BACKGROUND Functional ovarian cysts include follicular, corpus luteum, and theca lutein cysts are the most common adnexal masses (about 50%) in women of reproductive age. Treatment with the combined monophasic oral contraceptives reduces functional ovarian cysts. Yaz (drospirenone/ethinyl estradiol) is a low-dose combined oral contraceptive pill containing 20 μg ethinyl estradiol and 3 mg drosp...

INTRODUCTION Scleroderma is a systemic disorder with unknown etiology most notably characterized by skin thickening and organ damage. Endothelin-1 (ET-1) plays a role in skin fibrosis. The aim of this study was survey and comparison of ET-1 level in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc) patients with and without digital ulcer. MATERIAL AND METHODS A cross-sectional analytical study conducted among the 95 ...

BACKGROUND Increased incidence of renal stone has been reported in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), but unlike some well-known renal involvements, they have not been fully studied. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of AS with urolithiasis and also the relation between urinary stone and severity markers. METHODS One hundred-sixty three AS patients were included in a cross-se...

BACKGROUND Ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory chronic disease which is believed to be a multi organ condition. The prevalence of ulcerative colitis is reportedly increasing in Iran presenting with the same clinical characteristics as in developing countries. Pulmonary manifestations of ulcerative colitis are increasingly reported. In this study, we investigated the incidence of bronchial hyp...

BACKGROUND Osteoporosis has been frequently reported in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, especially Crohn's disease. METHODS All consecutive Crohn's disease patients who attended the GI Clinics at Shariati Hospital, Tehran, Iran, from 2004 to 2007 were evaluated. A BMD-DEXA assessment was performed for all patients. Among those patients diagnosed with osteoporosis (T score <or= -2.5...

BACKGROUND Eosinophilic gastroenteritis (EG) is a rare inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. There have been several case series of patients with EG from the western world and East Asia. However, there has not been a report of patients with EG from the Middle East region. The aim of this study is to describe clinical characteristics and treatment response in a series of EG p...

Background: Social, occupational and emotional adjustment of Oncology nurses were assessed and compared with other nurses in this study. Subjects and Methods: One hundred nurses including Oncology nurses (n=50) and non-Oncology nurses (n=50) participated in cross-sectional study conducted in Shariati Hospital. Bell's Adjustment Inventory was used to measure social, emotional and occupational ad...

BACKGROUND Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) have been defined by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) as irreversible conditions which are diagnosed by fixed cut-off points of FEV1/FVC. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the cut-off points for FEV1/FEV6 ratio and FEV6 as alternatives for FEV1/FVC and FVC in detection of airway obstructio...

BACKGROUND Working in respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) is multidimensional that requires nurses with special attributes to involve with the accountability of the critically ill patients. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to explore the appropriate nursing care strategy in the RICU in order to unify and coordinate the nursing care in special atmosphere of the RICU. MATERIALS AND MET...

BACKGROUND Prolonged hospitalization in the intensive care unit (ICU) can impose long-term psychological effects on patients. One of the most significant psychological effects from prolonged hospitalization is delirium. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to assess the effect of prolonged hospitalization of patients and subsequent delirium in the intensive care unit. PATIENTS AND METHODS T...