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Carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) could be considered for preventing stroke in patients with carotid artery stenosis. This study aimed to determine the incidence and the risk factors of the early and mid-term complications associated with CAS.This is a retrospective cohort study conducted at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences from March 2011 to March 2019. Patients at high risk and standard risk for carotid endarterectomy were included. The primary composite outcome was defined as stroke, myocardial infarction (MI), and death in the first 30 days after CAS. All-cause mortality, vascular mortality, and stroke were investigated during mid-term follow-up.A total of 579 patients (618 CAS) were recruited (mean age: 71.52 years). Overall, 394 (68.40%), 211 (36.63%), 179 (31.07%), and 96 (16.72%) patients had hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, or were cigarette smokers, respectively. Primary composite outcomes were observed in 2.59% of patients (1.55% stroke, 0.69% MI, and 1.72% death). Atrial fibrillation was a predictor of primary composite outcome in multivariate logistic regression (p = .048). The presence of total occlusion in the contralateral carotid artery was significantly associated with the risk of stroke in univariate logistic regression (p = .041). The patients were followed for a period ranging from 1 to 83 months. The overall survival rate for all-cause mortality was 93.48% at 1 year, 77.24% at 5 years, and 52.92% at 8 years. All-cause mortality was significantly higher among patients with symptomatic carotid stenosis (p = .014).CAS provides acceptable short-term and mid-term outcomes in a unique population of high- and standard-surgical-risk, symptomatic and asymptomatic, octogenarian, and nonoctogenarian patients.

Objectives: There are several reports of the association between SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19) and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). In this study, we aimed to compare the hospitalization rate of CVST before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (before vaccination program). Materials and methods: In this retrospective cohort study, the hospitalization rate of adult CVST patients in Namazi hospital, a tertiary referral center in the south of Iran, was compared in two periods of time. We defined March 2018 to March 2019 as the pre-COVID-19 period and March 2020 to March 2021 as the COVID-19 period. Results: 50 and 77 adult CVST patients were hospitalized in the pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods, respectively. The crude CVST hospitalization rate increased from 14.33 in the pre-COVID-19 period to 21.7 per million in the COVID-19 era (P = 0.021). However, after age and sex adjustment, the incremental trend in hospitalization rate was not significant (95% CrI: -2.2, 5.14). Patients > 50-year-old were more often hospitalized in the COVID-19 period (P = 0.042). SARS-CoV-2 PCR test was done in 49.3% out of all COVID-19 period patients, which were positive in 6.5%. Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score ≥3 at three-month follow-up was associated with age (P = 0.015) and malignancy (P = 0.014) in pre-COVID period; and was associated with age (P = 0.025), altered mental status on admission time (P

Background Aneurysm formation of internal carotid arteries (ICA) in patients with mucormycosis is a scarce phenomenon. However, the prevalence of rhino-cerebral mucormycosis has been reported to increase after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods Three patients with stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage due to ICA aneurysm after the involvement of adjacent paranasal sinuses with mucormycosis were presented. All patients were recruited from Namazi and Khalili hospitals affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran from April 2021 to May 2021. Results They had a history of diabetes and corticosteroid use. Also, one of them was treated with imatinib. Two out of three patients were infected with SARS-CoV-2 infection before developing mucormycosis. Two patients had diagnostic angiography before endovascular intervention. One patient did not undergo any therapeutic intervention due to total artery occlusion, whereas the other patient experienced a successful parent artery occlusion by coiling, and only this patient survived. Although all patients received antifungal treatment and surgical debridement, two of them died. Conclusions In the patients with rhino-cerebral mucormycosis evolving of aneurysm should be promptly and meticulously investigated by magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and computed tomography angiography (CTA). As this type of aneurysms was very fast-growing, as soon as the involvement of sphenoid sinus was detected, the possibility of ICA aneurysm formation should always be kept in mind. If the patient developed an aneurysm, prompt intensive antifungal therapy and therapeutic endovascular interventions such as stenting, coiling, or sacrificing should be considered as soon as possible to optimize outcomes.

Objectives: Cholinergic system dysfunction was found to play a key role in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis. Therefore, the animal model of scopolamine-induced amnesia has been widely used in ...

Background: Migraine headache is an episodic abnormality which usually presents with a severe headache, accompanied by nausea, photo and sound sensitivity, and autonomic symptoms. Iron accumulation in brain, especially peri-aqueductal grey is associated with duration of the disease, and apparently there is an association between body iron storage status and the incidence of migraine; hence, the present study was conducted to investigate the plausible association between iron-deficiency anemia and migraine in a case-control design. Materials and Methods: After signing the written informed consent, the blood samples were collected by a well-trained technician from the patients proved to have migraine, those having migraine clinical criteria and those having migraine attack frequency as high as that prophylaxis was required, and non-migraine healthy individuals, those having not migraine and anemia except iron-deficiency anemia. Based on the sample size, each group composed of samples with at least 100 individuals. Results: There were statistically significant differences between female cases and controls regarding hemoglobin, serum ferritin levels and iron-deficiency anemia (P-value: .0004; .006; .001), but no differences were observed among males (P-value: .606; .38; .303). Furthermore, the case-control comparisons revealed a significant difference in iron-deficiency anemia (P-value: .032), but no significant difference was seen in hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels (P-value: .161; .178). Conclusion: The present study suggests an association between iron-deficiency anemia, hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels and the incidence of migraine in females. As a result, there might be an association between body iron storage status and the incidence of migraine, especially among females, reflecting the fact that iron supplements might be an effective treatment or prophylaxis in patients with migraine associated with iron-deficiency anemia. However, further studies are required to provide a conclusive answer to the issues remained controversial.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Urinary dysfunctions occur in the majority of MS patients and these patients are at higher risks of developing UTI due to multiple reasons. We determined to study the association between different urinary symptoms and UTI in MS patients. MATERIAL & METHOD: Eighty seven MS patients that referred to our medical care center with an acute attack of the disease, from November 2012 to April 2014, were included in the study. Patients were classified into two groups based on their urine culture results: UTI positive and non-UTI patients. The prevalence of different types of urinary symptoms was then compared among the two groups. RESULT: The mean age of our patients was 36.8 years old. From the total 87 patients, 83 (95.4%) were female. Overall 56.3% of patients displayed urinary symptoms. The most prevalent urinary problems were urinary incontinence and frequency (25.3% and 24.1%, respectively). A positive urinary culture was seen in 71.3% of the patients. The prevalence of urinary problems was significantly higher in UTI patients in comparison to non-UTI patients (64.5% and 40% in UTI and non-UTI patients, respectively; p=0.036). Separately none of the different urinary symptoms displayed a significant difference between UTI and non-UTI patients (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: Not a single symptom can be diagnostic of UTI, but MS patient with urinary tract infections do present more urinary symptoms and this can be an indication for further urine analysis and screening measures for MS patients who display more urinary symptoms.