Caspian Journal of Internal Medicine

BACKGROUND: Female sex workers (FSWs) in most societies run a high risk of health problems, including sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as viral infections and syphilis. The present study examines the prevalence of viral infections and syphilis among FSWs. METHODS: This cross-sectional study recruited 100 female sex workers (April 2019 to April 2020) who visited the Counseling Center for Behavioral Diseases or were selected via purposeful (snowball) sampling...

BACKGROUND: The current study was carried out aiming at investigating the relationship between glycosylated hemoglobin level and coronary atherosclerosis in patients with the first episode of acute coronary syndrome. METHODS: This case-control study evaluated 450 patients with the first episode of acute coronary syndrome in Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital in Babol (Iran) from 2011 to 2018. Based on glycosylated hemoglobin, patients were divided into three groups of non-diabetic, pre-diabetic, and diabetic (n=150 in each group)...

BACKGROUND: The coronary angiography results in a group of patients with myocardial infarction (MI) are normal or near-normal; which is diagnosed as myocardial infarction with non-obstructive coronary arteries (MINOCA). This study aimed to compare the mortality rate and risk factors between MINOCA and myocardial infarction with obstructive coronary artery (MI-CAD). METHODS: This retrospective cohort study was conducted from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2019...

BACKGROUND: Elejalde syndrome is a rare neuroectodermal melanolysosomal disease with an autosomal recessive heredity. Patients usually present with silvery-gray hair, neurological abormalities, diffuse skin hypopigmentation and suntanned skin color. CASE PRESENTATION: A 3 1/2-year-old boy presented with hemiplegia since the day before admission. Durig hospital admission, he experienced episodes of status epilepticus and loss of consciousness and underwent mechanical ventilation...

BACKGROUND: Diagnosis of neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) is challenging due to nonspecific biomarkers. High serum levels of neurofilament protein light subunit (NFL), high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and have been reported in several autoimmune diseases. The aim of this study was to examine whether their plasma levels could serve as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker for NPSLE. METHODS: There were 90 SLE patients enrolled in this cross-sectional study (87...

BACKGROUND: Endothelial dysfunction has a significant role in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular events in patients with kidney dysfunction. The present study aimed to compare the level of endothelial dysfunction in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and acute kidney injury (AKI) by brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) technique. Also, we sought to find whether this non-invasive technique may assist in accurately distinguishing the acute or chronic nature of kidney failure in patients presenting with uremia for the first time...

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PC) ranks as the second most commonly diagnosed neoplasia and the fifth cause of death in men with cancer, with an increasing trend in incidence. METHODS: All accessible data sources from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study were used to estimate the prevalence, mortality and disability-adjusted life years (DALY) and burden prostate cancer in Asia from 1990 to 2019. We estimated all-cause and cause-specific mortality, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with disability (YLDs) and DALYs...

BACKGROUND: Hyperostosis is a common consequence of chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP) and other chronic rhinosinusitis, affecting mainly structures of the ethmoid labyrinth, frontal and maxillary sinuses. These neo-bones are found in advanced stages of rhinosinusitis causes exacerbation because of ostia outflow blockage. Frequent relapses of the disease due to hyperostosis restenosis, represent a problem in the treatment of chronic frontal sinusitis. We report our cases experience about the treatment of frontal chronic sinusitis because of frontoethmoidal area hyperostosis, treated by modified lothrop procedure, achieving sufficient clinical effect...

BACKGROUND: Continuous epidural infusion (CEI) has been an optimal and acceptable technique for inducing epidural anesthesia. This study compared two methods of programmed intermittent epidural bolus (PIEB) with CEI in labor analgesia among patients receiving epidural dexmedetomidine. METHODS: This study was a randomized clinical trial. The target population was term women candidates for epidural anesthesia. After selection of sample size based on inclusion criteria, a total of 3 cc of dexmedetomidine (0...

BACKGROUND: Our purpose was to investigate the association between Mammographic breast density (MBD), a known strong marker for breast cancer and metformin and aspirin use and duration of use alone or simultaneously, in a sample of Iranian women considering other confounding factors. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, 712 individuals were selected out of women referred to two university hospitals for screening mammography. Participants' information was collected with a questionnaire...

BACKGROUND: Hypertension (HTN) is one of the primary risk factors for heart disease and stroke worldwide. The present meta-analysis was aimed to systematically review and statistically estimate the prevalence rate of pre-hypertension (PHTN) and HTN in the Iranian child/adolescent and adult age groups. METHODS: In this study, four International databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane, as well as three Iranian databases, including SID, Magiran, and IranMedex, were separately investigated for articles published before January 2021...

BACKGROUND: The use of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) to relieve labor pain remains controversial and existing evidence is neither strong nor consistent. This research was designed to compare TENS' effect with the injection of pethidine and promethazine in labor pain reduction. METHODS: In this trial, for 45 pregnant women in the active phase of labor, TENS electrodes were placed (two on both arms, and two over the participants' low back) continuously for 120 minutes; and for another group 45 pregnant women, 100 milligrams of pethidine and 250 micrograms of promethazine were injected intramuscularly which could be repeated once at least one hour later...

BACKGROUND: Echocardiography is routinely ordered in acute ischemic stroke workup. No standardized or structured criteria is used to select or exclude echocardiography in such settings. Moreover, the diagnostic yield of echocardiography in stroke is low in our medical center. This article presents newly proposed selection criteria for echocardiography in ischemic stroke workup. METHODS: A quality improvement project was implemented in a 385-bed community hospital in Maryland, USA...

BACKGROUND: Couples' childless and one-child intention is one of the crucial challenges in all societies. Considering the aging of the world's population and the need to review birth control policies, it is necessary to take evidence-based measures. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the influencing factors on the tendency of couples to be childless and have only one child. METHODS: The present study is the first part of a mixed (qualitative-quantitative) study...

BACKGROUND: Gallbladder agenesis is a biliary tract related congenital malformation with an incidence of 10-65 per 100,000 and associated with other congenital abnormalities. GA is usually asymptomatic, but sometimes patients become symptomatic. The most usual symptoms are jaundice, abdominal pain in the right upper quadrant, nausea and vomiting. We reported a case of GA and choledochogastric fistula in a patient with history of cholangitis. CASE PRESENTATION: A 70-year-old man presented to Emergency Department of Modarres Hospital with jaundice, fever, right upper quadrant abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting...

BACKGROUND: Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis is a common complaint involving about a 3-5% cases in a community. Non-surgical treatment is effective in 80% of cases. Recent studies have shown the effect of autologous blood on improving the pain and function of affected patients. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of steroid and autologous blood local injection in controlling pain and disability in the short and long term. METHODS: The present study was a clinical trial conducted in Shahid Beheshti Hospital of Babol...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of Jumpstart Nutrition® dietary supplement (JNDS) for enhancing the skeletal muscle metabolism and function of older adults with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) by evaluating the biomarkers of aberrant levels of serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), interleukin-10 (IL-10), C-reactive protein (CRP), creatine kinase-muscle (CK-MM), and aldolase-A (Aldo-A). METHODS: This twelve-week registry included 54 patients treated with JNDS mainly comprised of calcium, phosphorus, vitamin-K2 , coenzyme-Q10 , boswellic acid, and curcumin mixed with soy and whey protein (experimental group) and 51 patients treated with symptomatic slow-acting drugs for osteoarthritis (SYSADOA) (control group) for KOA confirmed with radiological images...

BACKGROUND: Rapid economic progress and cultural-social changes have led to lifestyle changes and increased risk of breast cancer all around the world, including Iran. This study aims to investigate the 30-year incremental pattern of breast cancer in patients of Shahid Rajaei Radiation Therapy Center in Babolsar, North of Iran.‌‌. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, the data were retrospectively extracted from the physical and electronic files of patients diagnosed with breast cancer from 1992 to 2021 every 5 year by census method, during the study, overall, 1326 patients' information out of 6199 patients was analyzed using SPSSV...

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) infection is strongly related to peptic ulcer disease, chronic gastritis, and gastric malignancies. Therefore, H. pylori eradication is necessary in these cases. This study was aimed to compare the efficacy of 14-day reverse hybrid therapy with standard 14-day concomitant regimen for H. pylori eradication in Iran. METHODS: Of the 317 patients with dyspepsia and H. pylori infection enrolled in the study, 153 and 164 patients were randomly assigned to reverse hybrid and concomitant groups, respectively...

BACKGROUND: Ensuring vascular access is essential for dialysis patients. This can be achieved through an arteriovenous anastomosis (fistulae), a central venous catheter, or an arteriovenous graft. However, in some cases vascular access to the patient's blood is not possible. CASE PRESENTATION: A multi-vascular male patient, who had been undergoing dialysis for 17 years, was presented to our renal department. There was no possibility of vascular access to the patient's venous network for dialysis...