Annals of Military and Health Sciences Research
Volume:15 Issue: 1, winter 2017

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) involves breathing pure oxygen in a high-pressure chamber. HBOT is a well-established treatment for several diseases, such as serious infections, chronic diabetic foot ulcer, radiation injury, and hidradenitis suppurativa. There are various troublesome diseases that decrease pleasure in life in patients. HBOT has excellent effects in improving QOL in patients with acute and chronic diseases. The present study aimed at assessing the researches that focus on improving the QOL after HBO treatments.
A systematic quest was conducted to evaluate English papers (clinical trials) that were published before April 2017. We searched PubMed, institute of scientific information (ISI), SCOPUS, Web of Science, Ovid, Science direct, ProQuest, Wiley, Cochran, Ebsco host, and Google Scholar. The reference lists of all the articles and electronic journals were searched for further studies. The JAMA users guide evaluation scales for RCTs was used to assess quality of the researched articles. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were extracted according to the scientific criteria. Sample size was 806 patients.
Finally, 15 published articles were extracted. Most researches were done in UK (26.7%), Israel (20%), and Sweden (20%). The mean age in HBOT group was 41.88, with a male to female ratio of 1.52. The mean age in the control group was 38.29, with a male to female ratio of 2.14. The most frequent clinical trials were those on the treatment of diabetic foot ulcer (20%), post-concussion syndrome (13.3%), pelvic radiotherapy (13.3%), and chronic arm lymphedema after radiotherapy (13.3%). The most QOL questionnaires used were SF-36 (21.4%), EORTC (European organization for research and treatment of cancer) QLQ-C30, head and neck cancer module (H&N35), and performance status scale (PSS).
A significant effect of HBOT on improving QOL in patients’ outcomes and symptoms was found compared with the control group. We found improved QOL in patients with diabetic foot ulcer, post-concussion syndrome, pelvic radiotherapy, post stroke, hidradenitis suppurativa, tonsillar fossa tumor radiotherapy, jaw osteonecrosis, and fibromyalgia syndrome. We suggest that HBOT be added to conventional treatment of these patients as an adjuvant.

New risk factors, such as plasma homocysteine level, have been rencetly recognized as independent risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD). Mutations in some genes, affecting plasma homocysteine level, may be associated with CAD. Association studies in many populations have demonstrated a significant association between the development of CAD and 2 polymorphisms, rs1801131 and rs1805087.
In this case-control study (case group, 120 cases; control group, 130 controls), performed in Golestan province, Iran, rs1801131 single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) was genotyped in 5, 10-methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), and rs1805087 SNP was genotyped in 5-methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase (MTR). Tetraprimer amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction (tetraprimer ARMS-PCR) method was applied to analyze these 2 sites.
In the rs1801131 site, genotype frequencies of AA, AC, and CC were 51%, 34%, and 15%, respectively in the case group, while the corresponding frequencies in the controls were 43%, 38%, and 19%, respectively. The results indicated that the difference in A and C allele distribution of rs1801131 was not significant among the controls and patients (OR, 1.34). Genotyping of rs1805087 demonstrated no variety at this position in the population.
We conclude that the presence of C allele does not increase the risk of CAD in the population of Golestan province. In addition, MTR rs1805087 SNP is not a suitable marker for population-based studies related to CAD. However, further studies are needed in larger populations to confirm these findings.

Common angiography or digital subtraction angiography (DSA) is the gold standard protocol for diagnosis of carotid artery stenosis. However, this method has very high delivered X-ray doses to patient and personnel as an invasive diagnostic protocol. The progress of noninvasive or minimally invasive diagnostic techniques like Doppler ultrasonography (DUS), CT angiography (CTA), and MR angiography (MRA) has improved the detection and evaluation of stenosis lesions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness and accuracy of non-invasive DUS and CTA, attempting in this way to restrict DSA only for final proof of high-grade stenosis.
25 male patients with carotid artery stenosis were examined with CTA, DUS, and DSA. The lumen diameter of carotid artery was measured and compared with CTA and DUS. The results of CTA and DUS were compared and correlated with DSA results as a reference.
Data of lumen diameter measurements in ultrasonography and CTA (for internal and common carotid artery) showed no significant differences between the two methods. Mean internal/common lumen artery in stenosis region was 3.745/5.114 and 3.643/5.000 millimeters for CTA and DUS, respectively. The results (mean ± standard deviation) of moderate to severe carotid stenosis obtained from CTA, DUS, and DSA in stenoses ≥ 50% were 67.8 ± 10.82, 65.6 ± 13.25, and 71.2 ± 11.2 (in percentage), respectively. The Spearman correlations of CTA and DUS results with DSA results were 0.865 and 0.812, respectively.
Significant correlations were found in our study between CTA/DSA and DUS/DSA. We showed that the accuracy of CTA and Doppler ultrasonography was appropriate in comparison with DSA results for male patients with carotid stenosis ≥ 50%. We also showed that measurement of PSV could be a good parameter for evaluating carotid stenosis like PSVr in Doppler ultrasonography.

This study was performed to investigate the acute effect of plyometric exercise in water and on land on some indices of bone metabolism in middle-aged males.
In this quasi-experimental study, 10 middle-aged disabled people were selected. Participants exercised on two separate weeks, on one week only recorded water-based exercise and the other week reported their land-based plyometric exercise. The blood sample was initially taken 10 minutes before starting plyometric workout on land or in water and 10 minutes after a week of intervention. Serum levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and calcium were measured. Student’s t-test was used and P There was no significant difference in mean serum calcium level both before (P = 0.322) and after exercise (P = 1.0) between the 2 groups. Mean serum calcium level changes were also similar between the 2 groups (P = 0.300). Serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP) level was similar between the 2 groups both before (P = 0.337) and after exercise (P = 0.147); yet its changes was significantly higher in individuals, who exercised on land than in water (P = 0.003).
It seems that land-based plyometric exercise increases serum ALP more than water-based plyometric exercise in middle-aged males.

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is one of the 4 types of leukemia that affects many people each year. This type of leukemia is associated with wide changes in the blood of patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the serum level of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.
Blood samples were collected from 21 patients with CML and 21 healthy individuals. Serum LPA was measured by the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The data were analyzed by student’s t-test.
The results showed that serum LPA level (nmol/mL) of patients (4.5 ± 0.7) was significantly more than the control group (2.2 ± 0.2) (P = 0.004).
It seems that serum LPA levels increase in chronic myeloid leukemia, which may be considered as a biomarker in CML.

Generalized seizure is known as a dose- independent side effect of tramadol. The presented case is affected by complex partial seizures, following tramadol dependency. Brain magnetic imaging showed atrophy of left hippocampus, compatible with mesial temporal sclerosis. Mesial temporal sclerosis is the most common cause of treatment- resistant seizure with etiology of trauma, inflammatory processes, and recurrent seizures. It seems that recurrent generalized seizure by tramadol abuse is responsible for hippocampus atrophy, mesial temporal sclerosis, and complex partial seizures.