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The frequency of MetS was not significantly different from that of the control group, but almost half of the patients were found with this syndrome. This calls for further follow up and appropriate treatment of patients with MetS.

BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative disorder occurring in elderly people. Radiography and sonography are convenient techniques to detect diverse pathological features of knee OA. BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common degenerative disorder occurring in older people. Radiography and sonography are convenient techniques to detect diverse pathological features of knee OA. AIM: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of radiography and sonography in the detection of diverse features of knee OA. METHODS: In a prospective cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study, 50 consecutive patients with suspected knee OA (40 women and 10 men, mean age 41.2 ± 6.1 years), referred to the rheumatology clinic of the Shohada Hospital of Khorramabad. All obtained magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), radiographic and sonography images were evaluated by two radiologists and rheumatologist with sufficient expertise in degenerative knee disorders. MRI has been considered as a gold standard test in evaluating other tests. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive values (PPV), negative predictive values (NPV) and accuracy with 95% confidence intervals of radiography and sonography in the diagnosis of knee OA were calculated. RESULTS: Prevalence of the marginal osteophyte, geode and decreased joint thickness were significantly higher in patients with age > 40 years compared to ≤ 40 years (P ˂ 0.05). The incidence of diverse features of knee OA was not significantly different in terms of the patient’s gender, except for decreased joint space. The specificity of radiography was higher than its sensitivity. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that both radiography and sonography are useful imaging modalities, especially to diagnosis the positive cases of knee OA. The specificity of radiography is higher than to its sensitivity for all pathological features of knee OA. The sensitivity of sonography to detect some features of knee OA such as decreased joint thickness is considerably higher than radiography.

Solid organ transplantation is an important lifesaving procedure mainly performed in patients with end-stage organ failure such as liver cirrhosis, congestive heart failure, and end-stage renal disease. While these complications are among the most preventable adverse effects of solid organ transplantation, these are generally neglected by physicians. Accordingly, this study was performed to evaluate the frequency of musculoskeletal complications among the patients receiving solid organ transplantation in a tertiary health-care center in a developing country. This cohort study was performed from 2000 to 2009, among fifty patients receiving organ transplantation (liver, heart, and lung) attending to a training hospital in Tehran, Iran. The main variables were musculoskeletal complaints and findings that were measured according to patients' self-report and clinical examination. The mean age of the patients was 40.2 ± 10.9 years ranging from 5 to 58 years. Twenty out of 50 patients (40%) had musculoskeletal complaints that the most common complaint was the arthralgia. Also, the mechanical arthritis was the most common clinical finding in clinical examination (24%). Low serum level of vitamin D (74.4%) and high serum alkaline phosphatase level (27.9%) were the most common biochemical abnormalities in understudy population. Finally, it may be concluded that nearly forty percent of patients receiving solid organ transplantation may develop musculoskeletal findings and/or complaints. These complications may be found and treated with regular examinations to reduce the burden of disease.

Introduction: Despite the availability of many imaging and clinical criteria for diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), its correct diagnosis is a challenge for clinicians and radiologists. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and clinical symptoms in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with suspected LSS in MRI. Methods: This study is a case-control study. Two groups of 100 symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals (aged 20 to 84 years) with suspected lumbar spinal canal stenosis who referred to the imaging unit for lumbosacral MRI were included. The clinical symptoms and radiological parameters in MRI for all patients were recorded and relationship between them were evaluated. Results: Among the quantitative imaging findings, only the anterior-posterior diameter of the canal at the level of the intervertebral disc, the central spinal canal cross-section area and lateral recesses cross-sectional area were valuable. Coefficient of stenosis was calculated for the case and control groups which had statistically significant difference (p<0.001). The difference between qualitative findings such as disc protrusion, extrusion, sequestration and Cauda Equine serpain or redundant was significant between the two groups. Conclusion: According to the results, among the quantitative criteria of MRI imaging findings, central spinal canal cross-section (less than 77.5 mm2 for central stenosis) and lateral recesses cross-section (less than 22.5 mm2 for lateral stenosis) had the highest sensitivity and specificity for LSS diagnosis in symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with suspected LSS. Strongest observed correlation was between neurogenic claudication and LSS diagnostic radiological markers.

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