Arch Iran Med
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Comparative Study
Non-invasive Risk Prediction Models in Identifying Undiagnosed Type 2 Diabetes or Predicting Future Incident Cases in the Iranian Population.
Iran needs pragmatic screening methods for identifying those with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes or at high risk of developing it. The aim of this study was to assess performance of three non-invasive risk prediction models, i.e. the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRISC), the Australian Type 2 Diabetes Risk Assessment Tool (AUSDRISK), and the American Diabetes Association Risk Score (ADA), for identifying those with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes (prevalent type 2 diabetes at baseline without any treatment) or those who would develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years of follow-up. ⋯ The original AUSDRISK model and recalibrated models for FINDRISC and ADA are valid and effective tools for identifying those with undiagnosed or 5-year incident type 2 diabetes in Iran.
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There is limited evidence about charitable contribution and donation in Iranian healthcare. The main objective of this study was to investigate the factors that influence and encourage Iranian donors to donate money for healthcare facilities. ⋯ Better understanding of feelings, perceptions, benefits, and values of donors could improve the fund-raising practices in the Iranian health system.
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Case Reports
Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis in a 4-Year-Old Child: Is Montelukast and/or Clarithromycin a Trigger?
The aim of the presentation of this case is to discuss whether there is an association with eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) and the use of montelukast, and clarithromycin and to discuss a successful treatment course. A 4-year-old girl with a preceding history of asthma attacks and increased eosinophil counts was admitted. She had been using clarithromycin for five days and montelucast for a month. ⋯ Clinicians should remember EGPA in children with asthma and hypereosinophilia. Patients receiving leukotriene receptor antagonists and/or macrolides should be monitored for developing a multisystem disease. Treatment with immunosuppressive agents may be required to ensure a good prognosis.
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Ordinary linear regression (OLR) is one of the most common statistical techniques used in determining the association between the outcome variable and its related factors. This method determines the association that is assumed to be true for the whole study area - a global association. In the field of public health and social sciences, this assumption is not always true, especially when it is known that the relationship between variables varies across the study area. ⋯ From OLR, we found that the percentage of female with higher education had the largest significant association with ARI (P = 0.027). On the other hand, result from the GWR returned coefficients varying from -0.15 to -0.01 (P < 0.001) over the study area in contrast to the global coefficient from OLR model. We advocate that identifying significant spatially-varying association will help policymaker to recognize the local areas of interest and design targeted interventions.
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Observational Study
Elevated Lactate and Total Protein Levels in Stereotactic Brain Biopsy Specimen; Potential Biomarkers of Malignancy and Poor Prognosis.
Cancer cells bear various metabolic alterations in order to survive and progress. Neoplastic cells rewire their metabolic pathways for fermentation of glucose and production of more lactate. Microenvironment acidification is a common feature of many neoplastic lesions. In other words, most cancer cells produce energy ineffectively, by aerobic glycolysis, considered as "Warburg effect". Mounting on previous evidence, hypoxia also induces tumor stemness, diminished apoptosis, and more invasive behavior as well as angiogenesis. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether more lactate concentration in stereotactic puncture specimen of various brain lesions can be an alarming sign of malignancy and higher grades. The current study aims at providing a rapid prognostic biomarker of higher grades for cystic brain lesions approached stereotactically before the complete pathologic grading report is prepared. ⋯ Higher total protein and lactate concentrations in the stereotactic biopsy specimens are alarming signs of poor outcome and higher grades in astrocytomas.