مجله دانشکده پزشکی اصفهان
پیاپی 323 (هفته سوم فروردین 1394)

Organ dose measurements in diagnostic radiology and radiation therapy are extremely important. Due to some limitations on patient dose measurements, phantoms have been used for this goal. One of the most important types of phantoms, is anthropomorphic one. This report aimed at construction of an anthropomorphic phantom for application of dosimetry studies of CT-scans.

To construct the phantom, several different materials were used for the adaptation of soft tissue and bone. Perspex was used for soft tissue a polyurethane-based mixture for compact bone tissue. Using highly detailed software, three-dimensional design of phantom was modeled; so that, anatomical segments of phantom were well adapted to CT-scan of the patient.

Using the CT-scan of phantom, Hounsfield numbers of soft tissue and bone material used in the phantom were obtained. The obtained Hounsfield numbers had very good conformity with Hounsfield numbers of soft and bone tissues of the human body and confirmed the accuracy of the study.

The project was presented in a way that it can be used to design any particular patient in a phantom with three-dimensional design. The method that was used to build the phantom can be more and more widely used in manufacturing other phantoms and also total human body phantom.

Genetic alternation in p53 gene is associated with tumorgenesis, especially in breast, colon and lung tumors. Somatic mutation of the p53 gene is the most common genetic alteration seen in human cancers. To our knowledge, before this research, there was no study on the relationship of TAAAA repeat in the first intron of p53 gene and cancer risk. The purpose of this study was to investigate the polymorphism of TAAAA in the first intron of p53 gene among patients with breast cancer and healthy individuals and its relation to risk of breast cancer.

Peripheral blood samples were collected from 200 women with breast cancer and 200 healthy women. After DNA extraction from peripheral blood samples via salting out method and amplification of desired sequence via polymerase chain reaction (PCR), the number of TAAAA repeats was determined using polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and direct sequencing.

Five different length of TAAAA repeat in the range of 6-10 and 11 allele combinations (genotypes) were observed among patients and controls. The most frequent allele in both patients and controls was the 8-TAAAA repeat. Women who were homozygous for (TAAAA)7 or heterozygous for (TAAAA)6 were at higher risk of developing breast cancer. The allelic length of p53 polymorphisms had no significant effect on the metastasis, the expression of estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and ErbB2 (HER2) and age of the onset.

Our study shows strong association between the TAAAA repeat polymorphism in p53 gene and risk of breast cancer.

Non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) is one of the categories of gastro-esophageal reflux disease defined as the presence of classic reflux symptoms in the absence of esophageal mucosal injury during upper endoscopy. The efficacy of proton pump inhibitor (PPI) is observed in these patients and it is demonstrated that the proportion of them respond to a standard dose of proton pump inhibitors lower than patients with erosive esophagitis. Baclofen, a gamma-aminobutyric acid-B (GABAB) agonist, has been shown to reduce transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxations (TLESRs), a major cause of gastro-esophageal reflux disease. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of adding baclofen to treat patients with non-erosive reflux disease resistant to proton-pump-inhibitor treatment. Ninety patients with non-erosive reflux disease resistant to treatment with proton pump inhibitor were randomly divided into two groups. The first group received baclofen (20 mg per day) plus omeprazole (20 mg per day) and the second group received only omeprazole (20 mg per day). After 2 months, the findings were compared. Differences in age, sex, weight, previous treatment with proton pump inhibitor, existence of hiatal hernia and previous treatment of Helicobacter pylori were not significant between the groups. Patients receiving baclofen plus omeprazole had significantly less heart burn (P = 0.014), regurgitation (P = 0.012), sour taste (P = 0.029) and belching (P = 0.001). The data suggest that baclofen plus omeprazole have additive effects in treatment of patients with non-erosive reflux disease.

Fingertip injury is the one of the most common hand injuries that its healing is important because of the essential role of fingertips in sensory and motor function. The most important part of sensory healing is to obtain two-point discrimination. The common surgical methods of fingertip repair are V-Y plasty and palmar graft. But, there is not enough study on comparing the efficacy of two methods. The aim of this study was to compare the rate of sensory improvement in these two surgical methods. In a cohort study, 70 patients with fingertip injury who were operated via V-Y plasty method compared with 70 patients operated via palmar graft method. Two-point discrimination was applied scale for evaluation of improvement at the end of 3 and 6 months after taking the surgery. The comparison between the two groups was done using SPSS software. 3 months after the surgery, tow-point discrimination was less than 5 in 2 patients of V-Y pasty (6.7%) and in 10 patients of palmar graft (14.7%); according to Fisher’s exact test, no statistically difference between the two groups were seen (P = 0.28). 6 months after the surgery, the improvement of two-point discrimination in V-Y plasty [22 patients (36.7%)] was statistically better than palmar graft [12 patients (17.6%)] (P = 0.04). Applying of V-Y plasty in the treatment of fingertip injury, at least in two-point discrimination, is better than the palmar graft method. In addition, the duration time of surgery, hospital cost and post-operative complication in the V-Y plasty method is less than the palmar graft.

Today, it has been shown that gold nanoparticles have great potential to improve diagnosis and treatment of cancers. The special advantages of gold nanoparticle are high biocompatibility, selective accumulating at cancer cells and low toxicity. Considerable research is underway into the use of gold nanoparticle as contrast agent in Raman spectroscopy, X-ray imaging, photo-thermal agents and radiosensitizers. In this study, optical and physical and quantum properties of gold nanoparticle are discussed. Subsequently, medical application of gold nanoparticle, as a dual use in diagnosis and treatment of cancers, are considered.