Tehran University Medical Journal

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The use of Antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in children may be associated with adverse effects especially behavioral and cognitive and teratogenic potential effects. The main propose of this study was to find an answer to the question of which factors in EEG of patients before AED withdrawal could have prognostic role in our decision. We studied 106 children whom their medication had been withdrawn 2 years after their last seizure. Before starting of this, an EEG was recorded and interpreted by an expert neurologist. Many variables such as background activity, focal spike, generalized sharp and spik waves, focal slowing, in comparison with the EEG of patient at the time of diagnosis, and also final result of the trace interpret also examined. Follow-up visits were scheduled every 3 months at least for one year. If seizure relapsed, AEDs was resumed and follow up terminated. The overall probability of remaining seizure free was analyzed as a function of time by Kaplan-Meier survical analysis. Prognostic factors affecting seizure relapse were evaluated by using the log-rank test. The overall probability of seizure recurrences was 24.8 percent (95 percent C.I, 22.5 to 28.5) at 12 months. EEG comparisons with previous times were a significant factor for prediction of relapses. Relative risk of this factor was about 1.98 (95 percent C.I, 1.01 to 3.91) (P<0.05). We found that EEG interpretation at the time of diagnosis was not a significant factor but if it divided by sex, there is a significant difference in gender (P=0.06). According to our study the rate of AED withdrawal in children is small. The benefits of continuing AED therapy must be weighted against the risk of potential adverse effects. EEG comparison with previous traces could be evaluated as a prognostic factor before AED withdrawal in children.

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Defining the patient outcome and decision making about allocation of our limited fund and technology for comatose patients depends on our knowledge about frequency and outcome of various coma etiologies. We determined the various coma causes frequency and one-month outcome of non traumatic coma. . In addition the co existence of the primary neurologic signs with the one-month outcome of non traumatic coma was defined.
Methods and Materials: Our study is based on 130 comatose patients in a one-year study in Sina Hospital that consisted of 80 non traumatic and 50 traumatic patients.
Results: 74% of the cases were men and 26% were women. The most common etiology of coma was trauma (38.5%). The other common etiologies were cerebro‌vascular diseases (25.4%), cancer (10%) and hypoxia-ischemia (8.5%). The most common cause of coma in men was trauma (46.9%) while the vascular diseases were the most common etiology of coma in women (41.2%).In under 40 year patients trauma was the cause of coma in 57.5% of cases in respect to 28% in above 40 cases. On the other hand, vascular diseases and malignancies were the etiology of coma in 15% of under 40 year patients and 46.5% of above 40 year patients. Among traumatic etiologies of coma, subdural hematoma was the most frequent (40%). In our research none of patients who did not have one of pupillary, oculocephalic or motor reflexes in the 3rd and 7th day of the onset of coma had acceptable outcome after one month. With consideration of pupillary, corneal, oculocephalic and motor reflexes in combination, loss of at least two of them in the 3rd and 7th day accompanied with no acceptable outcome. On the other hand the presence of three or more reflexes in the 3rd and 7th day of coma was a good prognostic factor, with 80% and 88.9% chance of acceptable recovery respectively.
Conclusion: According of the study, the best time for prediction of outcome in a comatose patient, is the third or seventh the day after the onset of coma. Also relay on combination of brain stem reflexes, gives us more acceptable result.

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Background: Multiples sclerosis is a common demyelinating disease of CNS and the main cause of disability in young adults all over the world so any research in different aspects of the disease has great value. researches in Iran are few in quantity and low in sample size. To determine clinical course and prognosis of the disease in Iranian MS patients we have studied these items in a considerable sample size.
Methods: Two hundred and three definite MS patients (according to MC’donalds 2001 criteria) included in this study and a planned questionnaire completed by visiting the patients or by degree of disability estimated according to EDSS (Expanded Disability Status Scale) score system. The results analyzed with SPSS software.
Results: Mean age of the patients was 35. All required examinations have been done by a neurologist and 60.6 percent were female. Mean duration of disease was 8.3 years. the main form of onset of symptoms was sensorimotor (mixed). Mean Attack rate was 5.5 times during the disease duration. Clinical course in 72.4 percent was relapsing-remitting type. Mean disability scale number according to EDSS was 5.2. Death rate was two percent. 69.3 percent of patients were able to work in the society. The degree of disability increased with increasing age, in lower educational state, in longer duration of the disease and in male gender.
Conclusion: The results of clinical course and type of MS, mean of disease duration from the onset and mean EDSS are compatible and comparable with similar studies in other countries though some results are different. For future large sample, multicenter studies recommended

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Background: The aim of this study was to compare the outcome of treatment for ovarian cancer patients who have been treated by gynecologist oncologists and patients who have been treated by general gynecologists or general surgeons.

Methods: We enrolled in this cohort retrospective study all patients diagnosed with primary ovarian cancer in Vali-e-Asr Hospital, Tehran, Iran, between April 1999 and January 2005. A total 157 consecutive patients with ovarian cancer were available for analysis. Of these, 60 patients were treated by gynecologist oncologists and 95 by general gynecologists, and two patients were treated by general surgeons.

Results: The number of patients who underwent optimal cytoreductive surgery (residual tumor <1 cm) was higher in the gynecologist oncologist group, than in the general gynecologist group (P<0.001). Repeated surgeries were required for a majority of patients in the general gynecologist group, while only a few patients in the gynecologist oncologist group needed a second operation (P<0.0001). The interval between the initial surgery and the beginning of chemotherapy was significantly longer in the gynecologist oncologist group compared to that of the general oncologist group (P=0.001). Overall survival and disease-free survival was considerably greater in the gynecologist oncologist group. Optimal cytoreductive surgery and stage of disease are prognostic factors in patients with ovarian cancer. We can therefore conclude that patients with ovarian cancer who are treated by gynecologist oncologists have a better outcome.

Conclusions: We suggest that patients requiring cytoreductive surgery for ovarian cancer be referred to a gynecologist oncologist rather than having a less specialized physician care for such cases.

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Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease with several factors that contribute to its manifestation and continuation. One of the factors that initiate RA is emotional stress, which is in direct relationship with the sufficiency or insufficiency of the neuro-endocrine axis. Therefore, any stress that is not resolved in the neuro-endocrine axis might lead to RA and, as the stress continues, it causes the continuation of the disease. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of stress on continuation of RA and to find curative methods and, ultimately, the best method for treatment.

Methods: One hundred rheumatoid arthritic patients (80 females and 20 males), having a final diagnosis of RA based on the guidelines of the American College of Rheumatology and onset of disease within the last 12-36 months, were studied as case and control subjects. Data was collected using interviews and questionnaires that reflected their life events with stress as a serious factor in their disease. The patients were divided into two groups: group A with stable stress and group B with unstable stress. The same treatment method was given to both groups. The results of the treatment were evaluated and compared after two years of follow up. Results: There was significant improvement in the patients in group B with unstable stress over that of the patients in group A with stable stress (P<0.0001). Conclusion: The present study shows that a considerable number of RA patients suffer from serious stress that affects their clinical path and improvement, and is quite visible in the health indexes and continuity of the disease. The results further showed that stress can play an important role in the initiation and continuation of RA. Therefore, by identifying and making efforts to remove the stress factors using anti-anxiety drugs, the disease can be better controlled.

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Background: Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common cancer in the pediatric population. With modern treatments, the chance of the complete recovery is nearly 100%. The most important prognostic factors are appropriate treatment protocol and determination of patient risk factors based on clinical, morphological, immunological and cytological characteristics. In this study we reviewed frequency of these factors, like as age, gender, the primary white blood cell number, sub- group on the base of FAB classification, immunophenotype and the clinical progress.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we reviewed 877 pediatric patients with the diagnosis of ALL between the years of 1994 and 2004. In these patients the age, gender, primary WBC count, sub-group based on the FAB classification, immunophenotype and the clinical progress in 177 patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at Imam Khomeini Hospital between the years of 1994 to 2004 were determined.

Results: Of these patients, 1.6% was younger than one year, 24.8% more than ten years old and 73.6% were between the ages of one and ten years 63.8% were male. WBC counts were above 50,000/ul in 28.8% of the patients. FAB classifications included L1 in 80.2%, L2 in 17.5% and L3 in 2.3% of the patients. Immunophenotypes included pre-B cell in 63.8%, early pre-B cell in 23.1%, T cell in 12.3% and mature B cell in 0.8% of the patients. Marker CD10+ was detected in 88.1% of the B cell cases. In this study group, 74% of the patients recovered, 16.3% died and 16.5% relapsed.

Conclusions: The prevalence of FAB-L1 and pre-B cell cases in this study is greater than a previous study, while the prevalence of FAB-L2 and early pre-B cell cases is less than that of the previous study.

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Background: Since the systemic steroids are introduced in Pemphigus Vulgaris treatment, the prognosis of disease improved significantly. This study was designed to evaluate determining factors in the prognosis of pemphigus vulgaris in Iranian patients.

Methods: In this study, 119 patients with documented pemphigus vulgaris who had presented to Razi Hospital from 2001 until 2003 were included. These patients had presented for the first time and treated with prednisolone and Azathioprine. Morality rate, minor and major relapses and duration of first remission had been defined as prognostic criteria and correlation between them and other demographic variables and disease characteristics were investigated.

Results: The majority of patients (84.1%) were followed for more than one year. The major recurrence and minor recurrence occurred in 28(23.5%) and 65(54.6%) of patients respectively, no case of mortality was observed. In patients who received treatment six months or less after onset of disease the frequency of major recurrence was less than the others. 18(17.8%) vs. 12(41.4%), (p=0.009). Duration of primary remission more than one year was detected in most of the patients (64.7%). In patients with less than 10 initial cutaneous lesions, period of primary remission was longer than the other patients. (p=0.009). Shorter duration of primary remission were noted in older patients (age>50) in comparison with younger patients (age≤50, p=0.04).

Conclusions: Male gender, old age, interval more than 6 months between onsets of symptoms to initial treatment and more than 10 skin lesions on admission, are associated with poor prognosis of pemphigus vulgaris.

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Background: Sepsis is one of the most important causes of mortality in severely ill ICU patients. At least, a part of high mortality rate in sepsis patients is due to less specific clinical symptoms for prompt diagnosis. Recently some studies report that serum levels of procalcitonin will increase in these patients but changes of serum levels following treatments is not known. This study was designed to determin procalcitonin levels in patients with bacterial infectious disease in ICU, initially and during therapy and compare the levels during response to treatment.

Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on ICU patients with infectious diseases, blood specimen collected on day 1 and then in days 3 and 7 of ICU admission. The semi-quantitative PCT-Q test was performed.

Results: Thirty five patients, 22(62.9 %) men and 13(37.1%) women, were enrolled in this study. 18(51.4%) patients died. Procalcitonin level in most patients in admission day was more than 10 ng/ml [16 (45.7%)] but in patients that react to treatment, decline to lower than 0.5 ng/ml [14(77.8%)]. Mean rank of procalcitonin level from 1.14 ng/ml in first day reached to 2.72 ng/ml in seventh day (p<0.0001).

Conclusions: This study showed that serum procalcitonin levels in ICU patients with bacterial sepsis significantly decrease following response to treatment. The measurement of serum procalcitonin in ICU patients with bacterial infectious diseases at first arrival day and following treatment is recommended.

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Background: Cerebrovascular ischemic accident is the third most common cause of death in community. Management of high-risk patients reduces complications and mortality. Serum lipid profile is one of the most important factors influencing the prognosis.

Methods: In this cross sectional study, 123 (58 female and 65 male) patients with acute ischemic stroke, mean aged 65.1± 11.16 years, were admitted to Sina Hospital between September 2008 and September 2009. The inclusion criteria were age between 40-90 years and ischemic stroke within the anterior or posterior brain blood system. The exclusion criteria were brain tumor or abscess, venous sinus thrombosis, liver disease, renal failure, hypothyroidism or metabolic problems. Serum lipid profile was evaluated during the first 24 hours after stroke and after 12 hours of fasting. Furthermore, the patients' inability was evaluated on the first and fifth day of hospitalization by NIH Stroke Scale (NIHSS).

Results: Patients' total serum cholesterol was 189.93± 51.46 mg/dl and mean total serum triglycerides was 157.72± 72.67 mg/dl. The mean HDL and LDL was 47.70± 14.43 and 105.98± 37 mg/dl, respectively. In the analysis, a significant inverse relationship was found between serum triglyceride levels and fifth day's NIHSS. In addition, age and a history of heart disease had a significant direct relationship with the first day's NIHSS. (p< 0.05)

Conclusion: The study showed a better prognosis in cases with increased plasma triglyceride levels, after cerebral ischemic stroke. Besides, older age and a history of ischemic heart disease were associated with a worse prognosis.

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Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Background: Previous studies were suggestive of a good prognosis in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and absence of any critical stenosis in coronary angiography but recent limited reports have revealed that patients with non-obstructive acute coronary syndrome are at a higher risk of future clinical coronary events.

Methods : A concurrent prospective cohort study was designed and 146 male patients with ACS and non-obstructive coronary artery disease were regarded as the unexposed group, while 191 female patients with non-obstructive coronary artery disease were regarded as the exposed group. Coronary events were recorded within one year of follow-up. Prognostic factors were evaluated at baseline by using a standardized protocol.
Results : Of the 337 patients with ACS, 191 (56.6%) were female. Coronary events in female patients after one year of follow-up were: ST EMI 3 (1.6%), unstable angina pectoris 22 (11.5%), Q-wave MI 1 (0.5%) and no syncope. In male patients the outcomes were: ST EMI 4 (2.7%), unstable angina pectoris 29 (19.9%), Q-wave MI 1 (0.7%), and syncope 1 (0.7%). Multivariate adjusted relationships revealed that physical inactivity (P=0.035), dyslipidemia (P=0.001), low ankle brachial index (P=0.024) and age between 40-50 years (P=0.004) were significantly associated with coronary events in women. In male patients, body mass index of 30-39.99 (P=0.011) was associated with a higher rate of ST-segment elevated MI.
Conclusion: Prognostically, coronary events and clinical endpoints were significantly different between men and women with acute coronary syndrome. Persistence of symptoms over one year seems to relate to the development and progression of coronary atherosclerosis.

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Background: Ovarian sex cord-stromal tumors (SCST) account for rare ovarian malignancy. These tumors are 5-8% of all ovarian neoplasms. The most common type of sex cord ovarian tumors is granulosa cell tumor (GCT). In this study our purpose was to have a look at some of clinicopathologic aspects and treatment results of these tumors. Methods: In a retrospective study, all documents of patients with SCST was referred to tumor clinics of Ghaem and Omid Hospitals, from 1998 to 2008. The data of patients were collected and analyzed. Results: In 39 (5.9) of the 398 cases, ovarian malignancies was present in SCST. Eight Patients omitted from the study because there were not enough data for them. The commonest pathology was adult granulosa cell tumor in 25 patients (80.6%). Two patients (8.33%) had juvenile granulosa cell tumor, they were 25 and 38 years old. At time of diagnosis, 27 cases (87.1%) were in early stages (stage I). Mean age of patients was 41 years (range 16-76 years) at time of diagnosis of disease. Surgical staging of cancer was performed in 14 patients (46.7%). We did fertility sparing surgery in 12 patients (40%). Two patients were pregnant after surgery. 17 patients (54.80%) did not receive chemotherapy. Three patients (9.7%) received radiotherapy. Overall survival rates were 95% at both 2 years and 5 years. Longer survival had correlation with early stages of disease (P= 0.002). Age, conservative surgery and chemotherapy had no correlations with survival. Conclusion: The prognosis of SCST is almost good. Most of the patients were diagnosed in early stage of disease. In sex cord ovarian tumor, the only factor that have a full effect on survival, is stage of the disease. If the patients desire to preserve fertility, we can do fertility sparing surgery with minimal effect on survival.

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Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women around the world. It has been known for over a century that androgens and androgen receptor (AR) play a role in normal and neoplastic breast cells. The aim of this study was to determined the AR expression on tumor cells and its correlation with other prognostic and predictive factors as well as contribution of AR in patients overall survival (OS) and disease- free survival (DFS). Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study performed on 189 patients who referred to Medical Oncology Ward of Cancer Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, from April 2007 to February 2010. We performed an immunohistochemistry study for AR (AR441 clone, Dako, Germany) (10% cut-off point) and Ki-67 MIB-1 clone, Dako, Germany) on paraffin embedded blocks. Other data were extracted from patients’ documents. Results: Overall, AR expression was 49.1%. Mean age of the patients with and without AR was 47.86 and 48.49 years, respectively. AR positive tumors presented more in stage I/II than III/IV (P=0.02) and AR were more positive for estrogen receptor positive, lower grade of tumor (grade I/II versus III) and lower Ki-67 (P=0.01). AR positivity had neither correlation with progesterone receptor, HER2/neu, P53 expression or menopausal status. OS and DFS were higher in AR positive patients but did not reach statistical significance. In triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) group, 25% of tumors showed AR expression. AR had non-significant positive correlation with OS in TNBC cancer patients. OS and DFS had significant statistic positive correlation with ER, PR and stage regardless of AR status. Conclusion: Based on this study, although androgen receptor expression showed correlation with other prognostic factors for survival in patients, we didn’t find statistically significant independent relationship between AR and overall survival in patients. As far as there isn’t any targeted therapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), prospective basic and clinical studies regarding AR inhibitors in the treatment of TNBC seems to be logical and valuable.

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Background: Nowadays, stroke can be considered as the one of the major causes of disability and mortality worldwide. However, relationship between serum C-reactive protein (CRP) level with stroke early prognosis has not been well studied, especially in Iran. Therefore, the present study aimed to study the relationship between CRP level of serum in patients with acute stroke at first 24h of admission and stroke early prognosis. Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study was performed on 50 patients with acute stroke who were admitted at Emergency Ward of Shahid Rajaie Hospital, in Tonekabon City, Iran, between May 2013 to July 2014. In first step, valid clinical diagnosis was made based on CT scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the patients. The ethical observations were considered for all patients. The serum level of CRP was measured by standard method, at first 24h of the admission. Clinical information and risk factors (age, gender, type of stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus) was detected for each patient. On discharge, early prognosis by modified Rankin Scale (mRS) (mRS< 3= good and mRS≥ 3= bad) was also recognized. In this study, statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software, and logistic regression method was used (P< 0.05). Results: The results of this study showed that 38% of the patients were 70-80 years old. Also, 52% of the patients were male and 48% were female. The serum CRP level of patients at the first 24h of admission increased in all studied patients. The mean of the serum CRP level was 12.82 that were higher than the normal range. The statistical analysis showed that there was no significant relationship between the serum CRP level and the stroke early prognosis. Conclusion: Although the serum CRP level was not recognized as an anticipator factor for stroke prognosis at this study, it is recommended to performance of more studies by case-study method on this setting.

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Results: In this study, 53 features of patients' records were used (The maximum number of features used in previous studies were 48 features, which compared to them, 5 new features were included in the study) for which a P-value was calculated. Finally, features with a P<0.05 (Indicates the level of significance of the variable) were selected. Then, three data mining algorithms, logistic regression, neural networks and decision tree (the most repetitive data mining algorithms based on previous studies) were used to predict blood pressure. Also, using the criteria of accuracy, precision, sensitivity and F function, the performance of three prediction algorithms in data mining was evaluated. Conclusion: Six features with P<0.05 were selected that the logistic regression model was more accurate, which was presented as the final model for predicting increased blood pressure fluctuations with path coefficients.

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