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Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common gastrointestinal mesenchymal neoplasms. The risk factors for GISTs are older age and inherited genetic syndromes. Moreover, lifestyle-related or environmental causes of GISTs are unknown, and due to the lack of a similar study in the Babol region, we decided to investigate the frequency of GISTs in hospitals in Babol. Materials and Methods: The present study is a cross-sectional study performed on 30 cases of GISTs in the pathology archive of hospitals in Babol from March 21, 2010, to March 20, 2021. Patients’ information such as age, sex, family history, smoking, and clinical signs were evaluated. Results: In this study, the prevalence of GISTs was 5.81 per thousand. 16 (53.3%) patients were in the group of less than 57-year-olds, and 14 (46.7%) patients were aged more than 57 years. 18 (60%) patients were males and 12 (40%) were females. The stomach was the most common site of the stromal tumor, with a frequency of 16 (53.3%) cases. While the second and third categories were the esophagus with 10 (33.4%) cases and the intestine with 4 (13.3%) cases, respectively. Abdominal pain in 17 (56.7%) patients with stromal tumors was reported as the most common symptom. Conclusion: This study showed that the frequency of GISTs was similar to the results of studies inside and outside Iran. In addition, the prevalence of stromal tumors in the 50s and men was similar to other studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite all improvements in sanitation and exposure to antibiotics over time, Helicobacter pylori (HP) prevalence remains high, affecting the lives of about half of the world population, which can gradually lead to serious upper gastrointestinal disorders. Understanding HP's epidemiologic patterns help us to better manage the burden of this infection and to plan more effectively regarding potential screening or eradication strategies. We, therefore, aimed to report the crude and age- and sex-standardized prevalence rate of HP infection, its trend, and possible associated factors among asymptomatic healthy individuals in Rafsanjan city, a low-incidence area of gastric cancer (GC) in the southeast of Iran, from July 2018 to December 2021. Methods: This population-based cross-sectional descriptive study included 2,046 male and female subjects between 3 to 72 years who were in good health condition. Study participants were randomly selected from the Health Houses and each underwent a questionnaire-based interview and provided blood and feces samples. The presence of HP infection was detected by serum IgG antibodies and stool antigen test. Results: The overall and age- and sex-standardized prevalence rates of HP infection were 50.9% and 43%, respectively. The prevalence rate has notably decreased in all age groups compared with 2007. Also, it was significantly higher among men (P = 0.033) and increased with advancing age (P < 0.001). A higher population density living in a specific room area (P = 0.012) increased the likelihood of HP infection. Conclusion: To conclude, the prevalence of HP infection is decreasing over time in Rafsanjan city, which may be due to improvements in living standards in this area. A healthy lifestyle and adherence to hygienic principles, especially during childhood, may be required for a reduction in the prevalence of HP infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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BACKGROUND Dyspepsia is a common complaint among patients who refer to gastroenterology clinics. Studies have shown that there is a strong relationship between dyspepsia and Helicobacter pylori (HP) infection. We have investigated the prevalence of HP infection in patients with dyspepsia and its correlation with age and socioeconomic status (SES) of patients in Mazandaran province, northern Iran. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, patients with dyspepsia who had undergone upper gastrointestinal endoscopy were enrolled. Diagnosis of HP infection was according to the results of rapid urease test (RUT), and Giemsa staining of pathology samples. A questionnaire including endoscopic findings, demographic data, and SES information was completed for each patient. RESULTS The mean age of the 614 patients was 45.8±5 years, and 60% of them were female. Most patients had normal endoscopy (56.1%), and gastric ulcer and erosion was the most common abnormal endoscopic finding (24.7%). The prevalence of HP infection in patients with dyspepsia was about 66.6%. HP infection was associated with a lower prevalence in people aged below 30 years and good SES. CONCLUSION The prevalence of HP infection in patients with dyspepsia was 66.6%. In addition, HP infection rate was lower in people under the age of 30 years and patients with good SES. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Chronic constipation is a common problem in children, which may last for years and cause unpleasant effects on the patients' and their family's lives. Timely treatment can reduce the costs and complications. Re-admissions not only have a negative impact on the quality of life of the patients and their family but also has an adverse economic impact on the health system. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the frequency of constipation re-admissions and some related factors in Motahari Hospital of Urmia from 2013 to 2019. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, 1045 cases of constipated children were investigated from the beginning of 2013 to the end of 2019. At first, a checklist containing demographic information and clinical characteristics of all children admitted with constipation was prepared and completed, and then data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23. Results: Out of 1045 children with constipation, 48% were male, and 52% were female with a mean age of 5/1±2/92 years. 73.4% were urban, and 26.6% were rural residents, and 14% of the children were admitted more than once during 6 years. There was a significant relationship between age, weight, height, parental education, and place of residence with re-admissions in children with chronic constipation (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that the cornerstone of re-admissions due to chronic constipation in children might be multifactorial and needs complete evaluation of social, behavioral and health status of children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Celiac disease is a common disorder but there are few studies comparing the clinical features of the disease in adults, adolescents and children. METHODS Demographic and clinical characteristics of all patients with celiac disease referred to the Celiac Clinic were evaluated and compared in different age groups. RESULTS Of 3416 participants, 473 patients were included. 302 (63.8%) were women and 171 (36.2%) were men. Overall, 325 (68.7%) and 411 (86.9%) patients had gastrointestinal (GI) and non-GI manifestations, respectively. The most common symptom in adults was psychiatric problems (66.5%), while abdominal discomfort was the most common symptom in adolescents (45.2%) and children (53.8%). According to age groups, GI manifestations were seen in 79 (66.4%), 119 (59.8%), and 127 (81.9%) children, adolescents, and adults, respectively. Adults had significantly more GI manifestations than the other groups (PR 1.167; 95% CI: 1.094- 1.244; p < 0.001). Non-GI manifestations were seen in 90 (75.6%), 174 (87.4%), and 147 (94.8%) children, adolescents, and adults, respectively. Adults had significantly more non-GI manifestations than the other groups (PR 1.112; 95% CI: 1.060-1.168; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION Our study showed that there were significant differences in the clinical features of celiac disease between the different age groups. Considering these results may help plan for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Liver diseases have a lot of pain and suffering for the patients and also cost a lot to cure. In this study, we tried to collect comprehensive and applied information about the incidence of these diseases in Abadan and Khorramshahr cities and provide it to the ministry of health and public opinion. Materials and Methods: Referring to the medical records department of Ayatollah Taleghani and Shahid Beheshti Hospitals in Abadan city and Valiasr Hospital in Khorramshahr city, information about patients with liver diseases from 2012 to 2017 were collected from the Hospital Information System (HIS) of the hospitals. The findings were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: In our study 62.1% of the patients were male and 37.9% were female. The highest frequency of liver diseases was in the age group of 35-44 years. The lowest incidence was in the age group of less than 1 year and 1-4 years. The most common causes were cirrhosis (319 cases), inflammatory liver disease (121 cases), other specified liver diseases (133 cases), liver failure (71 cases), secondary malignant neoplasm (52 cases), hepatitis C (53 cases), hepatitis B (25 cases), and Fatty liver (20 cases). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it was observed that the prevalence of liver diseases, especially liver cirrhosis, was the highest. As a result, people need to modify their lifestyle and consider weight loss, low-fat diet, and increased physical activity to reduce their body mass index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is a common and life-threatening problem. The identification of high-risk patients with regard to the need for urgent endoscopy and immediate intervention in patients with acute UGIB is a challenge for emergency physicians. The use of Rockall and Blatchford scoring systems has diminished this challenge to some extent. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of Blatchford and Rockall systems in the outcomes of patients with UGIB referred to Emergency Department of Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Qom. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective analytic study, using a checklist of Blatchford and Rockall Scoring Systems and an easy sampling method, the clinical records of 194 patients with UGIB who aged over 18 years and had no trauma referring from 2013 to 2016 to the Emergency Department of Shahid Beheshti Hospital were studied. The role of Blatchford and Rockall Scoring Systems was investigated by Statistical tests regard to the significance level of p = 0.05. Results: This study showed a significant relationship between the interventions for patients with UGIB in Shahid Beheshti Hospital with predicted interventions by the Blatchford Scoring System (p = 0.000, kappa = 0.294). Also, there was a significant relationship between the place of admission of patients in Shahid Beheshti Hospital with predicted place of hospitalization determined by Rockall (p = 0.000, kappa = 0.182). Also, there was a significant relationship between age and Rockall Scoring System (p < 0.00001). Conclusion: The Blatchford Scoring System can be used as a clinical guide to determine the type of treatment intervention immediately and in the emergency department as a clinical guide to determine the type of patient's care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Recently treatments of advanced CRC have been immensely improved. In this study we reported the current state of advanced CRC in Iran regarding treatment and outcomes from 2000 to 2016. METHODS 370 subjects with stage III or IV of the disease were included in this study. Pathological subtypes other than adenocarcinoma were excluded. Demographics and other relevant clinical data were collected. RESULTS Mean age at diagnosis was 55.4 ± 12.6 years. Significant differences regarding the age, sex, primary tumor complication and location, lymph node involvement, and tumor size were not detected between patients with stage III and IV. Overall survival rate at 5 years was 69.5% (95% confidence interval: 60.8% - 76.6%) and 21.73% (95% CI: 12.46% - 32.70%) for patients with stage III and IV, respectively. Analysis of prognostic factors revealed that tumor grade was an independent factor predicting poorer outcome (poorly differentiated vs. well or moderately differentiated). Furthermore, in stage IV of the disease, IVb subgroup was found to be associated with a poorer outcome compared with stage IVa. CONCLUSION Even with the acceptable survival rates and more effective treatments, it seems that clinicopathological characteristics have yet the most important prognostic effect in advanced CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Despite progress in the health indexes in recent years, health inequalities remain as a global challenge within and between regions and countries. This study is the first to quantify the socioeconomic inequity in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) using the concentration index. METHODS In this cross-sectional study, we used baseline data (7012 subjects) from the Fasa Cohort Study (the Southern Iran). The principal component analysis was used to construct socioeconomic status of the participants. The concentration index and concentration curve were used to measure socioeconomic- related inequality in GERD. Decomposition of concentration index was also done to identify the contribution of each explanatory variable to the wealth-related inequality in GERD prevalence. RESULTS The prevalence of GERD was 16.9% (95% CI: 15.9-17.7%). The overall concentration index for GERD was 0.093 (95% CI: 0.062-0.166]. Correspondingly, this figure for men and women were 0.116 (95% CI: 0.062-0.171%) and 0.091 (95% CI: 0.044-0.137%), respectively. The main contributors of socioeconomic-related inequality in GERD prevalence were socioeconomic status (64.4%), alcohol drinking (29%), and age (8.4%). CONCLUSION GERD is significantly more concentrated among richest people. There was significant socioeconomic inequality in GERD according to some individual factors. These inequalities need to be addressed by policy makers to identify the vulnerable subgroups and to reduce the disease burden in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is increasing worldwide. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of GERD in Pars Cohort Study (PCS) and to find its correlates. METHODS We used the baseline data from PCS. PCS was conducted in the district of Valashahr in Fars province in southern Iran from 2012 to 2014. 9264 inhabitants who were 40-75 years old, and agreed to participate were enrolled. Data were collected by a structured questionnaire and simple physical examination of all participants. RESULTS Generally, 58.50% (95% CI 57.49 - 59.51) of the participants had GERD and 25.10% (95% CI 24.22 - 25.99) experienced it at least weekly. Approximately, 32.0%, 52.0%, and 24.4% of the participants reported heart burn sensation, regurgitation, and both symptoms, respectively. Being female (OR: 1.45, 95% CI 1.27 - 1.65), being older (OR: 1.20, 95% CI 1.06 - 1.36), being divorced/ widowed/separated (OR: 1.38, 95% CI 1.01 - 1.91), and lower education (OR: 1.43, 95% CI 1.02 - 2.03) were associated with frequent GERD. CONCLUSION GERD is common in PCS and its prevalence is close to that in western countries. Being female, higher age, being divorced/widowed/separated, lower education, history of hypertension, anxiety, insomnia, and non-cigarette tobacco smoking were associated with frequent GERD. We are going to investigate the causal relationship between these risk factors and GERD in the next stages of PCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND The number of patients with gastric cancer is growing worldwide. In Iran (in 2009) of 74067 new cases of cancer, 6886 were diagnosed as having gastric cancer. This study was conducted to investigate 5-year survival rate for gastric cancer in Yazd province, central Iran. METHODS In this descriptive study, the medical records of patients with gastric cancer were collected from the archives of Yazd hospitals from 2001 to 2008. The data gathered included age, sex, type of histopathology, site of involvement, cancer staging, and mode of treatment, which were analyzed using SPSS software version 11.5. To investigate the survival and the factors influencing the survival time of patients, which are the main objectives of this study, Kaplan-Meier method was used and Cox proportional hazards model was fitted to the data. To compare survival function in different subgroups, the log rank test or generalized Wilcoxon test was used. RESULTS 295 cases of gastric cancer were enrolled in the study. The mean age of the subjects was 59.3 ± 9 years. 5-year survival rate of the patients was calculated as 18% where the highest rate was 39% for the age group of 50-60 years and the lowest was 3% for the age group of above 80 years. 5-year survival rates in different groups were as follows: 32% in women, 13% in men; 16% in adenocarcinoma, 46% in other pathologies; 16% in gastric cardia involvement, 17% in antrum; 59% in stage 1, 31% in stage 2, 13% in stage 3, and 3% in stage 4. CONCLUSION The results of this study showed that age, stage of the cancer, mode of therapy, and type of histopathology affected the survival rate of gastric cancer. No significant association was found between the site of involvement and survival rate. In general, the survival rate for gastric cancer was low, which might be due to slow but steady progress of the disease and delayed referral of the patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the cause of most cases of peptic ulcers and gastric cancers and cause some of the most important cause of stomach cancer and lymphoma. The objective of this study was to evaluate the time trend of Helicobacter pylori prevalence and presence of intestinal Metaplasia over the period of 7 years in gastritis Iranian patients. Materials and Methods: In this cross-section study data related to H. pylori and intestinal Metaplasia (IM) among 14,860 consecutive gastritis patients, who referred to the gastrointestinal department of Tehran's Taleghani Hospital in Iran, was examined across the sex and age group. Results: The overall prevalence rate among patient with H. pylori infection was 83.5% (12406/14860) and 11,394 (84.1%) of them were related to the gastritis. The prevalence rate of H. pylori among patient with gastritis significantly higher (p<0.05) compared to patients without gastritis. In addition, the prevalence decreased with age while the presence of intestinal metaplasia increased with age (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the prevalence of H. pylori infection in Iranian population has declined in recent years; nevertheless it seems to be highly prevalent in Iran. We also find a significant positive relationship between H. pylori infection and IM with gastritis. There is no association between sex and infection but in contrast with the most studies its prevalence decreased with age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Blood born viral infections such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) are major concerns in chronic hemodialysis (CHD) patients and hemodialysis units. Undetected HBs Ag in the presence of viral DNA, occult HBV infection (OBI), is a concern in the care of CHD patients and hemodialysis unit as a mode of transmission. Objectives In this case-control study we compare the frequency of OBI in the CHD patients with the normal population. Materials and Methods: 82 consecutive CHD patients and 82 healthy individuals without any risk factors for HBV infection were enrolled in this study. A selection criterion was negative serum HBs Ag by ELISA method. Subsequently, the sera were tested for HBV DNA by nested PCR method. Results: In the CHD group, 55 (67.1%) were male and 27 (32.9%) were female, with the overall mean age of 54.32 ± 13.67 years old. The mean age of control group was 32.65 ± 8.51 years old, with 26 (31.7%) male and 56 female (69.3%). HBV DNA was present in 9 (11%) CHD patients, 4 (8%) of whom were seronegative for anti-HBc and anti-HBs antibodies. No HBV DNA was identified in the control group (p<0.0001). History of blood transfusion was present in all OBI CHD patients and 59 (80.9%) of non-OBI CHD patients. Duration of hemodialysis in OBI CHD and non-OBI CHD patients were 73.56 ± 39.53 and 44.24 ± 24.59 months, respectively (p =0.002). Conclusion: The prevalence of occult HBV infection is relatively high in patients with chronic hemodialysis in our region. Duration of hemodialysis and history of blood transfusion are important risk factor for OBI infection. A more sensitive method, such as PCR, may need to be considered in this patient population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]