Leila Mohammadinia; Mehrab Sharifisadeh; Hadi Lashkari; Farid Moradian; Hamid choobineh
Volume 23, Issue 2 , 2021
Abstract
Background: The annual religious ritual of Arbaeen is the global largest mass gathering of pilgrims from different countries participating in a mass movement on an 80-km pathway to visit the Shrine of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. The provision of health care for such a mass ...
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Background: The annual religious ritual of Arbaeen is the global largest mass gathering of pilgrims from different countries participating in a mass movement on an 80-km pathway to visit the Shrine of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad. The provision of health care for such a mass movement has always been an important vital issue for the health care system.
Objectives: The current study investigated the common illnesses in addition to the quantity of health care services offered by temporary clinics and health stations located on the way to the shrine to such a mass gathering of on-feet pilgrims in Iraq in Arbaeen 2019.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at temporary clinics and health stations where pilgrims in need of nursing, midwifery, and pharmaceutical care were provided with services by general and expert physicians on the way from Najaf to Karbala in Iraq during a week in October 2019.
Results: Imam Reza Temporary Clinic offered services to a total of 26,875 patients, including 9,934 females (36.96%) and 16,941 males (63.04%), on all days of the week. The most common chief complaint reported by the patients were musculoskeletal problems (n=11,945; 21.99%), foot blisters (n=11,372; 20.94%), and skin lesions (n=10,662; 19.62%).
Conclusion: The present study highlighted the need for providing more organized services, especially in emergency health care, and necessity of paying further and closer attention to the significance of the health history of those pilgrims attending such religious mass gatherings in previous years.
Atefeh Shahbazi; Mohammad Hasan Naseh; Masoud Habibi; Reza Shirazi; Hamid Choobineh; Seyed Mohammad Akrami
Volume 22, Issue 1 , 2020
Abstract
Background: Vitiligo is a long-term multifactorial polygenic disorder, characterized by the patchy loss of pigments in the skin. Several treatments including therapeutic creams and oral drugs are used to treat vitiligo with varying degrees of success. Some medical treatments can reduce the severity ...
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Background: Vitiligo is a long-term multifactorial polygenic disorder, characterized by the patchy loss of pigments in the skin. Several treatments including therapeutic creams and oral drugs are used to treat vitiligo with varying degrees of success. Some medical treatments can reduce the severity of the disease, but it is difficult to cure the disorder. Autologous non-cultured melanocyte transplantation is an effective method of vitiligo treatment. The utilization of appropriate cell suspension is a safe and efficient strategy to cure such hypopigmentation disorder.
Objectives: The aim of this study was to follow up patients suffering from generalized and stable vitiligo who were treated with transplanted cells. Patients with patches in four different parts (forehead, eyelids, trunks, and hands) were selected because skin thickness varied among different body parts. We compared melanin repigmentation in these areas.
Methods: We recruited 39 patients with generalized and stable vitiligo who had patches on their forehead, eyelids, trunks, and hands. Partial grafts were taken from the gluteal regions of all patients. Epidermal cells including non-cultured melanocyte and keratinocyte suspensions were enzymatically isolated and found to be of > 98% viability. Cells were injected intraepidemally. After a 12-month follow-up, repigmentation was observed.
Results: The mean repigmentation score continued to improve up to 12 months post-transplantation. The obtained results confirmed that the cellular suspension that consisted of a mixture of epidermal cells improved to restore the normal color of the repigmentation rate. The number of received cells per cm2 positively influenced the repigmentation score. Patches located on the face, neck, and trunk areas showed significantly higher responses to treatment. The pigmentation score was classified as "poor" (1% - 25%), "moderate" (26% - 50%), and "good" (51% - 75%). This study is a research and clinical study with a brief report registered with the Ethics Committee of Avicenna Research Institute, clinical trials (letter number: 93/22/01/89), Tehran, Iran.
Conclusions: The application of autologous non-cultured melanocyte-keratinocyte cell suspension could restore the patchy skin color to a near-normal level and the majority of the patients were satisfied with the results.
