Prognostic Factors of the Primary Central Nervous System Lymphoma: Clinical Experience from a Tertiary Care Center in the Middle East.

 Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare extra nodal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The optimal treatment for PCNSL is still unclear. In this study, we present our experience with management of PCNSL in a tertiary care center in Iran.

Meningioma as the host for metastatic breast cancer: A rare occurrence with important therapeutic impact.

Background: Tumor-to-tumor metastasis is a rare condition. There are few reports of metastatic tumors within intracranial tumors, including meningiomas. Since some metastatic tumors have osteoblastic imaging pattern, it is not always easy to differentiate them from meningioma on preoperative studies.

Association between Serum Levels of Interleukin-6 on Pain and Disability in Lumbar Disc Herniation Surgery.

Context: Many inflammatory cytokines are also elevated in degenerated or herniated intervertebral discs. Among biomarkers, interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays an essential role in the inflammatory process of disc herniation. Some studies have suggested that an increase in serum IL-6 levels occurs in sustained radicular pain.

The Impact Of Gene (SDH) Mutations In Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC): A Systematic Review.

Introduction: Renal cell cancer (RCC) syndrome is linked to Krebs cycle compartments and their coding genes' alterations like genes (). Here we present a systematic review of the SDH genes' mutations and their impact on both RCC diagnosis and prognosis.

Methods: This systematic review includes any study in which tissue samples of RCC are considered in correlation with the SDHx mutations, microsatellite instability (MSI), and protein expression.

Feasibility and Data Quality of the National Spinal Cord Injury Registry of Iran (NSCIR-IR): A Pilot Study.

Background: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most disabling consequences of trauma with unparalleled economic, social, and personal burden. Any attempt aimed at improving quality of care should be based on comprehensive and reliable data. This pilot investigation studied the feasibility of implementing the National Spinal Cord and Column Injury Registry of Iran (NSCIR-IR) and scrutinized the quality of the registered data.

Is There an Association Between Lumbosacral Radiculopathy and Painful Gluteal Trigger Points?: A Cross-sectional Study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the prevalence of gluteal trigger point in patients with lumbosacral radiculopathy with that in healthy volunteers.

Design: In a cross-sectional, multistage sampling method, patients with clinical, electromyographic, and magnetic resonance imaging findings consistent with lumbosacral radiculopathy were examined for the presence of gluteal trigger point. Age- and sex-matched clusters of healthy volunteers were selected as the control group.

Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of methanolic extract and essential oil of Iranian Teucrium polium against some of phytobacteria.

The antibacterial activity of essential oil and methanolic extract of Teucrium polium was determined against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pantoea agglomerans, Brenneria nigrifluens, Rhizobium radiobacter, Rhizobium vitis, Streptomyces scabies, Ralstonia solanacearum, Xanthomonas campestris and Pectobacterium cartovorum by disc diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration were determined by using the serial dilution method. Chemical composition of essential oil and methanolic extract was determined by GC-MS and HPLC.

Reliability, validity, and sensitivity measures of expanded and revised version of the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ-2) in Iranian patients with neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess validity, reliability, and sensitivity of the Persian version of the short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire 2 (SF-MPQ-2) in patients with neuropathic and non-neuropathic pain.

Design: Beaton's guideline was used to translate and adapt the SF-MPQ-2 to Persian.

Subjects: One hundred eighty-four patients with subacute and chronic non-neuropathic pain and 74 patients with painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy (total 258) attending multidisciplinary pain clinic participated in the study.

Results from the translation and adaptation of the Iranian Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (I-SF-MPQ): preliminary evidence of its reliability, construct validity and sensitivity in an Iranian pain population.

Background: The Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) is one of the most widely used instruments to assess pain. The aim of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the questionnaire for Farsi (the official language of Iran) speakers in order to test its reliability and sensitivity.

Methods: We followed Guillemin's guidelines for cross-cultural adaption of health-related measures, which include forward-backward translations, expert committee meetings, and face validity testing in a pilot group.

Cerebral tuberculoma in pregnancy: overview of the literature and report of a case.

Tubercle bacilli infect about one third of the world's population and over the past decade resurgence of tuberculosis has been a major health threat mainly due to increasing frequencies of immunosuppressive states and drug-resistant organisms. Although tuberculosis is essentially a lung disease, intracranial elements become involved in 5-10% of cases either as meningitis or tumour-like masses (tuberculoma). Tuberculoma is common in endemic areas but its occurrence during pregnancy is occasional and of particular interest is its intriguing clinical picture mimicking toxemia of pregnancy and brain tumor.

Papules arising after radiotherapy for rhabdomyosarcoma.

Radiation therapy, even at low doses, can induce a wide spectrum of vascular skin proliferations ranging from nonmalignant ones, such as benign lymphangiomatous papules (BLAP), to frankly malignant pathologies, such as angiosarcoma. We describe a 50-year-old Caucasian woman with a past history of uterine rhabdomyosarcoma, treated 22 years prior with surgical excision, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. She presented with a few skin-colored papules and a clear discharge located in the previously irradiated area (right inguinal region).

Epidemiologic patterns of primary brain tumors in Iran.

There appear to be some differences between the patterns of brain tumor epidemiology in Iran and western countries. Thus, the prevalence of glioma was earlier estimated to be about 45% of all brain tumors, somewhat low in comparison to the western reports at that time, but almost the same as in Southeast Asian countries. A similar low figure was also obtained more recently indicating that the earlier estimate was not simply due to the lack of medical facilities resulting in under-reporting of this particularly malignant form of cancer.

Arginine metabolism in tumor-associated macrophages in cutaneous malignant melanoma: evidence from human and experimental tumors.

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) may elicit contrasting effects on tumor growth, depending on their biological activities. Macrophages use arginine either to synthesize nitric oxide (NO) through the inducible NO synthase (iNOS) or to produce ornithine through arginase activity. Although the effects of NO are primarily cytotoxic, production of ornithine may promote tumor cell proliferation.

Expression of protease-activated receptor-1 and -2 in orofacial granulomatosis.

Objective: Orofacial granulomatosis (OFG) is a rare condition characterized by non-caseating granulomas in the orofacial region. Protease-Activated Receptors (PARs) play a role in inflammatory diseases in diverse human tissues. The aim of the study was to investigate the expression of PAR-1, PAR-2, MMP-2, MMP-9, COX-1, and COX-2 in tissues taken from OFG patients.

Primary anetoderma and HIV infection: a case report.

Anetoderma is characterized by circumscribed areas of flaccid skin caused by the loss of elastic tissue in the dermis. It may be primary or secondary to various dermatoses. The primary form has been reported in patients with autoimmune diseases, increased levels of antiphospholipid antibodies, prothrombotic abnormalities, and recently, HIV-1 disease.

Tumour lymphangiogenesis is a possible predictor of sentinel lymph node status in cutaneous melanoma: a case-control study.

Background: Cutaneous melanoma spreads preferentially through the lymphatic route and sentinel lymph node (SLN) status is regarded as the most important predictor of survival.

Aims: To evaluate whether tumour lymphangiogenesis and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) is related to the risk of SLN metastasis and to clinical outcome in a case-control series of patients with melanoma.

Methods: Forty five invasive melanoma specimens (15 cases and 30 matched controls) were investigated by immunostaining for the lymphatic endothelial marker D2-40 and for VEGF-C.

Expression of protease-activated receptors 1 and 2 in melanocytic nevi and malignant melanoma.

Protease-activated receptors (PARs) are members of the G protein-coupled receptor superfamily that are activated by the proteolytic cleavage of their amino terminal domain. PAR-1 activation by thrombin results in several biologic effects, including platelet adhesion to other cells or extracellular matrix, fibroblast, and endothelial cell growth, whereas PAR-2, activated by trypsin, has mainly a proinflammmatory and angiogenetic role. PAR-1 and PAR-2 modulate cell proliferation in physiopathologic cell invasion processes, suggesting that they may play a role in the setting of cancer growth and metastasis.

Vasculogenic mimicry has no prognostic significance in pT3 and pT4 cutaneous melanoma.

The concept of vasculogenic mimicry has been introduced to define periodic acid-Schiff (PAS)-positive channels and loops lined by tumor cells, instead of endothelium, able to contribute to microcirculation in uveal melanomas. Previous studies have shown that the PAS-positive patterns are associated with a poor prognosis in uveal melanoma. The aim of the current study was to investigate whether vasculogenic mimicry has a prognostic impact in pT3 and pT4 cutaneous melanoma.

Paraganglioma of the nasal cavity: a case report.

We describe the case of a 72-year-old woman presenting with a 1-year history of recurrent epistaxis and unilateral progressive nasal obstruction with associated rhinolalia resulting from the presence of a tumor mass occupying two-thirds of the right nasal cavity. Histopathologically, neoplastic cells or "chief cells" were arranged in well-defined nests, which had the classic alveolar or so-called "zellballen" pattern. Immunohistochemical studies highlighted the presence of S-100 protein-positive sustentacular cells located at the periphery of the clusters of chief cells.