Background:Fibrotic tissue forms following chronic inflammation in the liver, which may progress over time to cirrhosis. Liver biopsy is the gold standard for the diagnosis of liver fibrosis, and there has been a considerable interest in developing noninvasive methods.Objectives:In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the liver in the diagnosis and staging of liver fibrosis.Patients and Methods:This case–control study was conducted on 40 patients with chronic liver disease and 31 healthy controls who were subjected to diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Diagnostic values for different stages of fibrosis were determined using receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves based on the sensitivity and specificity.Results:Of 37 patients in the case group, 12 were males (32.4%) and 25 (67.5%) were females, whereas in the control group of 31 patients, 11 were males (35.5%) and 20 (64.5%) were females. In the ROC analysis, area under the curve separating stage one or lower fibrosis from stage two or greater fibrosis groups with a b-value of 600 s/mm2 was 0.893 (98% confidence interval (CI): 0.795–0.955), and that with a b-value of 1000 s/mm2 was 0.946 (98% CI: 0.813–0.946).Conclusion:Our results are in line with the previous studies, which showed that liver ADC values could be considered as a method for the diagnosis and staging of liver fibrosis.

Background and Aim: Craniotomy is a surgery in which a flap of the skull is opened to access the affected area in the brain. Since paying attention to the aesthetic aspects of the patient’s head after surgery is very important for the patient’s mental health and social life, surgeons should try to adopt a method that minimizes damage to the scalp and follicles. Methods and Materials/Patients: In this clinical trial study, patients who were candidates for frontotemporoparietal craniotomy surgery were selected. Twenty-three selected patients were randomly divided into 2 groups consisting of a 12-member intervention group (L.G. Kempe) and an 11-member control group (Standard Reverse Question mark). Patients underwent a pre-operative biopsy of the scalp and a follow-up biopsy 6 months post-operatively. In the evaluation of aesthetic aspects, the created scar was scored using the Stony Brook Scar Evaluation Scale (SBSES). Patients were also directly asked about their satisfaction with the operation and the scar created. Results: In 23 patients, the results showed that patients who underwent LG Kempe incision craniotomy received significantly higher scores in SBSES scoring evaluations (P=0.005). There was no significant difference in subjective evaluations by asking patients about their satisfaction with the scar site and the operation area (P=0.75). In the analysis of post-operative hair follicle density between the 2 groups (P=0.910), general changes in pre-operative and post-operative follicle density in all samples (P= 0.657) as well as comparing the changes between 2 groups, no significant difference was found between follicular density changes between the intervention and control groups (P=0.137). Conclusion: Patients treated with L.G. Kempe incision had significantly higher SBSES scores, which can be considered an aesthetically superior method that could prevent the formation of undesirable scar.

Background: Gastric and colorectal adenocarcinomas are the second and fifth most common cancers in Iran, respectively. Prognostic factors help with the better management of patients. Objectives: The current study aimed to evaluate Cytokeratin 7 (CK7) expression in gastric and colorectal adenocarcinomas and its correlation with other prognostic factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 75 tissue blocks from patients with gastric or colorectal adenocarcinomas. Tumor grade, tumor size, depth of invasion, and metastasis to lymph nodes were determined. Then, CK7 expression was studied using immunohistochemistry staining. The presence of CK7 was scored under high power (400x) in 1000 tumor cells, and the percentage of positive immunostaining (5%) was determined. Results: The mean age values of the patients were 62.11 ± 14.13 and 55.23 ± 14.14 years in gastric cancer and colorectal cancer groups. There was no statistically significant difference in the mean tumor size between the two groups (P = 0.678). The findings of the present study showed that in 19 cases (67.9%) of gastric cancer samples, 6 cases (42.9%) of rectal samples, and 14 cases (42.4%) of colon samples were positive for CK7. The expression of positive cytokeratin was higher than that of the rectum and colon, which was statistically significant (P = 0.034). Furthermore, there was no statistically significant relationship between the type of differentiation and lymph node involvement with cytokeratin expression in both gastric and colorectal cancers (P > 0.05). In terms of perineural involvement, there was no statistically significant relationship with both gastric and colorectal cancers (P > 0.05). Conclusions: The present study showed no association between CK7 expression and prognostic factors in colon and gastric adenocarcinomas. Given these findings and several studies in this field, it is required to perform further studies with a larger sample size to determine the exact prognostic role of this factor.

Background: Prostatic adenocarcinoma is the second leading cause of death in males due to cancer. The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) serum level is the first marker for screening such patients. Objectives: The present study evaluated the comparison between the degree of staining of the PSA marker and some factors in the prognosis of prostate cancer. Methods: The current cross-sectional study was performed on 97 tissue blocks from patients with prostate adenocarcinoma collected in 2019-2020 from the Pathology Department of Golestan Ahvaz Hospital archives. Clinical information such as age, tumor size, grade of tumor, lymph node involvement, and vascular and perineural invasion was extracted from patients' pathology reports and recorded on a checklist. Then, PSA apical and intensity staining was studied using immunohistochemistry. Results: The mean age of patients was 72.76 ± 8.19 years. The mean serum PSA level was 39.2 ± 8.90. In the present study, the highest PSA staining intensity in the samples was related to grade 1 with a frequency of 39 (40.2%), and then it was related to grade 4 with a frequency of 38 (39.2%), while the lowest frequency of staining intensity was related to grade 2 was with a frequency of 9 (9.3%). Regarding PSA apical staining, 58 samples (59.8%) were positive, and 39 (40.2%) were negative. A statistically significant comparison was shown between Gleason scoring and PSA apical staining (P < 0.001). The results indicate that increasing Gleason scoring decreases the staining intensity, and this correlation is significant (P < 0.05). The mean age in samples with positive staining of apical marker PSA is lower than in samples with negative staining of apical marker PSA but is not statistically significant (P = 0.38). In contrast, the serum level of the PSA marker is statistically significantly higher in samples with positive staining of apical marker PSA than in samples with negative staining of PSA (P < 0.001). According to the Spearman correlation coefficient test, the intensity of staining of the PSA marker decreases with age, and this correlation is significant (P = 0.032). However, according to the Spearman correlation coefficient test, staining intensity increases with increasing serum PSA level, and this correlation is statistically significant (P < 0.001). Conclusions: It is also suggested that in future studies with a larger sample size, the comparison between apical marker expression and PSA marker staining intensity with clinicopathological factors, survival and mortality rates, response to treatment, etc., will be evaluated.