Tehran University Medical Journal

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Sixty pregnant women with the gestational age of 6-14 weeks who met the following criteria were selected: 1) Presence of nausea and vomiting. 2) Absence of other medical conditions that cause nausea and vomiting. 3) Negative history of medical treatment for at last three days prior to admission. 4) Negative for threatened abortion, molar and twin pregnancy. Cases were randomly divided into two groups. Mean age of the cases was 25.16 y (range: 16-37 y) and not significantly different in the two groups. The two groups were also similar in gestational age, severity of nausea and vomiting, number of previous pregnancies and abortions, profession, working inside or outside the house, family income and education of patients and their spouses. In one group, Pe6 point of acupuncture was stimulated by TENS (once every 2 hours, 10 minutes each time, from the time of awakening). The other group received placebo. Both groups were hospitalized for 48 hours, and were evaluated for severity of nausea and vomiting, apetite, frequency of vomiting and VAS at their worst day, 24 hours prior to admission and 24 and 48 hours after admission. The two groups were similar in frequency of vomiting, VAS, appetite, and severity of nausea 24 hours prior to admission, and the worst degree of nausea and vomiting. However, a significant difference was observed in the severity of nausea and vomiting 24 and 48 hours after the adminission between TENS and placebo (P=0.000). In the group who received TENS, 24 cases (86.7%) reported improvement (compared to 23.3% in the control group). Of all the cases, 81.6% had received prior medication, only 18.3% of the latter reported improvement with medication. Level of VAS in the groups with severe and mild to moderate nausea and vomiting was not significantly different in the first and second days of admission. Fifteen percent of the cases reported a transient cutaneous rash. Five cases were hospitalized more than once. Of the cases who reported improvement with TENS, 5% had improved after two stimulations, and 47% reported a relapse of symptoms in less than 24 hours after cessation of TENS. In one of the cases who were re-admitted, TENS did not result in alleviation of nausea and vomiting, and 56.6% of all the cases suggested to use TENS at home, 45% were attracted to TENS by commercial advertisements. Disscusion: Stimulation of Pe6 (Neiguan) point alleviates the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy.

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The chief aim of this research is intended to study the planning and performance of the health and treatment units of the Social Security Organization about the illnesses that may occur in connection with occupations. We believe, however, that healthy skilled work force are the nmost important factors for the development and progress of a country. Therefore, illnesses and disabilities from chemical, physical, biological, psychological and ergonomic can be drasticly eliminated in order to ensure the safety standards of the work force. Five occupational medicine centers in Tehran, have undergone 35199 tests for pre-employment medical examinations. The results were fit, conditionally fit, and unfit that were introduced to employers, during August 1996 and July 1997. Periodical examinations, visits of workshops and factories, presentation of health care in 200 dispensaries has helped recognizing professional diseases. The results work of committee of medical assistant, showed 56 cases of disabilities due to occupation. Professional causes, 16.07% of the above disabilities are from mechanical and, 16.07% from transportation. Hands amputation 50%, injuries of waist 19.65%, feet 10.71% and head 7.14% had responsibility for invalidity due to occupations. Other results of this research like time distribution, causes of invalidity have been presented.

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The arthroscopic study of knee joint is of outstanding interest in assessment of knee complaints. The present article describes the results of arthroscopic examination of 100 patients (Mean age 29.4 years 82% male) evaluated from 1996 to 1997 in Imam Khomeini hospital of Tehran. Sport injury was the most prevalent cause of referral (40%). The 2 most frequent complaints were knee pain (94%) and tenderness (63%). Arthroscopic findings were pathologic changes of synovial fluid in 8, changes on articular surface of patella in 23, pathologic findings of femoral condyles and changes on articular surface of tibial plate in 24 cases. Other findings included plica in 18, tears of meniscus in 49, complete or partial tears of anterior cruciate ligament in 23 patients. Diagnostic accuracy of pre-arthroscopic clinical diagnosis was 88% and 93% for tears of meniscue and anterior cruciate ligament respectively. Arthroscopy of patellofemoral joint is an important adjunct to clinical and radiographic examination in diagnosis of knee complaints.

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Introduction: Occupational exposure to carbon, silica, and quartz, particles are known predisposing factors for bronchial anthracosis. In some cases bronchoscopy may reveal anthracosis infection to be associated with mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Materials and Methods: In a prospective study, from 1999 and 2001, 919 patients underwent diagnostic bronchoscopy for pulmonary diseases.

Results: Of these, 96 patients had some evidence of anthracosis infection. Twenty-six (27%) of these patients had positive smears or cultures for mycobacterium tuberculosis and only eight (8.3%) patients with positive history of occupational exposure. In the other 70 patients 29 had previous occupational exposure, and 41 stated no previous exposure.

Conclusion: Our findings show a significant association of tuberculosis with anthracosis however further studies are needed to document an etiologic relationship.

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Introduction: Inter-hospital transport constitutes one of the important parts of the emergency system in every country.

Materials and methods: To determine the outcome of requested CCU beds from the medical emergency headquarters in year 2000 by the hospitals affiliated to Tehran university of medical sciences, we have reviewed retrospectively 2688 clinical files of patients for whom a request for an empty CCU bed in other hospitals had been sent to the medical emergency headquarters. The main measure was the success rate of being admitted to CCU in other hospitals.

Results: On the whole 68.5 percent of requests were followed by a CCU admission to other hospitals. Using logistic regression method, variables including season of the year, shift diagnosis of the patient and the original hospital were shown to be related with the success rate. Conclusion: Increasing the number of available CCU beds and providing the centers with the necessary equipment is of high priority in hospitals located in city of Tehran.

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This article is to verify mortality rate, cause of death, severity of injury (ISS),GCS, patient fate in hospital, pattern of specific organ injuries and some other characteristics among injured pedestrians and car occupants referred to three trauma centers in Tehran (Sina hospital, Shohada Tajrich hospital, Fayazbakhsh hospital) from May 1996 until May 1997.
Materials and Methods: 57367 patients were admitted to emergency department of these centers among which, 6027 victims of motor-vehicle accidents were included in this study.
Results: 71% of cases were pedestrians and rest was car occupants. M/F ratio was 1.8/5. Mean age was 29y. Motor vehicle accidents occurred most commonly during nights. The patients' GCS at arrival in emergency department had similar distribution in both groups. The most commonly injured organs in both groups were: integument, head and neck, extremities and bony pelvis. Thoracic and spinal injuries were more common among car occupants. Extremities and boney pelvis injuries were more common among pedestrians. The mortality rate was the same between both groups. Mortality rate was affected by GCS at arrival and severity of injury. Mortality rate among the old was 4 times the rate among the children. The accidents most commonly occurred on metropolitan roads and streets. The most common cause of death between both groups was head injury. Surprisingly head injury was a more common cause of death among the car occupants.
Conclusion: Pattern of specific organ injuries was different form the pattern in previous studies as the pattern was virtually the same between both groups except for spinal and thoracic injuries were more common among the car occupants.

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Background: Staphylococci as a micro-organism, has the most importance to cause nosocomial infections, particularly in patients with indwelling catheters or other medical devices. Unfortunately 90% of Staphylococci isolated from the nosocomial infections are resistant to methicillin, and methicillin resistance strains are also resistant to a wide range of antimicrobial drugs, therefore detecting of these strains are valuable to eradicate the infection elements. Despite guidelines published by the national committee for clinical laboratory standards (NCCLS) for testing of susceptibility to methicillin for Staphylococci, the phenotypic method for detecting methicillin resistance remains controversial. Therefore, the genetic assays have been used to detect antimicrobial susceptibility of Staphylococci to methicillin.
Materials and Methods: Resistance to methicillin is coded by mec A gene in staphylococcus, and this gen must be detected in genetic assays. In this study 155 clinical staphylococcal isolates (70 coagulase- negative staphylococcus and 85 coagulase- Positive staphylococci) were evaluated for susceptibility to methicillin by using disk diffusion method.
ResuIts&Conclusion: Methicillin resistance was shown in 62 coagulase- negative staphylococcus (72.9%) and 27 coagulas positive staphylococcus (38.6%) but 63 coagulase negative Staphylococci (74%) and 28 coagulase positive isolates with mec a gene associated resistance were detected by PCR method. The results of this test were compared to the results for mec A gene detection by PCR test as a gold standard. The sensitivity, specifity and accuracy of the disk diffusion test for coagulase-negative staphylococcus were 96.8%, 95.45% and 96.47% and for coagulase positive staphylococci were 98.43%, 95.45% and 98.32% respectively.

 

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Background: To evaluate the accuracy of 5node sampling as an alternative to classic axillary dissection in operable breast cancer(stage I and II )     Method and Material: 5 largest nodes of level one were sampled in 26 consecutive patient with breast cancer undergoing modified radical mastectomy and axillary clearance between june 2002 to march 2004.

Result: False negative rate for 5 node sampling was 7.7%, of 14 cases with negative 5 node sampling 2 (7.7%) were found to have disease elsewhere in the axilla.

Conclusion: Sampling of 5 largest nodes accurately (92%) identifies patients with metastatic nodes.

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Background: To identify the risk factors of fourth-degree laceration during vaginal delivery.
Methods: This is a retrospective, case control study. We reviewed 131802 records of vaginal deliveries within 14 years period from 1990 to 2004 in two obstetric center. Cases were 93 vaginal deliveries with fourth-degree laceration and 7 cases were delivered at home, control subjects were 200 vaginal deliveries without third- or fourth-degree lacerations and were identified with the use of random selection. We studied the effects of: maternal age, nationality, parity, gestational age, hour of delivery, birth attendants, episiotomy use and duration of second stage of labor, use of oxytocin, use of forceps or vaccum, Infant birth weight, presentation and postion of fetus, previous severe perineal injury, maternal medical illness and place of delivery.
Results: We found 93 cases (%0.07) of documented fourth-degree laceration in 131802 deliveries
Conclusion: This study identified several factors associated with fourth-degree laceration. Median episiotomy should be avoided. Nulliparity, fetal macrosomia and OP position are significant risk factors that require caution by birth attendants during delivery

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Background: Performing traditional autopsy mostly seems to be unpleasant in dead persons' relatives' opinion. This study aimed to determine the accuracy of laparoscopic examination of intra abdominal organs in comparison to the traditional autopsy in trauma victims.
 Methods: From December 2004 to September 2005, 50 fresh cadavers of blunt trauma victims were studied in less than 24 hours from death time. Intraperitoneal and retroperitoneal organs were first evaluated by laparoscope and then the traditional autopsy was performed as gold standard. The organs were assessed regarding impairment and its grade in both ways. Diagnostic accuracy of laparoscope was determined for each case with 95% confidence interval using Fisher's exact test.
Results: The values of overall and distinct accuracy of laparoscopic examination for intraperitoneal and retroperitoneal organs were significantly comparable with traditional autopsy. The accuracy of laparoscopic evaluation of intraperitoneal and retroperitoneal organs were 90% (95% CI of 81.7% to 94.8%) and 92% (95% CI of 84.7% to 96%) respectively in comparison to open autopsy. The overall accuracy of laparoscopic examination was 84% (95% CI of 74.3% to 90.5%).
Conclusion: The sensitivity and specificity of laparoscopic examination for intraperitoneal but not retroperitoneal organs were acceptable in comparison to open autopsy. Laparoscopic examination seems to be an eligible substitute for the traditional autopsy in assessment of intraperitonel organs.

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Background: Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most common causes of nosocomial infections with high morbidity and mortality rate. Traditionally, methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus has been considered a major nosocomial pathogen in healthcare facilities, but in the past decade, it has been observed emerging in the community as well. Informations regarding hospital microbial colonization could be an important step for prevention of nosocomial infections. Our objective was clarifying the prevalence of methicillin resistant and vancomycin resistant staphylococcus aureus colonization in nasopharynx.
Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was carried on 106 patients and nursing staff of surgery and hemodialysis wards in Amir-Alam hospital from April 2005 to July 2005. The samples were collected from nasal region of cases using cotton swab by two experienced technician and were sent to laboratory for culture and antibiogram.
Results: Twenty six (29.5%) out of 106 cases were nasopharyngeal carriers of staphylococcus aureus. Eight cases (7.5%) had methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus. The most frequent colonization rate was seen in hemodialysis nursing staff and in all of them methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus was reported. Carrier rates in hemodialysis patients were twice compared to surgery ward patients. The interesting point was that no sample of vancomycin resistant staphylococcus aureus was isolated.
Conclusion: Prevalence of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus colonization seems to be increased therefore proper management for controlling this problem is mandatory. The results of the present study suggest that the prevalence of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus infections is higher than was expected in Iran and vigorous preventive strategies should therefore be taken to stop the growth of this major health problem.

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Background: Anxiety is a complex phenomenon with important results. In fact anxiety is a biologic process that has repetitive biological and physiological effect on the biological structure of brine. From long time ago anxiety and fear has bean one of the important psychological issues and for the control of anxiety different drugs with different mechanisms have been presented and understanding mechanisms that are involved lead us to newer drugs discovery. In this research the effect of morphine on the anxiety in the adult Male rats in the Ventral Tegmental area (VTA) and Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) was studied.

Methods: The elevated plus maze was used in combination with the percentage of time spent in the open arms of the maze (OAT %) and the percentage of entries into the open arms (OAE %) to measure anxiety. Increases in the OAT% and OAE% indicate an anxiolytic effect (reduction in anxiety), whereas decreases in the OAE% and OAT% indicate an anxiogenic effect. Adult male rats, weighing 200-240 grams, underwent surgery. After five days, the rats were injected with saline and three different doses of morphine (2.5, 5, and 7.5 µl/rat). Experiment one included the injections into the VTA. In the second experiment, these injections were in the NAc. Behavioral tests were conducted between 12 pm and 4 pm and each animal was used once for each experiment.

Results: In the first experiment, although these doses of morphine injected into the TVA had no effect on the OAE%, a dose of 5µl/rat increased the OAT%, showing a decrease in the animals' anxiety. In the second experiment, doses of 2.5µl/rat injected into the NAc induced a significant increase in the OAT% and OAE%, there by displaying decreased anxiety in the animal. However, no significant change in the activity of the animals was observed.

Conclusion: As a Result of these experiments, it seems that different doses of morphine can decrease anxiety, probably through interaction with gabaergic system.

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Background: Health care workers (HCWs) are at substantial risk of acquiring bloodborne pathogen infections through contact with blood and other potentially infectious materials. The main objectives of this study were to determine the epidemiological characteristics of occupational exposure to blood/body fluids, related risk factors of such exposure, and hepatitis B vaccination status among HCWs.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2004 to June 2005 at three university hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Using a structured interview, we questioned HCWs who had the potential for high-risk exposure during the year preceding the study.

Results: With a total number of 467 exposures (52.9%) and an annual rate of 0.5 exposures per HCW, 391 (43%) of the 900 HCWs had at least one occupational exposure to blood and other infected fluids during the previous year. The highest rate of occupational exposure was found among nurses (26%) and the housekeeping staff (20%). These exposures most commonly occurred in the medical and emergency wards (23% and 21%, respectively). The rate of exposure in HCWs with less than five years of experience was 54%. Percutaneous injury was reported in 280 participants (59%). The history of hepatitis B vaccination was positive in 85.93% of the exposed HCWs. Sixty-one percent had used gloves at the time of exposure. Hand washing was reported in 91.4% and consultation with an infectious disease specialist in 29.4%. There were 72 exposures to HIV, HBV and HCV exposure to HBV was the most common. In 237 of the enrolled cases, the source was unknown. Job type, years of experience and hospital ward were the risk factors for exposure.
Conclusion: Education, protective barriers and vaccination are important in the prevention of viral transmission among HCWs.

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Background: Acute abdominal pain is a common complaint in an emergency setting. An immediate and precise diagnosis is necessary for reducing morbidity and mortality. Several studies have reported that CT scan increases diagnostic accuracy for patients with acute abdominal pain. This study was designed to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of spiral CT scan compared to that of abdominal ultrasound and plain radiography. 

Methods: We assessed the data of 91 consecutive patients, including 45 males and 46 females, ranging in age from 8 to 84 years (mean age 52.38 years) presenting to the emergency department of Sina Hospital, Tehran, Iran, with acute non-traumatic abdominal pain during the years 2003-2005. All patients underwent spiral CT scanning in addition, sonography and plain radiography were performed for 66 and 64 of the patients, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were calculated and compared, based on the final diagnosis, which was established with surgical, pathologic, and clinical follow-up. The data was analyzed by SPSS 13.0 software.

Results: Among the 91 patients examined, CT scan was reported to be normal in 15 patients (16.5%). The most common CT findings were aortic aneurysm (12.1%), pancreatitis (9.9%), ovarian cyst (7.7%), intestinal distension (7.7%), and hepatic cyst (7.7%). The overall sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of unenhanced spiral CT were 92.2%, 92.86%, and 92.3%, respectively, whereas those of plain radiography were 13.2%, 72.7%, and 23.4%, respectively, and ultrasound 73.2%, 90%, and 75.7%, respectively.

Conclusions: This study suggests that plain radiography is an insensitive technique in the evaluation of nontraumatic acute abdominal pain presenting in the emergency department. Unenhanced spiral CT is accurate for adult patients with nontraumatic acute abdominal pain and should be considered as an alternative to radiography as the initial imaging modality.

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Background: Multislice computed tomography (MSCT) is a noninvasive method of detecting coronary artery disease (CAD). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the accuracy of 64-slice MSCT (64-MSCT) in daily practice, without patient selection.

Methods: Sixty-four consecutive suspected CAD patients underwent both 64-MSCT and quantitative coronary angiography (QCA). The CT system The mean time span between MSCT and QCA was 7.2±3.9 days. For the 64-MSCT, detection or exclusion of CAD, defined as one or more areas of >50% stenosis within major epicardial coronary arteries, the sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) were evaluated both per patient and per segment.

Results: Sixty-one of the 64 coronary CT angiograms (95%) were of diagnostic image quality. QCA showed significant CAD in 64% (39/61) of the patients, with the other 36% (22/61) showing nonsignificant disease or no disease. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV, and NPV of 64-MSCT per patient were 92%, 86%, 90%, 92% and 96%, respectively. By the per-segment analysis, 695 of 791 coronary artery segments were assessable (88%). Of these, 64-MSCT showed a sensitivity of 80%, specificity of 92%, accuracy of 90%, PPV of 65%, and NPV of 96%, respectively, in detecting CAD.

Conclusions: Both per patient and per segment analyses for coronary 64-MSCT showed a higher diagnostic accuracy than QCA. This suggests 64-MSCT should primarily be used for risk stratification on a per patient basis as a noninvasive gate-keeper diagnostic method.

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Background: Staphylococcus aureus is a major foodborne pathogen throughout the world. Enterotoxins and toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 are important virulence factors and as pyrogenic toxin superantigens have profound effects on the ir host. Thus circulation of TSST1 producing S.aureus among people and food chain is a worrying issue. The present paper was conducted to study Prevalence of tst, entC, entA and entA/C genes in staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from different foods.
Methods: Over 1040 food samples have been analyzed differentially according to Iran national standard (number= 1194) for S.aureus identification. After DNA extraction, PCR reactions were carried out by reference strain as positive control, adequate primers.

Results: At present study, prevalence of foodstuffs contaminated by S.aureus isolates was about 9.5% (100 strains). Of 25% of isolates producing entC, 28% (seven strains) had tst gene at the same time and of 8% of isolates producing entA, 12.5% (one strain) were positive for tst genes simultaneously. Altogether of 9% isolates producing combination of entC and entA, 44.4% (four strains) were also producer of tst gene.

Conclusion: Prevalence of TSST1 producing strains in combination with enterotoxin genes is considerable especially with entC and A plus C. On the other hand, circulation of these isolates in humans, animals, foods and environment has hazardous effect for general public health.

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Background: Constraint-Induced movement therapy (CIMT) is a promising treatment for improving upper limb function in adults after stroke and traumatic brain injury. It involves constraint of the less affected limb and intensive practice with the more affected limb. The purpose of this study on children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (CP) was to evaluate the effects of CIMT on upper extremity and to make a comparison with conventional treatment. Methods: I a randomized clinical trial twelve children (seven females, five males aged between 48 and 72 months with mean±standard deviation of 59.91±9.15mo) were randomly assigned in two groups. An intensive occupational therapy program including five hours per day for 21 consecutive days was performed for all of them, while less affected limbs were placed in sling for immobilization. Before and after intervention, upper extremity function, spasticity, and motor neuron excitation were evaluated by means of peabody developmental motor scales, modified Ashworth scale, and H reflex and H/M ratio, respectively. Results: The children who received CIMT did not improved their ability to use their hemiplegic hand significantly more than the children in the control group (p>0.05). However, reports of caregivers and clinical observations showed increases in more affected limb frequency of use and quality of movement. Conclusion: Results suggest that the use of CIMT needs to more studies and should be considered experimental in children with hemiplegic CP

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Background: Streptococcus pneumoniae is a common cause of respiratory infection. Pneumococcal upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) in children is seldom bacteremic. Determination the prevalence of S.pneumoniae infections in children with URTI using rapid urinary antigen test (BINAX now) and titration of serum pneumolysin antibody (added to conventional culture) was the object of this study.
Methods: A cross sectional, case-control study done in ENT & pediatric departments of Rasoul Hospital in Tehran, Iran, (2008 -2010) upon 133 cases with upper respiratory tract infection (otitis media, sinusitis and tracheitis). The nosocomial infection omitted in first step. 60 remaining cases followed for S.pneumoniae infection by culture and rapid urinary antigen test (Binax Now). Serum pneumolysin antibody titers compared between 45 cases and 66 controls.
Results: Positive culture (S.pneumoniae, H.influenza) obtained in 4/60 URTI cases. Positive urinary S.pneumoniae antigen detected in 50% (30/60) of cases and 6% (4/66) of controls (p=0.01). The pneumolysin antibody level with cut-off level 525pg/ml was higher in URTI cases than controls (982±441 Vs. 525±42, p<0.0001). Area under the ROC curve for pneumolysin antibody was 0.923 (95%CI 0.86-0.97, p<0.0001) and had 87% sensitivity and 82% specificity for differentiation between cases and controls.
Conclusions: The high pneumolysin antibody level in cases with URTI strongly indicates the pneumococcal infection. Pneumolysin antibody level even in little amounts (525pg/ml) with 87% sensitivity and 82% specificity is a suitable test for diagnosis of pneumococcal infection in children with URTI, but this test should be added to conventional culture (gold standard) and rapid urinary antigen test.

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Background: Recently, many cases diagnosed as pediatric autoimmune neuropsy-chiatric disorders associated with group A beta hemolytic streptococcus infection (PANDAS) due to production of autoimmune antibodies. Object of this study was comparison the titer of antibodies against group A beta hemolytic streptococcus (ASOT, Anti-DNase B, and Anti streptokinase) between children with movement disorders (tic and tourett's disorders pediatric autoimmune psychiatric disorders) and healthy control.
Methods: A cross sectional/ cases control study in pediatric neuropsychology ward and clinics in two referral hospitals (Rasoul & Aliasghar) affiliated by IUMS had done in Tehran, Iran (2008-2010). We selected 53 children with tic disorder and 76 healthy controls (age matched children). The antibody titers (IU/ml) in their area were compared and analyzed statistically. The area under ROC, sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value of tests calculated.
Results: Age of cases was between 4-16 years. All antibody titers had significant difference between two groups (p<0.0001 p=0.05 p=0.002 for ASOT, Anti-DNase and Antihyaloronidase respectively). ASOT (cut off level> 200IU/ml) had 75% sensitivity 84% specificity and 80% PPV Anti- streptokinase (cut off level> 332IU/ml) had 34% sensitivity 85% specificity, and 90% PPV Anti-DNase (cut off level> 140IU/ml) had 70% sensitivity 99% specificity and PPV 90%.
Conclusion: Patients with tic disorder had a significant high antibody titer against streptococcal infection in comparison with healthy children. It presents possible role for streptococcal infection in tic disorders. Treatment of streptococcal infection is achievable by using of long acting Penicillin in our country. Use of aggressive treatment like plasmaphresis etc needs future RCT studies.

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Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Background: Staphylococcus aureus infection pervasively occurs in communities and hospitals and observing related guidelines is essential in preventing development of antibiotic resistance in Hospitals. In this study we tried to determine the prevalence of Methicillin and vancomycine resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA & VRSA) and find the most suitable diagnostic tool and treatment in affected patients.
Methods: This study was performed on hospitalized patients in Sina Hospital in Tehran, Iran during 2009-2010. Eighty-five staphylococcus aureus samples were evaluated for resistance to oxacillin and vancomycine by both disc diffusion and E-test methods.
Results: The study population included 46 male and 39 female patients. The mean age of the participants was 51.46±19.21 years. The MRSA frequency was 50%. 67 (78.8%) patients had hospital-acquired staphylococcus infection. The rate of hospital-acquired MRSA was 93%. Length of hospital stay, undergoing invasive methods, history of antibiotic use three months prior to hospitalization and its kind were recognized as MRSA risk factors. There were no reports of VRSA except one case of vancomycine-intermediate S. aureus (VISA). The results of disk effusion and E-test methods were consistent.
Conclusion: Considering the prevalence of methicillin resistance in hospital-acquired infections, it seems that oxacillin should not be used as the first-line option for empiric therapy against S. aureus till antibiogram results are available. Disc diffusion can also be reliably used instead of the more expensive E-test.