Hormozgan Medical Journal
Volume:25 Issue: 3, Sep 2021

Considering the important role of anxiety in people with psychosomatic disorders, recognizing their defense mechanisms, emotion regulation techniques, and attachment styles can help support them against anxiety and stress. The aim of this study was to develop a psychosomatic symptoms model based on emotional regulation, defense mechanisms, and attachment styles mediated by distress level.

In this descriptive correlational study using path analysis, 540 patients diagnosed with psychosomatic disorder using the Physical Health Questionnaire (PHQ15), were selected through purposive sampling among all medical centers in Tehran, Iran, during 2019. Then, they completed the short form of Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Adult Attachment Styles Questionnaire, Defense Styles Questionnaire, and Kessler Psychological distress Assessment Scale (Kessler, 2002). AMOS.22 and SPSS.22 software was used for data analysis.

The indirect effect of anxious attachment (P<0.001), ambivalent attachment (P=0.048), immature defense mechanism (P<0.001), and neurotic defense mechanism (P<0.001) were confirmed to psychosomatic symptoms mediated by low distress. Also, the indirect effect of anxious attachment (P<0.001), mature defense mechanism (P=0.045), immature (P<0.001), and neurotic (P<0.001) correlated with psychosomatic symptoms mediated by high distress.

Considering distress tolerance as a moderating mechanism, there was a relationship between ambivalent and anxious attachment styles, and neurotic and immature defense mechanisms with psychosomatic symptoms.

Rice contamination with heavy metals is one of the most common cases of environmental pollution. The purpose of this study was to investigate the concentration of heavy metals (arsenic and cadmium) in the most widely consumed rice brands imported to southern Iran and to assess the health risk of exposure to them for consumers.

A total of 103 rice samples were selected from 10 brands imported from India during 2014-2018. Heavy metal concentrations were measured by dry ash method using atomic absorption spectrometer (GBC model SavantAA). After determining the concentration of heavy metals in rice samples, health risk assessment was performed using the Monte-Carlo simulation technique.

The concentrations of arsenic and cadmium were 94.3±34.1 and 11.3±6.5 mg/kg, respectively. The values of non-carcinogenic risk index (hazard quotient) of cadmium and arsenic were 0.017 and 0.489, respectively. The average carcinogenic risk index for arsenic was 1.7E10-4, which is higher than the standard range (10-4 to10-6).

Consumption of imported rice carries a risk of arsenic-induced carcinogenesis. Consumption of contaminated rice with heavy metals, especially arsenic, can pose potential health risks to the consumer population. Therefore, special attention should be paid to contaminated rice and special interventions should be made to reduce arsenic in imported rice.

Although hyperhidrosis is regarded as a benign sympathetic disorder, it can have a significant psychosocial impact on affected individuals while markedly affecting their quality of life (QoL).

We aimed to evaluate the effects of endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS) on the treatment of primary hyperhidrosis and patients’ QoL).

This prospective interventional study included patients with primary hyperhidrosis referred to Shahid Mohammadi Hospital, Bandar Abbas, Iran, for ETS during 2012-2019. General characteristics including age, sex, and body mass index (BMI) were recorded for all patients. All participants underwent ETS by a single experienced surgeon. Patients were evaluated twice; once before the procedure and once one month after the procedure. The sites of hyperhidrosis, Hyperhidrosis Disease Severity Scale (HDSS), and QoL were the evaluated variables. Patients’ satisfaction, compensatory hyperhidrosis, and procedural complications such as pneumothorax were also assessed on follow-up.

From the 47 patients evaluated in this study with a mean ± SD age of 28.2±1.21 years, 27 (57.4%) were men. No patient experienced compensatory hyperhidrosis and procedural complications after the procedure. Also, 45 (95.7%) patients were 100% satisfied and 2 (4.3%) were 90% satisfied with the procedure. There was a significant reduction in the number of hyperhidrosis sites and HDSS score after one month compared with baseline (P=0.006 and P<0.001, respectively). Moreover, the QoL significantly improved after the procedure (P<0.001).

ETS appears to be very safe and effective for the treatment of primary hyperhidrosis in terms of the reduction of hyperhidrosis sites and HDSS score, as well as improving QoL and patient satisfaction.

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common in children. Differentiating lower UTI from acute pyelonephritis (APN) is of great importance in children since early diagnosis and timely management can prevent kidney scarring and associated complications.

We aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of serum C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and white blood cell (WBC) count with interleukin-6 (IL-6) for the diagnosis of APN in children.

This cross-sectional study included 38 children with APN (based on clinical findings and positive urine culture) aged 1 month to 15 years admitted to Bandar Abbas Pediatric Hospital, Bandar Abbas, Iran, during 2019-2020. Serum CRP, WBC, IL-6, and WBC count were measured in all children. Age and sex of the participants were also recorded.

The mean ± SD age of the children was 65.82±46.67 months, of whom 23 (60.5%) were girls. The sensitivity of WBC, ESR, CRP, and IL-6 for the early diagnosis of APN was 39.5%, 71.1%, 60.5%, and 71.1%, respectively. Taking the results of ESR, CRP, and WBC into account as the basis of diagnosis, altogether 9.98 pg/mL was the best cut-off of serum IL-6 for the diagnosis of APN with 70%-80% sensitivity and 56.5%-73.7% specificity. A significant correlation was found between serum IL-6 and CRP, ESR, and WBC with the strongest correlation between IL-6 and CRP (r=0.451, P=0.004). Age and sex did not affect these correlations. The sensitivity of serum IL-6 at the 5 pg/mL cut-off for the diagnosis of APN was higher in boys and children younger than 6 years.

IL-6 can diagnose APN in children aged 1 month to 15 years with 71.1% sensitivity. Its sensitivity is superior to CRP and WBC and comparable with ESR in this regard.

Cancer is a complex, debilitating, and common disease with many dimensions, consequences, and psychological, biological, and social complications. We aimed to investigate the structural equations of treatment adherence based on emotional, cognitive regulation mediated by coping styles in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

The present study was a correlational study using structural equation modeling. The statistical population included patients with breast cancer referred to specialized cancer clinics in Tehran between October and February 2018. The sample consisted of 250 patients with breast cancer who were selected by convenience sampling. Data were obtained using the Folkman and Lazarus Coping Strategies Questionnaire, the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ), and Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). Data were also analyzed using correlation coefficients, Pearson’s correlation matrix, multiple regression, and structural equation modeling. Also, all statistical calculations were performed using Amos 22 and SPSS 22 software.

Emotion regulation had a direct effect on coping strategies (β=0.48, P<0.001) and adherence to treatment (β=0.63, P<0.001). Coping strategies had a mediating role in the relationship between emotion regulation and adherence to treatment (AGFI=0.98, RMSEA=0.067).

There is a relationship between emotion regulation and adherence to treatment and coping strategies has a mediating role in women with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy.

In Iran, 25000 open heart surgeries are performed annually, which are mainly dedicated to coronary artery bypass surgery. Pulmonary complications after open heart surgery impose a high socio-economic burden on the society because of the length of hospital stay and the use of mechanical means. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possibility of impaired forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), and FVC/FEV1 indices before and after open heart surgery, which has been directly addressed in fewer studies.

In this cross-sectional study, all 125 candidates for open heart surgery who referred to Shahid Mohammadi Hospital of Bandar Abbas University of Medical Sciences during 2107-2018 were included. The patients were evaluated by spirometry three times. Before the operation, FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC were measured 3-10 days and 3-6 months after surgery. Then, the changes obtained from the evaluation were extracted three times before surgery, and 3-10 days and 3-6 months after surgery, using IBM SPSS, version 17, descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, percentage, etc.), and one-way and repeated measures analysis of variance.

FVC decreased by 0.6 in both patients with asthma and healthy ones. The mean FVC was also 0.4 in the diabetic group and 0.7 in the non-diabetic group. Mean FEV1 before surgery A, one week after surgery B and three to six months after surgery C in the two asthma and healthy groups showed a decrease of 1.2 and 1.3, respectively. Mean FEV1 before surgery A, one week after surgery B and three to six months after surgery C in smokers and non-smokers decreased by 0.9 and 1, respectively.

Based on the results of our study, there is no doubt about the development of pulmonary dysfunction after heart surgery. This disorder occurred in the present study independent from asthma, diabetes, and smoking.

Various treatment approaches are used in different centers to treat infant bronchiolitis, some of which are not indicated and are not based on strong scientific evidence. W aimed to evaluate the treatment of admitted infants with acute bronchiolitis in the only medical hospital in Rafsanjan and compare it with modern treatment methods.

This descriptive study was conducted on 100 infants admitted to Ali-Ibn Abi Talib hospital in Rafsanjan, southern Iran. Demographic information and risk factors, including age, birth weight, history of exposure to cigarette smoke, and other factors affecting this disease, and all therapeutic measures were collected in a researcher-made checklist. The data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 20, and the treatment was compared to the latest clinical guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and England National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and Cochrane meta-analyses.

79%, 37%, 41%, and 3% of the children received antibiotics, corticosteroids, bronchodilators, and epinephrine, respectively. The most important risk factors were smoking in parents (91%), malnutrition (60%), low birth weight (71%), male sex (62%), and being born in autumn (60%).

According to the results of this study, there is a large gap between treatment approaches and up-to-date and valid international guidelines. Therefore, compiling local treatment and care instructions for these patients to be used in medical centers would be useful.

This study aimed to measure PGC-1α4 soleus muscle and to investigate the effect of endurance training pre-conditioning with different intensities on the atrophy response of the soleus muscle to a period of inactivity.

In this experimental study, 24 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into equal groups of control (C), control inactivity (CI), high-intensity endurance training group (HE) (treadmill speed 30 km/h), and low-intensity endurance training (LE) (treadmill’s speed: 10 km/h). After two weeks of familiarization, the endurance training group ran on a treadmill for two weeks (five sessions each week). The animal’s lower limbs were then immobilized for seven days. Then the soleus muscle was extracted, and after weighting, the expression of the PGC-1α4 gene was measured using the real-time polymerase chain reaction (realtime PCR) technique. Data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 24.

The expression of the PGC-1α4 gene was significantly higher in the HE group than the CI group. However, compared to the C group, all groups with inactivity intervention showed significantly lower PGC-1α4 gene levels. The ratio of muscle mass to body weight in the C group was significantly higher than the LE and CI groups, and higher in the HE group than the CI group.

Endurance training seems to be able to reduce the destructive effects of inactive atrophy. The higher intensity of these exercises was more effective, which was associated with increased expression of the PGC-1α4 gene.

The aim of this review was to assess several factors associated with Buerger’s disease or thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO), especially the immunological basis of this disease. We found that an established etiology for TAO has not been agreed on so far, but no one denies the strong association between TAO and tobacco consumption. Another possible etiology for this disease is bacterial infections such as Porphyromonas gingivalis and Rickettsia and their possible role via inflammatory processes. TAO was more common in low socioeconomic societies with poor hygiene. It may be attributable to the prevalence of Rickettsia infection because of the tick bite in these societies. In case of autoimmunity, it should be noted that T 17 cells keep the body away from autoimmune processes. The number of infiltrated CD4+ T cells in the arterial wall is higher than B cells. In fact, this may propose the significant role of T cells in the immunopathology of patients with TAO. The disease is also associated with tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-4, IL-17 and IL-23, as inflammatory cytokines. Antiphospholipid antibodies, anti-CL, anti-TLRVYK, anti-TLRIYT, anti-TLALYK, and anticardiolipin may also play a role in this disease. Further evidence is needed to shed light on the condition, especially in case of T cell lymphocytes’ role.

Nasal chondromesenchymal hamartoma (NCMH) is a rare benign tumor almost always found in children. NCMH was first described by McDermott in 1998. To the best our knowledge, about 50 NCMH cases have been reported worldwide with very few adult cases and no long-term follow-ups.

Here, we report a 43-year-old woman who referred to the Otolaryngology Clinic of Payambar Azam Hospital, Bandar Abbas, Iran, in 2008, with a one-year history of progressive left-sided nasal obstruction that had not relieved with topical nasal decongestants and steroid sprays. A unilateral left-sided nasal soft-tissue mass was found upon examination. Histological and immunohistochemical analyses were consistent with NCMH. Trans-nasal endoscopic excision showed good results and no sign of recurrence has been observed after 12 years of regular follow-up.

Awareness of imaging and immunohistochemical characteristics of NCMH combined with the probability of presentation in the adult population are necessary for correct diagnosis and adequate therapy.