Canon Journal of Medicine
Volume:4 Issue: 1, Winter 2023

Primary brain tumors, although not among the most common site of tumors, are considered an important pathology, due to their high mortality rate. Astrocytoma is a glial brain tumor with a high mortality rate. The predictors of the patients’ outcome is thus of great importance. In the present study, we investigated the results of 7–year follow–up of patients with astrocytoma in order to determine the prognostic factors associated with patients’ survival.

In this cross–sectional study, 115 patients suffering from astrocytoma grade II, who referred to radio–oncology department of Nemazee hospital between 2006 and 2013, were included. The patients’ overall survival (OS) and disease–free survival (DFS) were recorded and their difference according to demographic and clinical characteristics of patients, as well as the treatment used, was evaluated using SPSS v.25.

Mean age of patients was 35.34±15.17 years; most were younger than 40 years old (71%) and men (59%). Mean OS and DFS were 74.90±43.05 and 26.61±26.97 months, respectively. Patients younger than 40 had a significantly longer mean OS (84.04±37.93 vs. 53.04±47.41 months; P=0.004). Mean DFS was different according to chemotherapy and dose of radiotherapy (P=0.041 and 0.01, respectively), while OS was not (P>0.05).

Considering the difference in outcome of patients, specifically DFS, according to the performance of chemotherapy and the dose of radiotherapy, it is recommended to pay greater attention to appropriate choice of treatment strategy of patients with astrocytoma. Further randomized controlled studies are required to determine the predictors of patients’ outcome.

Food insecurity is described as the inability or uncertainty of having enough food to live an active and healthy life regularly. Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious viral infection that is associated with a high mortality rate due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and/or severe pneumonia.

The current research aims to compare food security and dietary patterns with the possibility of developing COVID-19 symptoms in recently improved patients and non-infected cases.

This case-control study will be conducted on the men and women aged 20-60 years improved from COVID-19 infection. The cases (n=124) and controls (n=124) were selected according to the eligibility criteria, including recently improved COVID-19 according to the positive COVID-19 PCR test. The groups are matched for age, sex, and body mass index (BMI). The assessments will include anthropometric measurements and general demographic, USDA 18-item food security (18item-FSSM), and 147-item food frequency (FFQ) questionnaires.

This study received approval from the Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Participation is free, and a patient can withdraw at whatever point the person feels they are unable to continue. There is no bar to receiving the other health care services of the center.

This study would be the first assessment of the relationship between food security and dietary patterns status with COVID-19 disease. It may help planners and policymakers manage food insecurity and unhealthy dietary patterns and later increase the immune system and decrease the incidence of COVID-19.

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly disseminated worldwide. In children, the most prevalent manifestations of COVID-19 are fever, cough, and fatigue.

Here, we describe a case of croup secondary to COVID-19 with a preexisting laryngomalacia who presented with fever, dyspnea, and severe cough. The patient had respiratory stridor and diffuse wheezing on lung auscultation.

Although a certain association between COVID-19 and croup has yet to be proven; but as it showed, SARS-CoV-2, like other viruses, can be a leading cause of croup. Therefore, we suggest in children with croup and upper airway symptoms, SARS-CoV-2 infection be ruled out.

Nurses play a vital role in the recognition and triage of patients with stroke and Initial assessment. We intended to evaluate the validity and usefulness of training programs in the knowledge of nurses working in the emergency department who participated in the stroke training workshop; and compare the data with those who did not, to assess the effectiveness of these workshops.

 This was a cross-sectional analytical study of all nurses working in the emergency department. An interview was conducted with nurses and they were asked several questions about demographic data of participants, signs, and symptoms of stroke and stroke types and its complications. The data was analyzed by IBM® SPSS® 20.0 release software and a Comparison between the two groups was done by crosstab t-test.

 A total of 26 participants including 53.8% male and 46.2% female with an average age of 32.62 8.68 were studied. Of these participants, 15 had a history of attending the training classes and 11 had none. There wasn’t any significant difference in the knowledge of nurses who participated in the stroke education workshop and who did not about stroke signs and their subtypes. The nurses' work experience also did not affect this matter.

 The present study showed that there should be a workshop for holding educational classes as continuous education, using different resources, updated guidelines, and evaluating the usefulness of these classes and the performance of the participants.

Maternal thyroid dysfunction during pregnancy and its relationship with pregnancy outcomes has been under consideration in last decades. Hypothyroidism, especially subclinical hypothyroidism, is the most common type of thyroid dysfunction among women in reproductive age. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and maternal/fetal outcomes of these two conditions among Iranian pregnant women.

This cross-sectional study was conducted between January and July 2016 at Baqiyatallah hospital, Tehran, Iran. All pregnant women attending to Baqiyatallah Obstetrics and Gynecology clinic during study period were assessed for eligibility. Demographic information as well as information on parity, repeated abortion, history of infertility, size of thyroid and history of autoimmune diseases were recorded in a pre-designed checklist. TSH and T4 levels were measured by Chemiluminescence method and recorded in related forms.

Eventually 500 patients with a mean age of 27.77±4 years underwent analysis. Thyroid dysfunctions had a prevalence of 30.2% (151 cases). Of this proportion 143 patients (28.6%) had hypothyroidism from which 56(11.2%) patients had clinical and 59(11.8%) had subclinical hypothyroidism. In this study, 258 individuals had deliveries with one abortion in euthyroid and one in low-TSH group.

In conclusion our findings showed that hypothyroidism has a prevalence of 28.6% among Iranian pregnant women attending to our hospital. Also we found that subclinical hypothyroidism is more prevalent than overt hypothyroidism. The results showed that thyroid dysfunction is more prevalent in infants with maternal impaired thyroid function tests.

Chronic heart failure (CHF) patients are usually faced with reduced physical function, inappropriate sport tolerance and inability for daily activities. Studies showed that increasing serum hemoglobin (Hb) level in CHF can increase the maximum oxygen delivery and the consequent functional capacity. We aimed to assess this finding.

This single-arm clinical trial study was conducted on patients with CHF between March 2019 and 2020 in our hospital. In baseline, NYHA function class and 6-minute walking test (6MWT) were recorded. Persian standard version of health-related quality of life (Iranian-QoL) questionnaire and visual analogue scale (VAS) for fatigue were also administered to patients. After calculating the required dose of elemental iron, intravenous ferric carboxymaltose solution was infused in 1000 mg dosage for patients with hemoglobin level of more than 11 mg/dl (anemia) and in 500 mg dosage for patients with hemoglobin level of more than 14 mg/dl (without anemia). All the examinations were repeated after 12 weeks.

Eventually, 50 (20 male and 30 female) patients with a mean age of 58.88 ± 17.05 years underwent analysis. The mean distance in 6MWT was significantly increased from baseline (mean±SD change: 17±6m, p < 0.001). In addition, the mean fatigue and quality of life scores were significantly improved 12 weeks after treatment in comparison to the baseline (P<0.001).

a one-cycle treatment with intravenous ferric carboxymaltose can efficiently improve the functional capacity and quality of life in patients with chronic heart failure who suffer from iron deficiency, with and without anemia.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has imposed negative effects on the mental well-being of society and in particular healthcare workers. General practitioners (GPs), as frontline health workers, are continually exposed to mood problems that might endanger their ability to provide patients with proper care.

To investigate the prevalence of depression in GPs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Khorramabad city Lorestan province, Iran, from 2020 to 2021. A total of 151 GPs working in primary health centers and hospitals were studied. Demographic information including age, sex, and marital status was collected. Beck Depression Inventory-II was used to evaluate the symptoms of depression. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS software version 22.

In this study, 151 subjects were included, 75 of whom (49.7%) were male. The mean age of the studied population was 38.6 ± 11.4 years. Ninety-seven subjects (64.2%) had moderate depression, 41 (27.2%) had severe depression, and 13 (8.6%) had very serve depression. The frequency of severe depression was significantly higher in divorced and widowed individuals (p = 0.025), and those with less than 5 years of work experience (p=0.043), compared with other groups.

In this study, an extreme rate of depression was observed among GPs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Integrated policies should be adopted to empower healthcare workers to maintain their mental well-being during health crises.