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More than half of the world population lives in Asia and hypertension (HTN) is the most prevalent risk factor found in Asia. There are numerous articles published about HTN in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO) and artificial intelligence (AI) methods can analyze articles and extract top trends in each country. Present analysis uses Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) as an algorithm of topic modeling (TM) in text mining, to obtain subjective topic-word distribution from the 2790 studies over the EMRO. The period of checked studied is last 12 years and results of LDA analyses show that HTN researches published in EMRO discuss on changes in BP and the factors affecting it. Among the countries in the region, most of these articles are related to I.R Iran and Egypt, which have an increasing trend from 2017 to 2018 and reached the highest level in 2021. Meanwhile, Iraq and Lebanon have been conducting research since 2010. The EMRO word cloud illustrates 'BMI', 'mortality', 'age', and 'meal', which represent important indicators, dangerous outcomes of high BP, and gender of HTN patients in EMRO, respectively.

Introduction: The implant of tunneled catheters, may be associated with some complications such as bleeding after insertion. We aimed this study to present a modified method for catheter insertion to prevent bleeding after the procedure., Method: The study included the analysis of retrospective results of 5339 tunneled catheter insertion procedures in our center, 5005 of which were performed using the standard method, and in 334 cases, the modified technique was applied., Results: Applying a two-mattress suture was a safe and easy to apply and useful method for tunneled catheter insertion in our center. We reported only one bleeding around the catheter entry site with this modified technique of tunneled catheter removal. While the standard and routine technique was associated with 39 cases of bleeding., Discussion and Conclusion: In our practice, the two-mattress suture procedure is the simplest and best method of central venous catheter insertion in hemodialysis patients and it is associated with less bleeding around the catheter entry site, so, it can be applied over the world., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the association of different risk factors including vitamin-D level with catheter-related-thrombosis in hemodialysis patients by applying data mining techniques., Methods: This study used the retrospectively approach and was done based on the CRISP-DM framework. The data of 1048 hemodialysis patients of Hasheminejad Kidney Center whose first catheterization was between 2014 and 2019 was used for analysis. In this study, patients with a previous history of deep venous thrombosis, thrombophilic condition, and undergone anticoagulant therapy were excluded. The decision tree J48 in WEKA software was used for modeling. The K-fold cross-validation method was also used to evaluate the classification performance. Finally, the model was evaluated by using Confusion Matrix and F-Measure., Results: The approved model was accurate in 70.3% of the predictions, and it demonstrated an association between patients' vitamin-D range and catheter-related-thrombosis., Conclusion: The results indicated that in hemodialysis patients without the history of cancer or high blood pressure, vitamin-D had a significant impact on catheter related thrombosis., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Hemodialysis tunneled catheters are prone to failure due to infection or thrombosis. Prediction of catheter dysfunction chance and finding the predisposing risk factors might help clinicians to prolong proper catheter function. The multidimensional mechanism of failures following infection or thrombosis needs a multivariable and comprehensive analytic approach., Methods: A longitudinal cross-sectional study was implemented on 1048 patients admitted for the first hemodialysis tunneled catheterization attempt between 2013 and 2019 in Shahid Hasheminejdad hospital, Tehran, Iran. Patients' information was extracted from digital and also paper records. Based on their criteria, single and multiple variable analyses were done separately in patients with catheter dysfunction due to thrombosis and infection. T-test and Chi-square test were performed in quantitative and categorical variables, respectively. Competing risk regression was performed under the assumption of proportionality for infection and thrombosis, and the sub-distributional hazard ratios (SHR) were calculated. All statistical inferences were made with a significance level of 0.05., Results: Four hundred sixty-six patients were enrolled in the analysis based on study criteria. Samples' mean (SD) age was 54(15.54), and 322 (69.1%) patients were female. Three hundred sixty-five catheter dysfunction cases were observed due to thrombosis 123(26.4%) and infection 242(52%). The Median (range) time to catheter dysfunction event was 243(36-1131) days. Single variable analysis showed a statistically significant higher proportion of thrombosis in females (OR = 2.66, 95% CI: 1.77-4.00) and younger patients, respectively. Multivariate competing risk regression showed a statistically significant higher risk of thrombosis in females (Sub-distributional hazard (SHR) = 1.81), hypertensive (SHR = 1.82), and more obese patients (BMI SHR = 1.037). A higher risk of infection was calculated in younger (Age SHR = 0.98) and diabetic (SHR = 1.63) patients using the same method., Conclusion: Female and hypertensive patients are considerably at higher risk of catheter thrombosis, whereas diabetes is the most critical risk factor for infectious catheter dysfunction. Competing risk regression analysis showed a comprehensive result in the assessment of risk factors of catheter dysfunction., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Identification and control of clinical predictors of arteriovenous (AVF) failure can improve the long-term outcome of hemodialysis patients. The effects of these factors on the outcome of AVF are not still clear. So, we aimed this study to compare the effect of hypertension and diabetes on early failure of AVF. Methods: In this retrospective study, we evaluated 400 patients with ESRD referred to our clinic for the creation of the first AVF from July 14, 2001, through August 7, 2018. One month after AVF creation, the patients were referred to the clinic for patency control. Demographic characteristics, previous history of diabetes and hypertension, and laboratory data of all patients were recorded preoperatively. Data were entered to SPSS v.24 and Study data were analyzed with chi-square and independent student t-test. Then, early failure of AVF and its relationship with a history of diabetes and hypertension were assessed. Results: There was no statistically significant relationship between the history of diabetes and early AVF failure risk in ESRD patients (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.25 to 2.43). Furthermore, the history of hypertension was significantly lower in the early failure of AVF group (OR, -2.82; 95% CI, -1.42 to -5.59). Although, this effect faded when using regression analysis (OR, -2.67; 95% CI, -0.97 to -7.36). There was a higher Body mass index in the non-early failure group ( p = 0.041). There was no significant difference in age ( p = 0.512), gender ( p = 0.091), history of smoking ( p = 0.605), treatment with insulin ( p = 0.683), oral antidiabetic agents ( p = 0.734), duration of diabetes ( p = 0.384), and duration of hypertension ( p = 0.093). Conclusion: We reported that the history of diabetes was not higher in the early failure group, while there was a lower risk of AVF failure in patients with a previous history of hypertension., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (© 2022 Iran University of Medical Sciences.)

Background: The survival of arteriovenous fistula (AVF) remains an important problem for hemodialysis patients, accounting for 20% of all hospitalizations related to AV access problems in western countries. We designed an observational prospective cohort study on 265 AVFs and evaluated their results after 4 months of fistula creation and its relation to laboratory tests as ESR and CRP levels. Methods: Wrist or antecubital AVFs were created for patients with End-Stage renal disease. All laboratory tests (ESR and CRP) were checked quantitatively. The patients were followed-upfor at least 4 months and failure or maturation of AVFs were recorded in a checklist. Results: 177 (66.8%) males and 88 (33.2%) females were included. The surgeon created 161(60.8%) wrist and 98 (37%) antecubital AVFs. The mean age of patients was 53.18±17.1, ranged from 8 to 91 years old. CRP and total protein had significant differences between the two groups of failure and mature accesses (0.029 and 0.045 respectively). Conclusion: High CRP level is recognized as a reliable predictor for the survival of AVF., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: None declared, (© 2021 Iran University of Medical Sciences.)

Background: The standard surgical treatment for low rectal cancer is abdominoperineal resection (APR). Comparing to primary closure, immediate flap reconstruction has shown to have good outcomes. We aimed to assess the inferior rectus abdominis muscle flap complications after APR surgery, a new method of reconstruction., Methods: This study was conducted from 2014 to 2016 in a single center in Firoozgar Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Eighteen patients who underwent pelvic floor closure with inferior part of abdominis rectus musculofascial flap were included enrolled. The sampling method used in this study was census. All patients had distal rectoanal malignancies. A checklist including age, gender, tumor location, complications after surgery, tumor type, length of hospital stay, length of operation, neoadjuvant chemotherapy and neoadjuvant radiotherapy history was filled for all patients., Results: Among 18 participants, 27.8% were female. The mean age of participants was 58.28 ± 17.86 yr (minimum of 19 and the maximum of 89 yr). The pathology of the tumor in all but one of the cases was adenocarcinoma (94.4%). The overall complication rate after surgery was 27.8%. In total, 80% received neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. In 12 months follow-up 2 patients needed reoperation., Conclusion: Inferior part of rectus abdominis muscle flap was a reliable and comparable means of reconstruction after APR surgery with low rate of complications and mortality., Competing Interests: The authors disclose no conflict of interest.

Aim: The present study aimed at investigating the necessity of preoperative liver function tests (LFTs) in patients with uncomplicated gallstone disease before laparoscopic cholecystectomy., Background: Significant relationship between common bile duct (CBD) stones and acute cholecystitis is reported. There are contradictory reports about the effect of CBD stones on liver function tests in patients (LFTs)., Methods: In the current study, patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis who referred to hospitals during January 2015 and May 2016 were enrolled. Routine tests and ultrasonography were performed on all patients before surgery. Data were presented as means ± SD and qualitative variables as frequency (percentage) were considered. Statistical analyzes were performed with SPSS software., Results: A consecutive series of 270 patients (58 males and 212 females) who referred for laparoscopic cholecystectomy were enrolled in this retrospective study. Pre- operative LFTs were normal in 249 patients (85%) and abnormal LFT was detected in 41 patients (15 %)., Conclusion: This study showed that 15 % of patients with cholelithiasis without dilated CBD had impaired LFTs. Routine LFTs in preoperative evaluation of symptomatic cholelithiasis usually reveals normal findings and is not helpful in uncomplicated cholelithiasis., (©2020 RIGLD, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases.)

Background: The kidneys of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) do not function well enough and those in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) of CKD need hemodialysis (HD) as a common renal replacement therapy (RRT) procedure. HD requires a vascular access (VA), and arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the common VA choice in the world due to its very few complications. Despite the widespread use of AVFs, some risk factors maximize AVF failure, which is accompanied by complications of the patient such as repeating VA surgeries and hospitalization. Therefore, finding effective factors in the success of surgery is highly important and, thus, this study aimed at measuring the effect of anastomosis angle on the success of AVF surgery. Methods: This study evaluated the effect of conducted angle in an AVF anastomosis on AVF maturation. The images of 48 created AVFs for CKD patients was provided over a one-year period (from May 2016 to April 2017). Cross-tab analysis was used, and significance level was considered meaningful at p-value≤0.001. A centralized database was designed to integrate data. A method for image processing was developed and geometrical characteristics of the vessels (such as anastomosis angle) and also the diameter of artery and vein were measured via AutoCAD 2017 software and exported to the database along with other data. Results: The rate of the AVF failure in the studied patients was 8.96%. The anastomosis angle ≤ 30° is preferable from the AVF status point of view because most AVF maturation (or least AVF failure) rates are detected at this range. Conclusion: This study was performed based on a new approach without the need to measure hemodynamic parameters. Moreover, it signified the important role of anastomosis angle in the function of AVF, showing that the anastomosis angle ≤ 30° is a preferable intraoperative recommendation for AVF surgery.

Background: A growing number of patients with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) are undergoing long-term hemodialysis (HD). HD needs a vascular access (VA) and complications of VA account for a sizable proportion of its costs. One of the important cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is atherosclerosis, which is a major cause of premature deaths in the world. So, it is essential to find the risk factors to treat them before they cause an obvious CVD. Methods: We analyzed data from 174 ESRD patients who were candidate for Arterio Venous Fistula (AVF) creation from April 2008 to March 2009 in Hasheminejad Kidney Center by convenient sampling. X-ray images were used and C 4.5 algorithm of data mining techniques revealed the roles of two risk factors for atherosclerosis of diabetic ESRD patients. Pearson coefficient was also used to measure the correlation between the parameters. Results : Diabetic patients had significantly more calcified arteries in their forearm X-ray than other patients (p<0.001). Occurrence of atherosclerotic CVD in diabetic HD patients has an adverse relation compared with the controlled levels of their plasma levels of Triglyceride (TG) and Phosphorus. We found an inverse effect of TG and phosphorus plasma levels on the atherosclerotic involvement of radial and ulnar arteries in diabetic HD patients. We observed that the prevalence of radial and ulnar arteries calcification in these patients is lower when they have higher plasma levels of TG and phosphorous. Conclusion: This study investigates the role of high plasma levels of TG and phosphorous in the development of atherosclerosis in diabetic HD patients. Although many studies showed that hypertriglyceridemia plays a promoting role in the development of CVD, our study also found an inverse effect of plasma levels of TG on the atherosclerotic involvement of radial and ulnar arteries in diabetic patients, and therefore our results support this suspicion that hypertriglyceridemia plays a significant role in developing atherosclerosis.

Background: Central Venous Catheters (CVCs) are used not only as a tool to access to central venous system, but also for hemodynamic monitoring, parenteral nutrition, chemotherapy and hemodialysis. The use of CVCs is associated with some complications notably infections that are troublesome both to patient and physician. We conducted this study to examine catheter fixation with skin fold technique and to evaluate risk of catheter infection in this method and compare it to conventional technique. Methods: This study is a controlled clinical trial (IRCT: IRCT2015081723229N1) and all cases are patients over 18 years, admitted to Hasheminejad Kidney Center from 2011 to 2012, who needed an internal jugular venous catheter for hemodialysis. Finally, two hundred and twenty two patients entered the study. We used chi square test and logistic regression for data analysis. P-value less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: In this study Mean±SD age of patients was 54.50±15.71 years. Mean ±SD ages of patients in the case and control group were 54.56±16.43 and 54.42±14.84 years, respectively. The rate of catheter infection significantly decreased with skin fold technique: Five patients (3%) in case group and 13 patients (16%) in control group had infection (p=0.002). Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrated that catheter fixation with skin fold could be an appropriate technique in comparison with current conventional method. However, further studies on other possible and unpredictable complications of this technique is required.

Background: Vascular Access (VA) is an important aspect for blood circulatory in Hemodialysis (HD). Arteriovenous Fistula (AVF) is a suitable procedure to gain VA. Maturation of the AVF is a status of AVF, which can be cannulated for HD. This study aimed to discover the parameters that effectively reduce the duration between VA and start of HD, which symbolizes the maturation time (MT)., Methods: Ninety-six patients who underwent AVF creation were selected for this study. The decision tree method was used based on CART/C4.5 algorithm, which is one of the data mining approaches for data classification. Vascular diameter ratio (VDR) coefficient was obtained (VDR=Artery/Vein diameters)., Results: We investigated the relationship between the VDR and MT in this study and found that MT is reversely related to VDR in elderly patients, while this relation was direct in younger patients., Conclusion: The analysis revealed a Spearman's correlation coefficient for Vein diameter with MT. MT decreases when diameters of vein and artery are close to one another. This study can help the surgeons to identify high- risk patients who elongate MT for HD.

Background: Arteriovenous Fistula (AVF) is the ideal method of vascular access for patients on maintenance hemodialysis (HD). Therefore it is an important part of treatment in HD. There are several observations that indicate the role of inflammation in failure of AVF. The aim of this study was to evaluate the hematologic and inflammatory biomarkers in early AVF failure., Methods: This case-control study included 110 ESRD patients, whom were undergone AVF creation, divided in two groups. About 700 radius-cephalic AVF were created during these two years. We found 55 cases with AVF failure. In this study, we compared those 55 failures with 55 functional AVF which were selected using randomized sampling from the rest of patients according to age, gender, and AVF location. Levels of serum C-reactive protein (CRP) were checked in both groups to evaluate the relation between AVF failure and CRP level before surgery., Results: The mean±SD age of the patients was 49.7±17.28 years. CRP was positive in 34 patients (61.8%) with unsuccessful fistula function, while only 4 (7.3%) of those with successful AVF had positive CRP and the rest had negative CRP. The difference between the two groups of patients was strongly significant (p<0.001). Statistically, there was not any significant difference between the average of age (p: 0.580) of patients in the control and experimental groups. However, the gender (p: 0.832) discrepancies was not meaningful between the groups., Conclusion: AVF thrombosis is one of the main complications after AVF creation. Therefore, it is recommended to check CRP before AVF surgery to prevent possible failure of the fistula function.

Arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is an important vascular access for hemodialysis (HD) treatment but has 20-60% rate of early failure. Detecting association between patient's parameters and early AVF failure is important for reducing its prevalence and relevant costs. Also predicting incidence of this complication in new patients is a beneficial controlling procedure. Patient safety and preservation of early AVF failure is the ultimate goal. Our research society is Hasheminejad Kidney Center (HKC) of Tehran, which is one of Iran's largest renal hospitals. We analyzed data of 193 HD patients using supervised techniques of data mining approach. There were 137 male (70.98%) and 56 female (29.02%) patients introduced into this study. The average of age for all the patients was 53.87 ± 17.47 years. Twenty eight patients had smoked and the number of diabetic patients and nondiabetics was 87 and 106, respectively. A significant relationship was found between "diabetes mellitus," "smoking," and "hypertension" with early AVF failure in this study. We have found that these mentioned risk factors have important roles in outcome of vascular surgery, versus other parameters such as "age." Then we predicted this complication in future AVF surgeries and evaluated our designed prediction methods with accuracy rates of 61.66%-75.13%.

Objective: End-stage renal disease (ESRD) poses steadily growing challenges to health care systems worldwide. Renal replacement therapy with hemodialysis (HD) or kidney transplantation is the only possibility for ESRD patient survival. A complete correction of anemia in HD patients may lead to an increased risk of vascular arteriovenous fistula (AVF) primary failure; some studies have demonstrated that decreased levels of hemoglobin (Hb) had adverse effects on cardiac and brain function. This study was designed to evaluate the impact of different risk factors, especially the Hb level on AVF survival., Methods: Prospective observational data were analyzed from a non-randomized sample (n=100) of HD patients who were referred for first AVF creation between April 2005 and December 2006 with <1 month on HD. The relative risk (RR) of access primary failure was evaluated in four different groups of patients divided according to their Hb levels (<8, 8-10, 10-12, and >12 g/dL). Other factors possibly influencing vascular access (VA) survival were also considered including gender, age, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, parathyroid hormone levels, ACE inhibitor intake and triglyceride levels. The analyses were performed using SPSS v.11.5, Kaplan-Meier analysis, Cox's regression and log rank test., Results: There was a statistically significant higher risk of AVF primary failure in patients with Hb <8 g/dL (RR=1.41; p=0.01), diabetes (RR=1.21; p=0.05), age>60 yrs (RR=1.41; p=0.06) were identified as predictive factors for AVF primary failure. ACE inhibitor intake (RR=0.45; p=0.01) was found to be protective., Conclusion: Correction of serum Hb level can lead to a better result in VA survival and ACE inhibitor intake was found to be a protective factor.