Foroogh sadat Hashemi; Maryam Abolhasani; Seyed Mohammad Hakimi
Volume 2, Issue 2 , April 2007, , Pages 54-58
Abstract
Introduction and Objective: Zinc as the second trace element of the human body plays an important role in numerous functions. A large number of research studies have showed serum zinc deficiency and excess urinary excretion in patients with major beta thalassemia, but few studies revealed excess urinary ...
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Introduction and Objective: Zinc as the second trace element of the human body plays an important role in numerous functions. A large number of research studies have showed serum zinc deficiency and excess urinary excretion in patients with major beta thalassemia, but few studies revealed excess urinary zinc excretion in minor beta thalassemia and no study investigated serum zinc levels in this group. This study aimed to measure serum and urine zinc level in patients with minor beta thalassemia. Materials and Methods: The study was observational and cross-sectional. Blood and 24-hour urine samples were collected from carriers of beta thalassemia who attended Ali Asghar Hospital for blood transfusions for their children. They had documented hemoglobin electrophoresis for their status. The serum and urine zinc levels were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Student’s t test was used for comparison of groups. Results: The average level of zinc in the serum and urine of the male cases was 69 ± 10 μg/dl and 714 ± 162 μg/dl and in the female cases was 58 ± 11 μg/dl and 751 ± 162 μg/dl respectively and was 64 ± 12 μg/dl and 730 ± 120 μg/dl totally. The obtained serum zinc was lower and the urine zinc was higher in minor beta thalassemic persons than the amounts mentioned by references for the subjects of the same sex and age. The serum zinc level of anemic patients with minor beta thalassemia was lower (63 ± 11 vs 72 ± 13 μg/dl) and the urine zinc level was higher (792 ± 183 vs 673 ± 202 μg/dl) than non-anemic patients. Conclusion: Minor beta thalassemics have lower serum zinc level and due to abundant roles of zinc can make benefit from zinc supplementation. This decrement may be attributed to tubulopathy in these patients.
Maliheh Khoddami; Maryam Farzaneh; Manigeh Garooni Anaraki
Volume 1, Issue 3 , June 2006, , Pages 117-120
Abstract
Background and Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the ability of standard urinalysis (UA) and hemocytometer white blood cell (WBC) counts for the diagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI) in patients with urinary symptoms. Materials and Methods: A total of 600 patients with symptoms of urinary ...
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Background and Objective: This study was undertaken to assess the ability of standard urinalysis (UA) and hemocytometer white blood cell (WBC) counts for the diagnosis of urinary tract infection (UTI) in patients with urinary symptoms. Materials and Methods: A total of 600 patients with symptoms of urinary tract infection were enrolled in this prospective study. Standard UA, hemocytometer WBC counts, and quantitative urine culture tests were performed on the specimens. The results of UA and hemocytometry were compared with urine culture findings to determine the accuracy of these two methods in the diagnosis of UTI. In this regard, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, accuracy, and likelihood ratios were determined for each of the screening tests. Results: There were 91 positive urine cultures with at least 105 bacteria per milliliter. Sixtyseven patients were female. The results of UA and hemocytometry were as follows: sensitivity 64.8% and 77%; specificity 89% and 90.3%; positive predictive value (PPV) 51.3% and 58.8%; negative predictive value (NPV) 93.4% and 95.6%; and accuracy 85.3% and 88.4% respectively. Conclusion: Although hemocytometer WBC counts have a higher sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value than standard UA, the differences are not statistically significant (p>0.05).