel was the most commonly used chemotherapy drug. Also, the most common regimen used was the use of docetaxel alone. The rate of decrease in prostate-specific antigen (PSA) (>50%) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was reported in 24 to 58% of patients. PSA declines of less than 50% after neoadjuvant chemotherapy occurred in 40 to 100% of patients. No studies reported a complete pathologic response following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. However, the relative pathologic response and reduced tumor volume were seen in the majority of patients. All of these studies showed that neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone, in high-risk prostate cancer patients, was almost well tolerated and that the complications were mostly mild (grade 1 and 2). Grade 3 and 4 complications were negligible. A 2-year recurrence-free survival of up to 68.5% and a 5-year recurrence-free survival of up to 49% were reported. The overall 5-year survival also ranged from 35 to 48%.
Conclusion: The use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone has not clearly increased the survival of patients with high-risk localized prostate cancer, and there is controversy in studies.

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a highly prevalent, serious and chronic infection. It been associated causally with a diverse spectrum of gastrointestinal disorders including chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, gastric adenocarcinoma. We conducted a study to Evaluation of the role of breastfeeding and breast milk on the colonization of H. pylori in the gastrointestinal tract of 2-24 month old.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 92 children referred to Ali Asghar Hospital of Iran University of Medical Sciences for two years (from July 2015 to June 2017). At first, a questionnaire was recorded by the neonatal specialist including demographic and clinical characteristics of the infants. Stool samples were taken from infants at 2, 6, 12, and 24 months of age. We used the H. pylori stool antigen test to detection infection in the selected group of children. H. pylori status was evaluated by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
Results: In the study of breastfeeding at 12 months of age, 51.1% were fed only dry milk and 28.3% were breastfed only. At 24 months, 22 infants (24%) were breastfed with supplemental feeding and 54 children (58.7%) were  formula-fed only and 8 children (8.7%) were breastfed only. In our study, the prevalence of H. pylori in infants of Tehran, at 2, 6, 12, and 24 months, were 0%, 6.5%, 15.21%, and 34.4%, respectively. Of the 92 children studied, during the first month, 25 children (27.2%) only formula-fed and 49 children (53.3%) were breastfed only and (19.6%) 18 infants were breastfed with dry milk. The prevalence of H. pylori infection was 28.3%. The prevalence of H. pylori infection was 20% in the breastfeeding group and 44% in the infant dry milk feeding group. The prevalence of H. pylori antigen was greater than 12 IU/ml in infants 2, 6, 12, and 24 months of age, including 19.92 (20.6%), 19.92 (20.6%), 24.92 (26.1%) and 21.92 (22.8%), respectively.
Conclusion: According to the findings of the article, breastfed children compared to formula-fed children were less infected by Helicobacter pylori.

Background: Long after the implementation of the “Health System Transformation Project”, no comprehensive assessment of patient and nurse satisfaction rate has been carried out in Iran based on available databases. Thus, this review study was designed and performed to answer this question: “How is the evaluation of the Health System Transformation Project in nurse and patient satisfaction dimensions.”
Methods: A systematic review of related studies based on preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines was performed via keywords such as “Health System Transformation Project”, “Transformation Project”, “health”, “Iran”, “challenges”, “physician”, “nurse”, “patient”, and “satisfaction” to search Iranian (Magiran and Scientific Information Database, SID) and international databases (PubMed, ISI web of knowledge, Scopus, Google Scholar, and ProQuest) with OR and AND operators from March 2014 to April 2019. Also the quality of studies was assessed using STROB checklist (special for cross-sectional studies). Then required information (for example type of studies, sample size, mean age of participants and satisfaction score) were gathered from studies.
Results: From 43 articles that were gathered from primary stages, 18 articles were selected after passing different screening levels. On average, the level of patiaent satisfaction with the Health System Transformation Project was acceptable. Ghazvin province was seems more successful in satisfaction of patients against of other provinces. However, various positive and negative reports were found about the satisfaction of nursing groups. Generally, it seems that Tehran province (at the center of Iran) was more successful in performing the Health System Transformation Project (from the aspect of satisfaction of different groups).
Conclusion: Based on obtained results, patient’s satisfaction was appropriate in most of studies and also in nursing group was under average level.

Background: Colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer in the world which is mainly caused by epigenetic and environmental factors. Among these epigenetic factors, gut microbiota is an important one. Although it has not been proved a unique group of bacteria correlated with colorectal cancer, these findings have generally demonstrated differences between healthy and disease gut microbiome in population. Actually, the identification and investigation of intestinal microbiota in early detection of colorectal cancer have been highlighted in new researches and studies. Herein, in the current study, we aimed to evaluate the number of selected gut bacteria including Lactobacillus and Escherichia coli and Prevotella in the fecal specimens of adenomatous polyposis patients, colorectal cancerous cases in compared to normal participants in terms of estimating important role of gut microbiota during colorectal cancer initiation and progression.
Methods: The current research was a case-control study. Fecal samples were provided from 31 healthy individuals, 42 adenomatous polyposis patients and 20 colorectal cancer cases that were referred to Taleghani Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from August 2016 to August 2017 for colorectal cancer screening tests. Fecal samples were collected to analyze intestinal bacteria including, Lactobacillus, Escherichia coli, and Prevotella by absolute quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The number of these gut bacteria was precisely determined by this method of real-time PCR.
Results: Higher number of Prevotella with 24.6 CT number (P<0.005) and E.coli with 20.4 CT number (P<0.015) were achieved in colorectal cancer cases and adenomatous polyposis patients in contrast to samples from normal individuals. On the contrary, the opposite range was observed for the quantification of Lactobacillus and greater numbers of bacteria (CT=28.6) were detected in normal, compared to the colorectal cancer cases and adenomatous polyposis (P<0.001).
Conclusion: The gut microbiota composition of individuals with colorectal cancer and adenomatous polyposis differs from that of healthy individuals, and the higher numbers of pathogenic microbiota versus beneficial microbiota present in those with colorectal cancer and adenomatous polyposis. In contrast, healthy individuals have higher numbers of beneficial gut microbiota than pathogenic microbes. These findings need more experimental analysis and investigation to better clarify.

Background: Nonpuerperal uterine inversion is a rare medical condition that many gynecologists might not be encountered even with one case during their entire medical practice. It refers to the expulsion of uterine corpus from the dilated cervix resulting in uterus being turned inside out. There are two kinds of uterine inversion, puerperal and non-puerperal, which the second condition is less common. Acute uterine inversion usually presented by crampy abdominal or pelvic pain, vaginal bleeding, anemia, and even symptoms of severe sepsis. We describe a case of uterine inversion in a postmenopausal woman.
Case Presentation: A 66 years old grand multiparous woman (6 normal vaginal delivery) who was menopause since 15 years ago, was referred to the emergency unit of an academic hospital of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences at October 2016 due to postmenopausal uterine bleeding, cramp-like abdominal pain and mass protrusion from the vagina. The vital sign was stable at the first visit but a big non-necrotizing red vaginal mass was protruded from vaginal opening that connected to other soft intravaginal mass. Abdominal ultrasonography revealed the dilated vaginal cuff and some air-fluid levels in the uterine cavity. The patient referred to the operative room and vaginal myomectomy was done with diagnosis of pedunculated submocusal leiomyoma. Then, total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy were performed after the correction of uterine inversion by abdominoperineal approach.
Conclusion: Acute uterine inversion is a potentially dangerous condition (due to vaginal bleeding, severe abdominal or pelvic pain, and the possibility of uterine necrosis and even systemic infection). This condition should be considered as an important differential diagnosis as a vaginal mass in the post-menopausal period.

Background: Non-viral Nano carriers such as liposomes and cationic polymers based on engineered properties are regarded in gene delivery field. Although these carriers do not have weaknesses of viral vectors, but they are less efficient than viruses and they still need to be improved as favorable gene delivery carriers. Amongst non-viral carriers, cationic liposomes have been proposed for clinical applications, but limitations such as low nucleic acid transfer and endosome escape and conduction of plasmid to the nucleus have challenged their use in clinical trials. Therefore, the combination of liposomes and cationic polymers for nucleic acid transfer has been considered because this approach makes it possible to use the desirable properties of liposomes and polymers so that it is even suggested for the gene treatment of some diseases such as Parkinson's. In this study, a combination of liposomes and cationic polymers were used for the preparation of lipopolyplexes. This approach allows simultaneous utilizing of the desirable properties of liposomes and polymers.
Methods: This interventional-experimental study was conducted in the medical faculty of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences from April 2017 to February 2018. In this study, PEI-based lipopolyplex with a molecular weight of 25 and 10 kDa and a liposome-to-polymer ratio of 1:1 were combined with plasmid containing the GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein) marker. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized carriers such as size, cytotoxicity and gene transferability in human prostate cancer (PC3) cells were evaluated.