Background: Cardiovascular diseases are leading causes of morbidity and mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Cardiac involvement in SLE can often go undetected. Three-dimensional (3D) speckle tracking echocardiography (STE) is a noninvasive imaging technique that can assess the function of the heart’s ventricles in an accurate and reproducible way. This makes it an attractive option for detecting early signs of heart disease in SLE patients. By identifying these subclinical cardiac abnormalities, 3D-STE may help reduce the negative impact of cardiovascular diseases in SLE population. Methods: This cross-sectional study was undertaken to compare the left ventricular (LV) function between patients with SLE compared to age- and gender-matched controls using Two-dimensional (2D) and 3D-STE. A total of 52 SLE patients and 53 controls without any known cardiovascular events were included in the study. Patients’ past medical and drug history were collected through evaluating medical records and questionnaires. 2D and 3D-STE measured various left ventricular parameters. Results: The current study found no significant differences in left ventricle ejection fraction, left ventricle end-diastolic volume, left ventricle end-systolic volume, left ventricle end-diastolic mass, and left ventricle end-systolic mass between the two groups. However, the SLE group exhibited a a significantly lower global longitudinal strain (GLS) compared to the control groupaccording to all types of echocardiographic assessments, including 3D and 2D long-axis strain (LAX), apical 2-chamber (A2C), and apical 4-chamber (A4C) assessments (all P-values<0.05). Furthermore, a good inter- intra-rater reliability was observed regarding the GLS measurement with 3D-STE. Additionally, the study identified a significant correlation between GLS and SLE duration (r (50) = 0.46, P= 0.04). The use of prednisolone and nephrology disorders were also found to impact GLS measurements. Conclusion: Despite a normal LVEF in patients with SLE, GLS measuemetns indicated that LV systolic dysfunction was observed more frequently in SLE patients compared to their healthy counterparts. Therefore, advanced 3D-STE techniques may be useful in identifying subtle abnormalities in LV function in SLE patients.
Dormitory life faces many challenges and there have been relatively many studies on this topic, therefore, the aim of the present meta-analysis was to review previous studies on dormitory life in Iran. Methodology: This was an applied meta-analysis. The study population included dormitory life studies registered in scientific databases during the years 2004-2007, and a total of twenty studies were selected as a sample based on inclusion criteria and using purposive sampling method. Data were collected by note taking method and analyzed by inverse questionnaire method and frequency and frequency percentage in SPSS ver.23. Findings: All twenty studies were reviewed based on the study method, type of study, data collection tools and techniques, sampling method and data analysis level. According to the results, dormitory life-related problems include homesickness, economic problems, lack of exercise facilities, poor food, lack of extracurricular activities, lack of study space, lack of health facilities, absence of recreational and welfare facilities, lack of recreational, scientific and research camps, absence of counselors and guides, absence of individual and group skills training workshops, lack of planning for students' holidays, dormitory rules, student congestion in rooms and public space, dormitory officials, lack of room space, no dorm assignment program, maladaptation of some students, lack of religious group activities and dormitory supervisors' unfamiliarity with student morale. Also, solutions to reduce the problems of dormitory life include increasing counseling workshops, increasing exercise facilities, increasing the quality of nutrition, holding classes and increasing managers' level of knowledge, increasing the quality of health care, the presence of counselors in dormitories, increase the number of interaction-focused dialogue sessions, increasing the number of study halls, holding recreational, scientific and research camps, increasing students' awareness of social harms, teaching strategies to reduce stress and anxiety, and holding extracurricular classes. Conclusion: Considering dormitory life-related problems and the related solutions, it is possible to provide appropriate conditions to reduce tensions and improve the quality of dormitory life by improving the dormitory conditions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
334 Leonard St
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.