Central auditory processing and word discrimination in patients with multiple sclerosis

Many multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with normal pure tone threshold suffer from difficulties in their hearing especially speech perception in background noise, which is possibly because of incompetence of central auditory processing in this group. Three audiologic tests including gap in noise test (GIN), duration pattern sequence test (DPST) and word discrimination score (WDS) were used for comparing a number of aspects of central auditory processing between patients with MS and normal subjects. Approximate threshold and percent of correct answers in GIN test, percent of correct answers in DPST test and monosyllabic discrimination in WDS test were obtained through cross-sectional non-invasive study conducted on 26 subjects with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis who had mean age of 28.9 (SD 4.1) years, and 26 18–40-year-old ones with normal hearing and mean age of 27.7 (SD 5.2). Results of this study demonstrate increased approximate threshold and reduction of percent of correct answers obtained from GIN test in patients with multiple sclerosis (Pv = 0.0001). Furthermore in patients with MS, the average of correct answers in DPST was lower than normal subjects and finally performance of MS subjects in WDS test in quiet environment was correlated with GIN threshold (r = ?/624, Pr = /003). Results of the present study showed that patients with MS had defect in aspects of central auditory processing consisting of temporal resolution, auditory pattern and the memory for auditory task and difficulty in discrimination of speech in noisy environment that are related to the involvement of central nervous system.     

Changes in blood β-hydroxybutyrate and glucose concentrations during dry and lactation periods in Iranian Holstein cows

Clinical and subclinical ketoses are important metabolic diseases in dairy cattle during early lactation and are associated with losses in milk production and several other periparturient diseases. Limited information is available regarding the prevalence of clinical and subclinical ketoses in dairy herds in Iran. The objectives of this study were (1) to detect serum β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) and glucose concentrations during pre- and postparturition periods, (2) to investigate the correlation between the blood concentrations of BHB and glucose pre- and postpartum, and (3) to establish a cutoff point of blood BHB concentration for detection of subclinical ketosis (SCK) in Iranian Holstein cow. In the present study, blood BHB and glucose concentrations of 13 Iranian Holstein cows (4–6 years old) from three commercial dairy herds were measured at 60, 30, and 7 days before and 30 and 60 days after calving. Cows had the highest concentration of BHB and the lowest concentration of glucose at 30 days postpartum period, which were significantly (p < 0.05) different from the prepartum period. High negative correlation coefficients (p < 0.05) were observed between serum BHB and glucose concentrations at 7 days prepartum (r = −0.84) and 30 days postpartum (r = −0.76) periods. The distribution of blood BHB concentrations seemed to suggest a cutoff point of 1,200 μmol/l to distinguish healthy cows from cows with SCK. At this cutoff point, 15.4% of cows had serum BHB concentration higher than the cutoff point of 1,200 μmol/l. The results of this study showed that the concentration of blood BHB during lactation is significantly higher than in the dry period, possibly due to higher energy demands of animals at this time, and the peak prevalence of SCK occurs in the first month after calving.     

Idiopathic focal segmental glomerulosclerosis

This study was conducted to determine the prognostic value of some clinical, laboratory, histopathologic and therapeutic factors in 62 children with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. There were no significant differences between the factors studied, except for severe interstitial fibrosis, which was more frequent in patients with chronic kidney disease (P=0.03). The prevalence of chronic kidney disease in non-responder groups was significantly higher (P<0.05). We found therapy with cyclophosphamide to be promising in patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.     

Usefulness of procalcitonin rapid test for the diagnosis of acute pyelonephritis in children in the emergency department

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common problem in children. The aim of this study was to determine the usefulness of the procalcitonin (PCT) rapid test in the diagnosis of renal involvement in children with urinary tract infection. Methods: Through a case series study, PCT and C‐reactive protein rapid tests were measured in children with proven UTI at the Tehran Children's Medical Center, Iran. One‐hundred patients aged 1 month–14 years old (19 boys and 81 girls) with documented UTI were enrolled in the study. Results: Of 100 children, 62 patients (62%) had renal involvement on the basis of abnormal Tc‐dimercaptosuccinic acid scintigraphy and 38 patients (38%) had infection restricted to the lower urinary tract. There were no differences related to age or gender among the groups. The sensitivity and specificity of PCT were 77% and 89%, respectively, in prediction of renal involvement, whereas C‐reactive protein had a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 65%. Conclusion: We concluded that a rapid determination of PCT concentration could be useful for the management of children with febrile UTI in the emergency room.